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Hublot Classic Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton

written by A.Morgan - 13th Feb 2012

The Hublot Big Bang is a great watch, and here’s why; it’s outlandish, it’s bold and it’s a whole lot of fun. It’s as crazy as a sky-diving trip with the Cirque du Soleil into a volcano, and just as expensive, but even the most die-hard Hublot fan will need a break from its craziness from time to time, a period of calm upon which to prepare for the next wave of adventure. This downtime would usually come in the form of an A. Lange & Söhne or similar, but now the alternative for the Hublot could well be… another Hublot.

The Classic Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton blends (fuses?) the best of high-end watchmaking with the excitement of Hublot design in a tamer, more easily digestible package. The Classic Fusion line is nothing new, but it previously came across as something of a half-hearted effort from designers who would rather be working out how to squeeze giga-tourbilons into the Big Bang case instead. This new effort redresses that balance, giving the Classic Fusion its own identity and personality whilst also making it a very handsome watch indeed.

The movement is a Hublot-developed HUB1300 manual wind that somehow manages to find space for ninety hours of power reserve within its paper-thin 2.9mm thickness. The movement is also skeletonised to save weight, but the patterns drawn out by the removal of material are far from traditional. Industrial and angular, like the hull of a deep-space mining vessel (before Ripley blows it up), the movement adds the depth visually that thin case takes away physically, so the watch doesn’t have that cramped feel between the dial and the crystal that some ultra-thin watches suffer from.

Carrying on the weight-saving theme, the case is machined from titanium (or rose gold if preferred, at the cost of weight), whilst several components within the case are made from composite resins. Finished off with a crocodile strap, the Classic Fusion Extra-Thin Skeleton just looks right; well-balanced and carefully crafted, with added maturity over its Big Bang big brother. With just a thousand of the titanium and five hundred of the rose gold versions available, the Extra-Thin is likely to sell out Extra-Fast.