Hublot Introduces 2 Million Euro Diamond Watch

Hublot Introduces 2 Million Euro Diamond Watch
The "Hublot BB" 2 Million € has arrived in the principality.
It is presented for sale exclusively in Monaco at ZEGG & CERLATI.

This is a unique piece, a one-off, an even more audacious master stroke, a breathtaking expression of expertise providing a level of purity, color, cut, finish and uniformity of the whole piece which is a truly rare feat.

Its creation required 45 gemcutters, working non-stop for 1 month, to cut the stones, as well as 2,000 hours of work by master gemstone setters. Each diamond could be used to adorn a ring.

A secret project, the 2 MILLION € BB started life as a simple design hand-sketched around the table in Jean-Claude Biver's office at the Hublot stand at BaselWorld last year, as a "light-hearted confidential challenge" between Hublot's CEO and our master gemstone setters. Finished the day before BaselWorld 2011 opened, it would take no less than 12 months to bring this exceptional piece to life, made up of 637 baguette diamonds and a rose cut diamond on the crown, and featuring a Vendôme Tourbillon movement to appeal to lovers of fine watchmaking.

Presented in Monaco by Mr Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot and Mrs Tina Zegg of ZEGG & CERLATI, the result has surpassed all expectations, a synthesis of the considerable creative and emotional investment required to create such a masterpiece, a perfect symbol of the fusion between jewellery and horology, a celebration of the creativity, ingenuity, skill, confidence, madness, perseverance and zeal needed to make the wildest of dreams come true.

A tour de force of patience and perfection, it was a long process. It consisted firstly of bringing the gemstones together, selecting them one by one to achieve perfect uniformity in terms of purity and colour (the diamonds selected by Hublot are of a remarkable quality, with colour graded as TOP WESSELTON and clarity of A VVS), then cutting each of them to the technical designs of the piece, and finishing by patiently setting each of them in a "Clou de Paris" setting, an extremely meticulous process, taking the master gemstone setters 9 months. All the diamonds used in this watch come from the same mine, located in Yakutsk in the Russian Far East, on the same latitude as Beijing and a 9-hour flight from Moscow. More than 270 carats of rough diamonds were chosen from a lot of 1500 carats, and from these the stones used were selected. For about a month, the expert hands of 45 gemcutters worked hard to create 637 baguette diamonds, totalling just over 141 carats.

Dubbed the "Tourbillon Vendôme", it was developed in tribute to the recent opening of the Hublot boutique at 10, Place Vendôme. On the dial side, two small columns (2 for 200 years) frame the tourbillon cage - replicas of the column recently illuminated by Hublot to celebrate its bicentenary. The flying tourbillon movement dubbed HUB6003 was entirely developed and manufactured within the Hublot manufacture. With 210 components, it boasts a 5-day power reserve.

DETAILS:

2 Million € BB
Unique piece: Over 140 carats of baguette diamonds, Vendôme Tourbillon movement
Reference: 305.WX.0099.WX.9904
Case: 18 K white gold set with 72 baguette diamonds, 20.85 carats
Bezel: 18 K white gold set with 72 baguette diamonds, 11.14 carats
Crystal: Sapphire with interior and exterior anti-reflective treatment
Case-back: 18 K white gold with sapphire crystal, interior anti-reflective treatment
Crown: 18 K white gold set with 24 baguette diamonds and one rose cut diamond, 1.02 carats
Dial: 18 K white gold, Palladium 150, set with 116 baguette diamonds, 8.87 carats, dial on two levels with 2 Vendôme columns
Hands: Faceted, rhodium-plated skeleton hands set with diamonds
Movement: HUB 6003, mechanical hand-wound tourbillon
Dimensions: Diameter: 13 ¼ ’’’ (Ø 30.00 mm)
Thickness: 7.10 mm
No. of components: 148
Number of jewels: 24
Bridges: Decorated with baguette settings
Balance: Gyromax regulating inertia block
Vibrations: 21,600 Vib/h (3Hz)
Tourbillon Cage: Ø 13 mm
Power reserve: Approximately 120 hours
Bracelet: 18 K white gold set with 353 baguette diamonds, 102.62 carats
Clasp: 18 K white gold deployant buckle

More information: www.hublot.com