Tuesday, November 27, 2012

GTE 2013 Hublot's Zebra Stripes


Last week I blogged about watch companies and their pets.  My mind is still whirling with animal themes watches so when  spotted the Hublot's Big Bang Zebra Bang, I thought it a wonderful addition to my mental  menagerie of animal themes.  It seems Hublot is sliding down the food chain by unveiling a harmless grazer for its GTE 2013 timepiece. Read more about the Geneva Trade Show which runs from January 21st-25th.   As you recall the previous two animal themed timepieces were the Leopard Bang and Boa bang.  Stylistically Hublot is right on target with this one.
Zebra Stripes are a fashion mainstay  with a history dating back to the late 1800's.  In fact in 1793, a striped clothing frenzy became known as the "zebra period." In the 19th century it was  prisoners who donned the zebra stripes, not out of whim ,of course, but rather a disgruntled obedience. Take a leap to the "now" and one will find zebra stripes accessorizing many a wardrobe. From leggings to handbags to scarves and even commanding an entire outfit whether by night or by day. 

Hublot's Zebra Stripes 41mm ceramic timepiece for the ladies is punctuated with feminine graces. The bezel surrounding the leopard print dial is set with 48 topazes and baguette-cut spinels.

 If you are not familiar with the term Spinal, don't be to disheartened, Spinals are precious gems in themselves - thought to be part of the Corundum family.  The red spinals are often confused with rubies, but in fact are quite different stones. Spinals are found in a variety of colors - the red and cobalt blue spinal.  The purple color spinal owe its hue to iron and chromium.  Spinals require very little treatment as in nature they are flawless and transparent.

 6 signature H shaped titanium screws are embedded, polished and locked upon the bezel. 

Eight bezel set diamonds serve as hour markers and add a glamorous glitter to the dial. A trapezoid date aperture is placed at the 4.30 mark.
The dial is protected by a scratch resistant sapphire crystal  coated on the interior with an anti-reflective treatment.

  A zebra print calfskin strap affixed to a supreme comfort rubber makes for a highly comfortably and flexible strap. Without a doubt the sense of style and fashion afforded by the Hublot Zebra Stripes is impeccable, to say the least, it is the drive beneath its zebra coat which demands a mention.
  The watch is powered by a HUB4300 Automatic Mechanical chronograph movement comprising of 278 components, beating at 28,800 vph, baring 37 jewels and equipped with a 42 hour power reserve.   The efficiency of the automatic winding mechanism is heightened due to  a rare super hard high density chemical element segment known as tungsten affixed to the rotor. (chemical symbol W and atomic number 74). As a result of its high density, tungsten is often as weights and counterweights.
The HUB4300 is equipped with a Glucydur hairspring. The hairspring and balance wheel regulate the entire watch mechanism and thus determining the precision of the timepiece. However the functioning of the  hairspring is highly sensitive to change in temperature thus many higher end  modern watches use an alloy of beryllium, copper, and iron known as Glucydur.  Glucydur (or beryllium bronze) is non-magnetic and is resistant to deformation resulting from temperature change.  In addition it has superior shock resistance than steel.
Companies like Omega prefer a silicon Balance Spring - read A look at Omega's Silicon balance Spring.

This watch is water resistant to 100 meters; however, I am not sure if the strap can take a good swim.


I apologize if my posts are few and far between, but Hurricane Sandy effected by internet connection and it took longer than I thought to get back on track.  However things are returning to normal and posts should be coming on a more regular basis.
Please contact me at rikivanh@gmail.com if you would like me to review a certain watch; link to your webpage, advertise on my site or contact me about writing articles or blogsAny other comments or criticism are welcome too. 
Thanks Vicky 

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