SpotlightHublot’s LVMH Watch Week 2025: Innovation Meets Bold Design
From a downsized MECA-10 to the striking SAXEM Tourbillon, Hublot's LVMH Watch Week 2025 lineup offers something for every type of watch enthusiast
May We Recommend
Kicking off the horological calendar in New York rather than its originally planned Los Angeles location, LVMH Watch Week 2025 saw Hublot doing what Hublot does best—pushing boundaries while staying true to form. The Swiss watchmaker’s lineup spans from clever reinterpretations of existing models to genuine material innovation, with eight new releases that touch on pretty much everything we’ve come to expect: mechanical complexity, bold aesthetics, and some seriously interesting experiments in case materials.
Shrinking the MECA-10: Now in 42mm
The original MECA-10, launched in 2016, was always a bit of a conversation starter with its industrial-inspired skeleton movement that looked like someone had transplanted a Meccano set into a watch case. The catch? At 45mm, it wasn’t exactly subtle. Hublot’s finally addressed this with a new 42mm version, managing to retain everything that made the original interesting while making it significantly more wearable.
The redesigned HUB1205 movement still offers that impressive 10-day power reserve and maintains the original’s construction toy aesthetics, but with a more refined layout. The power reserve indicator has been cleverly integrated into the mainspring barrel at 3 o’clock, and the movement parts are galvanically coloured to match each case variant—titanium, King Gold, or Frosted Carbon. It’s a smart evolution that makes one of Hublot’s most technically interesting pieces accessible to a wider audience.
The SAXEM Tourbillon
The showstopper in Hublot’s 2025 lineup comes in the form of an emerald green watch that’s essentially sapphire, but not quite. The Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Green SAXEM continues Hublot’s experiments with their proprietary SAXEM material—a crystal that combines aluminium oxide with rare earth elements to achieve what natural sapphire can’t: consistent, vivid colouring with the same scratch resistance and complexity.
Limited to 18 pieces, the 44mm case houses Hublot’s in-house MHUB6035 automatic tourbillon calibre, visible through both the front and back. The movement features a micro-rotor at 12 o’clock and a tourbillon at 6 o’clock, offering a 72-hour power reserve. The skeleton dial uses smoked sapphire crystal with green Super-LumiNova on the hands and markers, while a matching transparent green rubber strap completes the package.
Spirit of Big Bang Chronograph: Colour Theory
After nearly a decade of the Spirit of Big Bang’s tonneau-shaped case design, Hublot’s bringing its ceramic colour mastery to the collection. The new chronographs come in three variants—Sand Beige, Dark Green, and Sky Blue—each limited to 200 pieces. These aren’t just simple colour swaps; each 42mm case is crafted from high-tech ceramic that’s both scratch-resistant and lightweight, water-resistant to 100m, with matching coloured chronograph counters and hands across the skeleton dial.
The self-winding HUB4700 chronograph movement visible through the sapphire crystal offers a 50-hour power reserve and drives a 60-minute counter at 9 o’clock, small seconds at 3 o’clock, and a 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock. Hublot’s finished each piece with their signature rubber strap featuring a deployant buckle, colour-matched to complement each case.
Spirit of Big Bang Year of the Snake
Joining Hublot’s zodiac lineup is the Spirit of Big Bang Year of the Snake, landing just in time for the Lunar New Year. Limited to 88 pieces, the 42mm chronograph shows off Hublot’s attention to detail with a black ceramic case intricately engraved with serpentine scales. The real showpiece is a rose gold-plated snake that winds its way around the chronograph subdials on the skeleton dial, while the rubber strap features an embossed scale pattern that creates a velvety shimmer.
The watch maintains the collection’s technical specs with its self-winding chronograph movement housed in a water-resistant case to 100m. It’s a more subtle take on the zodiac theme than we’ve seen in previous years, letting the textural elements do the heavy lifting rather than relying on obvious symbolism.
Final Thoughts
Hublot’s start to 2025 covers an impressive spread: a more wearable MECA-10, some fresh ceramic experimentation, a technically ambitious green SAXEM piece, and a thoughtfully designed zodiac watch. Between the downsized classics and the bold material innovation, there’s a clear signal that the brand isn’t content to rest on its laurels. It’s a solid start to the watch world’s 2025 calendar, setting the tone for what’s shaping up to be an interesting year in horology.
