Hands-On The Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Power Reserve 5 Days Sapphire

At Baselworld 2018 there were many highlights, including, but not limited to, the uptick in ladies' tool watches, the Rainbow Daytona, and more solid, consumer-friendly pieces than ever. But one of the biggest surprises to me was my strange affinity for the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon 5 Days Sapphire. While this watch is may be one of the more ridiculous pieces of our time (I mean, who actually needs this watch?) I couldn't help but respect it, and here's why.

Let's get it out of the way: Hublot is not for everyone. In fact, Hublot isn't for a lot of people (especially me, typically) but you have to give the brand credit for always pushing boundaries, whether it's related to aesthetics, mechanics, or materials. Stephen covered the highlight of this year's new collection – the Big Bang Unico Red, the very first watch with a red ceramic case – in a First Take video, but the watch that really did it for me was the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Power Reserve 5 Days Sapphire replica watch. You might say it's a little bit different.

This watch is the latest iteration of the Big Bang Power Reserve Tourbillon 5 Days, it's just the first time the watch has been rendered in sapphire crystal, a material concept first explored by Hulbot back in 2016. The original Big Bang Sapphire made a name for itself by being the second "clear" watch to hit the luxury timepiece market. It was Richard Mille who first debuted a clear watch with the RM56-02 Tourbillon Sapphire (a development from the 2012 RM 056) using polished sapphire crystal.

The case

The case of this watch measures 45mm across and 14.25mm thick, which is on the larger side, but this is Hublot after all. The entire case is made from plates of sapphire that are first cut from solid blocks and then milled and polished down to the correct shapes. This houses a skeletonized resin dial with a rhodium-plated brass handset and oversized luminous Arabic numerals, combining for a harmonious look.

The movement

The movement powering this watch is the caliber HUB6016, which is an in-house, manually wound tourbillon with a massive 115-hour power reserve. In case you're keeping track, that's actually 4.79 days, not a full five, but I'll give Hublot the five hours and two-and-a-half minutes here. This is not a new movement, but rather a variation on the one used in the previous Big Bang Tourbillon 5 Days models (such as the Magic Gold version). However, this time the main plate, with its concentric circle bridges, is made of acrylic, continuing the transparent theme throughout. It's really cool to see this caliber in this different way – it's already a striking design as is, and making it in an unorthodox material really takes things to the next level.

The real reason I love this watch though is because of how it looks on the wrist. I don't know what it is exactly, but I dig it. I think it has something to do with the fact that clear watches are reminiscent of my pre-teen Swatch years. Or maybe it has to do with the juxtaposition between the high and low of a clear watch and the price tag, which ain't low at all ($148,000 to be exact). Whatever it is, I can't help but dream of being someone with not a financial care in the world where I could just drop a serious chunk of change on a Hublot made out of sapphire crystal.

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