Hublot’s Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Green SAXEM Watch Is Here

Hublot’s tagline is “The Art of Fusion,” and with good reason: since first pairing a rubber strap and gold watch case in 1980, the disruptive Swiss watchmaker has joined disparate materials to spectacular effect. Available in a limited edition of 18 pieces, the new Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Green SAXEM model is no exception. Featuring a green or black rubber strap and a transparent green case revealing a self-winding tourbillon movement that seems to glow from within, it’s made using a material originally developed for industrial application in satellites and lasers.

SAXEM—short for Sapphire Aluminum oxide and rare Earth Mineral—is an alloy of the chemical compound aluminum oxide and the elements thulium, holmium, and chromium. Aluminum oxide is also the building block of the precious gemstone sapphire. While the molecular structure of sapphire is trigonal, SAXEM’s is cubic, allowing it to take on an even more intense color. Adding to Big Bang’s otherworldly aura, its hands trace a smoked black sapphire crystal dial lit by painted photoluminescent Arabic numerals and baton markers that twinkle like stars in the night sky.