Hublot recently introduced a new Limited Edition timepiece, the Big Bang Unico Sapphire Galaxy. The constellation of stars in the Milky Way, from which it takes inspiration, comes to life on  its bezel, made up of precious gemstones such as Amethysts and rose, orange, fuchsia Madagascar and blue Sapphires arranged in a manner that seems to represent a gradient-like rainbow effect. The colours of the 48 baguette cut stones represent the nuances in temperatures of stars: younger, blue stars which emit hot radiation, and red stars that release cold radiation. But guess what? The use of sapphires don’t end here.

We’re all probably familiar with sapphire crystals being used in watches, and sapphire glass that is made to be scratch resistant, but Hublot has taken the use of sapphire to the next level, by making coloured sapphire cases for the watches. The result? This 45mm Big Bang Unico Sapphire Galaxy timepiece, in an all-black casing in smoked sapphire crystal, and another in clear sapphire crystal. Limited to 50 pieces of each available globally, both of these versions come equipped with the UNICO HUB1242 manufacture  self-winding chronograph flyback movement with column wheel, and a skeleton dial.

I’d definitely opt for the all-black version because it provides a more striking contrast against the vibrantly-coloured amethysts and sapphires on the bezel and the skeleton dial, also completely in black, doesn’t take attention away from the beautiful bezel.When it comes to the one with the clear casing, the more visible skeleton dial on this version seems to compete for attention with the colourful precious gemstones to the point that I find my eyes not knowing what I should be focusing on.

Okay with the multicoloured bezel, let’s address the elephant in the room because I know you’re probably thinking that it looks similar to the Rolex Daytona Rainbow in Everose Gold, which also happens to be a chronograph. Although both timepieces have these in common, I’d say that the Rolex is more flashy, while this Hublot is more sporty with its rubber strap. Personally, I prefer this over the Rolex, but perhaps my opinion here could be a liiiiiittleeee biased because ya’ll know my weakness for skeleton dials, don’t you? *insert heart eyes emoji*

Images via Hublot