Purple: the colour of princes, and actual Prince. Though despite its noble stock, it’s not the easiest shade in the colouring book. That’s because you don’t see it that much. Cuban collar shirts tap every tone under the sun, but not purple. The same for sweatshirts, and sportswear, and tailoring. Even boys from Henley called Freddy and Archie, with their propensity for salmon and mustard trousers, rarely reach for Cadbury’s home strip. But Hublot has.

At Watches and Wonders, the Swiss-based showcase at which several big marques show off their 2022 haul, Hublot empurpled one of its banner Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Sapphire pieces. Like its stablemates, the most recent piece is semi transparent, and packed with the sort of meticulous engine that’s standard practice for the left-field outfit (in this case, a HUB6035 movement that delivers 72 hours of power). But this is the first in purple. And, given the industry’s conservative bent, one of the first in such a stark shade for a long, long time.

It’s not totally unexpected from Hublot. Previous watches in the Sapphire family have come in yellow, blue, orange, black, red, and fully clear. The brand also has a nice habit for pretty mad crafting techniques. What makes the purple entry so different though is the sheer vividness of it. This sort of stark violet has been achieved by mixing a blend of aluminium oxide and chrome into the actual sapphire material. And that’s science!

Watches this unusual are hard to come by – even when they finally come out. Hublot’s purple novelty will be limited to just 50 pieces worldwide at a price of around £200,000 as of press time. Until then: Alexa, play ‘When Doves Cry’.