Watch Paparazzi

Rapper Huang Zitao spotted wearing Hublot

Huang Zitao, the Chinese rapper and actor who built a solo career after departing K-pop group EXO, has been photographed wearing one of the most technically audacious wristwatches produced in the 21st century: a Piece Unique sapphire-cased Hublot MP-05 LaFerrari with a gold-toned movement. The sighting underscores Zitao's reputation as one of the most adventurous watch collectors in Chinese entertainment.

The Hublot MP-05 LaFerrari debuted in 2013 as a co-creation between Hublot and the Ferrari design studio in Maranello. Its vertical tourbillon, stacked in-line column-wheel regulator, and seven series-coupled mainspring barrels deliver an extraordinary 50-day power reserve — a world record for a manual-wind tourbillon at the time of release. The movement comprises 637 components and is wound via an electric screwdriver-style tool that docks into the crown, mirroring Ferrari's pit-lane precision culture. The case itself is architecturally derived from the LaFerrari hypercar's chassis silhouette.

The standard production MP-05 LaFerrari was released in titanium and black PVD editions. Hublot subsequently produced the Sapphire version — a full-crystal case machined from 188 components of sapphire crystal, requiring over 1,000 hours of cutting and polishing per case — in a 20-piece limited series priced near $300,000. The Piece Unique designation on Zitao's example, combining the sapphire case with a gold-finished movement rather than the standard grey-tone, places this watch entirely outside any numbered production run. It is, by definition, singular.

Zitao has previously been linked to Richard Mille and Patek Philippe references, but the MP-05 LaFerrari Piece Unique represents a different category of collecting entirely — one driven by engineering spectacle and exclusivity over traditional prestige. The watch aligns naturally with his fashion-forward brand identity and his well-documented affinity for objects that are genuinely rare rather than merely expensive.

On the secondary market, even standard sapphire MP-05 LaFerrari examples rarely surface, and when they do, they transact significantly above original retail. A confirmed Piece Unique with gold movement has no meaningful grey-market comparator — its value is determined entirely by private negotiation. UK list price at launch was reported near £1 million, and the Piece Unique premium would place any realistic transaction well beyond that figure.