If there’s one piece from Hublot’s Baselworld 2014 novelties that showcases the prowess of the brand’s manufacture, it’s the Classic Fusion Cathedral Tourbillon Minute Repeater.
After the success of the first in-house minute repeater and tourbillon caliber found in the special edition Big Bang from 2010, Hublot and its R&D department have come out with the second iteration of the Grande Complication movement.
Striking watches like minute repeaters and the even more complex “cathedral” minute repeaters are among the most difficult watch complications to execute, so it should come as no surprise that the HUB8001 movement found in the Classic Fusion Cathedral Tourbillon Minute Repeater took 24 months to develop.
The HUB8001 movement, visible on the dial side of the watch thanks to the transparent sapphire glass dial, consists of 319 individual components including bridges, cams and springs, racks and hammers, gongs and snails, cage, wheels, jewels and screw; all finished to the highest standards in haute horlogerie including polished screw-heads, chamfered and polished edges on the bridges and a circular-graining “perlage” pattern on the mainplate.
What sets the Classic Fusion Cathedral Tourbillon Minute Repeater apart besides the strength and clarity of the dual cathedral chime is the way the trigger piece is integrated into the case design. In most minute repeaters, activation “slider” is found protruding out of the side of the case, throwing off the balance of the design. With the Classic Fusion Cathedral Tourbillon Minute Repeater however, the trigger has been incorporated into the original case design by the integrated bezel lug (sometimes called “the ear”) on the left-hand side of the case, preserving the harmonious lines of the Classic Fusion case.
The Classic Fusion Cathedral Tourbillon Minute Repeater is a highly exclusive Grand Complications timepiece that will be available in a King Gold version limited to 50 pieces and a Titanium version limited to 99 pieces.