Hublot are a brand that you either love to hate or hate to love. As far as luxury watches go, it is one of the most visible and popular thanks to its aggressive marketing strategy. And we all know it’s cool to hate something popular and trendy. Hublot happen to be the master of trends; the hottest materials, the hottest colours, the hottest celebrities – you name it, they’ve got it. Sure, the brand caters to a wide audience, including those that don’t know what a movement is and only care that it’s their favourite rapper’s watch or that it is encrusted in diamonds. But make no mistake, underestimate Hublot at your own peril, for the manufacture sits at the forefront of modern watchmaking.
Hublot MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium
Beyond the trendy, fashionable Hublot watches targeted at the general populace lie a special series of watches that are more watchmaking-centric: the MP series. This is where Hublot engineers showcase their know-how and push the boundaries of modern watchmaking. The MP (short for Masterpiece) series is home to the brand’s most avant-garde movements and designs. Perhaps the most iconic and memorable MP timepiece is the MP-05 LaFerrari, with its absurdly long power reserve, outrageous winding method, and unforgettable engine-inspired case design. The MP series is more than just the MP-05 of course; there’s the MP-13 and the MP-15 too, both of which are just as stunning. Earlier this year, Hublot presented a new model for the MP series: the MP-10. Its full name is a mouthful like the rest of its siblings: the MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium and as you might imagine, it’s got a tourbillon, made of titanium, and a novel winding system. Here, we bring you the details and our honest thoughts on Hublot’s latest Masterpiece.
The Case, Dial, and Hands
The MP-10 does not look like your average wristwatch, because it isn’t. The case is shaped like a MagSafe charging case for your AirPods, but that’s where the similarities end. It is crafted from a combination microblasted titanium and AR-treated sapphire crystal, rounded to perfection. The former offers solidity for the rubber straps to latch on with H-bolts, with the latter offering unparalleled view of the unique movement within.
There is no dial proper per se, not even hands. Every functional display is attached to a part of the movement, and they rotate. The hour and minutes sit in the upper third of the movement and are displayed via aluminium rollers with a discreet magnifying glass for legibility. Just below it is a circular power reserve indicator that starts green when the movement is juiced up and ends red when it needs winding. The bottom portion of the movement is where you’ll find the tourbillon, featuring a seconds track directly printed onto the rotating cage. While dial-less watches have the propensity to be illegible, this is surprisingly and delightfully not the case with the MP-10. Sure it’s not as intuitive to read as a digital alarm clock or a watch with baton hands against a white dial, but we felt that it was fluid and natural enough reading the time from top to bottom. The white print on black certainly helped too.
The Movement
Driving the MP-10 is the 66-jewel manufacture calibre HUB9013. The entire movement is so left field that, for once, the tourbillon isn’t grabbing all the attention. Nevertheless, we do have to talk about the tourbillon. It is made from monobloc aluminium, suspended, and inclined at a 35° angle. The tourbillon completes a full rotation every minute, which allows its cage to double as a seconds indicator. But as mesmerising as it is, it is the twin linear weights on each flank of the movement that is the MP-10’s reason for being. These white gold weights oscillate to wind the movement bidirectionally, providing a minimum of 48 hours of power reserve. Think Shake Weight, but less suggestive and more nerdy.
Immaculate hand-finished movements have never been the focus at Hublot. The Calibre HUB9013 is attractively – though not artisanally – finished.
The Competitive Landscape
The MP-10 is such a novel timepiece that there isn’t anything like it in the market. In that sense, its only competitors are other conceptual, contemporary wristwatches or simply, watches with atypical winding mechanisms. For a quarter of a mil (CHF250,000) you can be one of 50 eventual owners of Hublot’s latest Masterpiece.
Alternatively, you could opt for Hublot’s most popular Masterpiece, the MP-05. Created in collaboration with Ferrari, the MP-05 is famous not just for its engine-like case, but also its absurd power reserve. Officially the tourbillon watch with the longest power reserve, the MP-05’s 50-day autonomy is made possible thanks to the 11 stacked barrels you see in the middle of the movement. When the MP-05 made its debut in 2013, it was Hublot’s most sophisticated timepiece ever with 637 parts. And until 2019, it was also the wristwatch with the longest power reserve ever. The MP-05 is so laborious to wind that it comes with a ‘power drill’ to expedite the task. Overall, it is an absurd timepiece in the sense that it is absurdly fun and absurdly impressive. Now discontinued, the MP-05 would have cost you well over half a million Singapore Dollars retail, depending on the variant.
Watches with interesting winding mechanics don’t always have to be avant-garde – they can be antiquated as well. If you thought the central winding rotor was old school, feast your eyes on the pendulum hammer winding system of the Moritz Grossmann Hamatic. Inspired by early self-winding pocket watches, the pendulum-style hammer weight swings in an arc when there is movement and transfers the energy to the mainspring through the ratchet wheel. Of course, compared to the pendulum weights in 18th century pocket watches, the one in the Hamatic is thoroughly optimised and modernised. It is also beautifully finished, just like the rest of the watch. This is one for those who appreciate finissage at the highest level and classical watchmaking. The Hamatic in rose gold is priced at EUR61,500.
Final Thoughts
Like every Hublot wristwatch in existence, the MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium isn’t for everyone, pricing notwithstanding. You’ll like it if you’re into ultra-contemporary mechanical watches, and if not, you’ll at least appreciate the novelty and ingenuity behind the piece.
