Limited to just 50 pieces and presented in sapphire, the new Hublot MP-15 Takashi Murakami is the brand’s first limited edition watch with a central flying tourbillon.
They say the dial is the face of the watch. Yet with the new Hublot MP-15 Takashi Murakami, there is no dial in the true sense. Instead, in the dial’s customary location sits the complication, with the hands occupying a peripheral position, and at the centre is Hublot’s first series-produced central flying tourbillon – unique and different from anything the Manufacture has created in its 40 years.
READ: New Kids Programme for Mauritius
This unique complication is surrounded by Takashi Murakami’s iconic motif, a flower composed of 12 petals made entirely of sapphire. The flower features soft curves and bold, generous volumes that are accentuated by Hublot’s use of sapphire in the case, caseback, crown, and translucent flange – there’s even a translucent strap, allowing light to pass straight through, illuminating the piece’s curves and reliefs.
This central flying tourbillon features an impressive power reserve of 150 hours and is wound using a special stylus that’s rechargeable via a USB socket. When placed on the crown, it winds through 100 revolutions smoothly and easily until both barrels that drive the central tourbillon, the position of which embodies its function as a visual pleasure and which incorporates two twinkling eyes and a broad smile.
READ: Hôtel Rochechouart Opens New Signature Restaurant
Around the edge, the hours and minutes are indicated by the tips of two hands that literally pass beneath the tourbillon cage, and the movement’s skeletonised design enables the wearer to appreciate just how much work has gone into developing the MP-15, in which some of the gears and all of the tourbillon components – which appear to float in space – are visible.