The first Hublot Big Bang Unico Sapphire.
In the modern era, watchmaking has transcended from a practical tool into something that most people regard as a mechanical piece of art. And over the course of the last few decades or so, watch manufactures from all around the world have constantly been trying to showcase the beauty of the movement within the wristwatch. From sapphire casebacks to skeletonised movements, these design aspects have one sole purpose: and that is to reveal the inner workings of the wristwatch. The pinnacle of this philosophy came a couple of years ago when Manufactures finally managed to create entire cases out of Sapphire. If you can imagine, these sapphire watches have become the talking pieces for the brands that have the know-how to produce them. And this year, at Baselworld, the evolution of the sapphire case continues.
03: BELL & ROSS
Up until last year, Bell & Ross was quite happy playing to its strengths with aviation themed watches. But with the industry in turmoil. They had to start thinking outside the box and the first thing they did was unveil a concept watch in 2016, and you guessed it: the case was made entirely of sapphire. This year, the BR X2 Tourbillon Micro-rotor is an evolution of what they learnt while working with sapphire. The concept was to showcase the movement front and centre and as a result the mainplate of the watch doubles up as the mid case and it is sandwiched by two sapphire components.
