Hublot deepens its partnership with artist Takashi Murakami as its creates the MP 15 Takashi Murakami Tourbillon Sapphire, a dramatic new limited edition central flying tourbillon watch with a clear sapphire case, dial and crown.
The watch maintains Murakami’s well-known flower and smile-face motif, which Hublot and the artist have developed for previous special models, but enhances the focus here to clear sapphire. 
Also central to the design is Hublot’s central flying tourbillon, a first for the watchmaker set within a series-produced model. The fully skeletonized movement, exposed without an upper bridge, appears to float in space.
In place of a traditional dial, Murakami places twelve clear sapphire flower petals that frame the tourbillon, onto which Hublot adds two titanium eyes and a broad titanium smile. Two small hands rotate, unusually, under the tourbillon cage, with their tips indicating hours and minutes. 
In order to create this rare configuration, Hublot watchmakers pivoted the cannon pinion and the hour wheel around the tourbillon support, creating a co-axial construction.
Hublot tops the black-plated hands with SuperLuminova for thrilling night-time visibility.
The central flying tourbillon is also quite unusual— and technically interesting. With an impressive power reserve of 150 hours, the tourbillon can be fully wound via a supplied stylus. Rechargeable using a USB socket, the stylus is placed on the crown and winds it through 100 revolutions. The wearer can also wind the watch using the crown.
The Hublot MP 15 Takashi Murakami Tourbillon Sapphire is surprisingly modest in size (42mm by 13.4mm) and arrives on an integrated rubber strap. The watch will be made as limited edition model of fifty pieces.
Price: $316,000.
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