Hublot Big Bang MP-11 Magic Gold LE – $89,500
New watch alert! It’s LVMH new product week! The usual suspects have the news on all the new products. I’ve chosen the ugliest of the bunch, obviously. I mean, I’ve never seen a watch that makes such a big deal of its power reserve. Does anyone really care, to the point where the dial looks like an afterthought? I guess so; the 45mm Big Bang MP-11 Magic Gold is the [you-guessed-it] gold version of a watch previously released with a red ceramic case. The “magic” in the title refers to . . .
Hublot’s alloy. Hublot maintains that Magic metal makes the case 1000 times less prone to scratches than untreated 18k gold. Even so, ninety grand is a lot of scratch for an ugly, scratch resistant watch made of gold that doesn’t look like gold. I reckon the Big Bang is something of a damp squib. I blame the seven in-series mainspring barrels enabling Magic Mike’s all-too-public 14-day PR boast. The rest of Hublot’s new-for-2020 caliber HUB9011 is in there, somewhere. Highlight and delete? We report, you deride.
MB&F Horological Machine N°9 Flow LE (Sapphire Case) – $440k
“Reminiscent of a jet engine, the highly complex case encloses an equally complex in-house movement,” MB&F’s web page copy advises. The second part of that sentence seem fair enough, but I reckon the Horological Machine N°9 looks like male genitalia. That said, if you go with the Flow, it has a certain [old school] Battlestar Galactica Viper vibe. No matter how you view it, when you see the new see-through sapphire version in action it really makes the grade . . .
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends! Actually, the MB&F runs for 45 days on a full wind. New watch alert! The N°9 is awesome floating in air but wrist ridiculous. And there’s no way NOT to knock your $440k wristwatch into a door frame. Sure, the MB&F’s case is made of sapphire, but this horological space oddity won’t take a licking and keep on ticking (never mind a direct hit from a Cylon Raider). If you don’t understand it and don’t have FU money, MB&F’s Horological Machine N°9 Flow LE is not for you.
IWC Pilot’s Watch Timezoner Edition “Le Petit Prince” LE (Blue Dial) – $13,800
When the Chinese pandemic finally fizzles, I’m going to pop over to Nouméa. I want to find out why anyone would want to know the time on an island that’s 913.42 miles from Brisbane, which is also a long way from anywhere and doesn’t merit a mention on any world time watch. I’m not sure if Nouméa is as large as this 46mm pilot’s watch, but I am sure there are actual onions smaller than the timepiece’s onion crown. Oh. Frankfurt’s Next Level called. They want their restraint back.
What sets this IWC apart is a) it’s not a frilly font World Time 5131/1P and b) it’s easy to operate. Press the Timezoner’s bezel and rotate it to select a city. The inner wheel shows the hour at your chosen location, without messing with the main time. A new color doesn’t usually a new watch alert make, but blue is the Petit Prince’s “signature color.” The business-like-but-beautiful in-house 82670 caliber movement lacks color but not drama. The Petit Prince Timezoner is an ideal watch if you don’t know when to call friends and relatives trapped on a small French-speaking Pacific island and Siri’s giving you the cold shoulder. Just sayin’ . . .
I sometimes with I were back in the hyper luxury world so I can get to handle and laugh at the ridiculous stuff again. (Side note, “I wish I was…” is grammatically incorrect). According to IWC, Mexico is just one time zone; talk about overpriced watches.
Not only is the jet engine dumb, it looks even worse on the wrist. I would never want to meet the person who would wear that.
Fourteen day power reserve? Why not just buy something with a quartz movement?
Churlish!
Picasso? Why not just buy wallpaper?
The Horological Machine Number Nine, Number Nine, confuses me more than a little.
They write: “…twin turbines that spin freely as an element of pure visual interest, waiting for someone to begin this new underwater exploration.”
Why are the purely ornamental geegaws are on the underbelly? And 30m water resistance means this underwater exploration is not to be taken literally.
I was about to laud Maximilian Busser & Friends for unwittingly reviving the driver’s watch, where the dial faces you with hand on the steer wheel. But in normal use, this perpendicular display means cocking the wrist exactly as much, but in the opposite direction.
I like what Dan Henry said about water resistance, and I’m paraphrasing because I am definitely not a Navy SEAL, “I’m a diver. If I’m diving deeper than 50m, I use a dive computer.”
It would be pretty rare for a recreational diver to dive beyond 50M (164 feet), since recreational diving is considered maxed out at 130 feet (or 40 meters). That’s the MAX. Most of my diving was around 50 – 60 feet (15 – 18 meters), with occasional dips to 80 feet (24 meters). I used a computer regardless of depth. Always. And, that’s going back to 1989.
Thank you! My divers are used (almost) exclusively at a desk.
Mine, too. I was an avid diver for many years. But, it’s been at least 20 years since I’ve done it. But, I used a dive computer starting in 1989 (U.S. Divers Monitor 2).
But in normal use, this perpendicular display means COCKING the wrist exactly as much, but in the opposite direction.
I see what you did there.
Honestly, that was unintentional. Perhaps Freudian.
Haha… I figured as much. But, I couldn’t resist the implication. 😀
That MB&F Horological Machine N°9 Flow LE is either a barely stylized “hoo-ha,” or a steampunk hoo-ha-inspired spaceship. Good golly!
A few years ago some intrepid U.S. Navy F-18 pilots drew a “Horological Machine No 9” in the sky.
https://i1.wp.com/blurredculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/c7f5603ed400ffe2-2048×1024.jpg?fit=2048%2C1024
Man, I’m so proud to have served in the Navy! 😉