Baselworld 2012 - Hublot Classic fusion Extra Thin Skeleton watch

New extra-slim, skeleton watches from the renowned Hublot Classic Fusion Collection have immediately impressed me with their beautiful appearances and superb inner-works. Exposed through both sides of a robust tonneau-shaped case, an exceptional in-house skeletonized mechanism demonstrates exceptional skills of the Swiss watchmaker.

New Classic Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton watch is going to be officially presented at the upcoming Baselworld 2012 watch and jewelry show, in two versions. Both executed with the great taste and an exceptional style, the first one is crafted in titanium (Ref. 515.NX.0170.LR), while the luxury version comes in 18 karat King (pink) Gold (Ref. 515.OX.0180.LR). Beautiful combination of polished and vertically satin-finished surfaces on the over-sized, 45 mm case additionally emphasizes the central part of the watch, which is revealed through the antireflective sapphire crystal and an open-worked dial.

It is the ultra-thin manufacture HUB1300 movement, which is, with its amazing thickness of 2.90 mm, one of the world’s slimmest skeletonized mechanisms. (If you like this kind of architecture, you will probably also enjoy in Piaget Altiplano Skeleton Automatic watch and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 40th Anniversary watch.) This manual-winding movement provides the superb power-reserve of 90 hours! It is blackened and nicely decorated, which is especially visible through the case-back.

Polished and red gold-plated hour markers, as well as central hands which come in matching material are nicely visible on the black, skeletonized dial. However, rhodium-plated markers and hands which are used for the titanium version offer lower readability than the red gold version; still it is more than enough for the normal every-day use. Besides, a discrete small seconds sub-dial takes the 7 o’clock position.

Each version of the new Hublot Classic Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton timepiece is available with a black alligator strap stitched onto black rubber, with a deployment buckle in black PVD steel or 18 karat red gold. The new edition will be limited to 1500 pieces: 1000 watches will be released in titanium, while the King Gold version is going to be more exclusive, with 500 produced pieces. The expected price goes around $19,000 for the titanium model, while the pink gold version will cost about $39,000.