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This quirky, playful, yet high-tech model, designed in collaboration with Takashi Murakami, offers a magnificent interpretation of the visual effects of sapphire. In the dial’s customary location sits the complication, with the hands occupying a peripheral position. Enthroned at its heart is the brand’s first series-produced central flying tourbillon.
It is surrounded by Takashi Murakami’s iconic motif, a flower composed of 12 petals entirely made of sapphire. The flower features soft curves and bold, generous volumes. Hublot’s aim was to create absolute transparency in order to maximise the luminosity of the MP-15: sapphire case, sapphire case-back, sapphire crown, translucent flange and strap. The sun will never merely shine on this floral work of art: it will pass straight through it, illuminating its curves and reliefs.
The central flying tourbillon features an impressive power reserve of 150 hours, almost a full week, a significant technical achievement for this type of complication. To enable it to be fully wound, Hublot has created a special stylus. Supplied with the timepiece for which it was specially designed and rechargeable via a USB socket, the stylus is placed on the crown, which it winds through 100 revolutions smoothly and easily until both barrels that drive the central tourbillon are fully wound. The position of the latter embodies its function: an optical pleasure, visible at all times. Takashi Murakami has ably underlined its mischievous nature by incorporating two twinkling eyes and a broad smile.
Around the edge, the hours and minutes are indicated by the tips of two hands. These are peripheral, rather than central. Aficionados will appreciate the technical feat: the hands literally pass beneath the tourbillon cage, in a bold affront to the basic principles of traditional watchmaking science. Here, the escapement and the hours and minutes hands vie for position in a single central space. To accommodate them, the cannon pinion and the hour wheel had to be pivoted around the tourbillon support by creating a co-axial construction.
Hublot has also designed its tourbillon without an upper bridge. All of its components are skeletonised. This makes it easy 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.
The deeply innovative MP-15 nevertheless features the standard markers that enable it to be worn and read naturally and easily. Twelve white indices appear on the flange, while black-plated hands with white Super-LumiNova guarantee perfect legibility both day and night. The model is traditionally wound and set using a crown at 3 o’clock. Moreover, the modest 42mm diameter of this piece makes it supremely easy to wear, not least thanks to its integrated rubber strap which offers optimal comfort.
January 11, 2024