Ten years ago Hublot pioneered the black-on-black-on-black look in watches. Sure, it made it hard to read the time, but when your watch looked that cool who could care? They called it (appropriately enough) ‘All Black’ and this year they’ve released a number of special limited editions to celebrate.
New movement + new look = new ball game?
Meccano-inspired Big Bang Meca-10 was describe as a ‘transitional object’ by its Hublot. It’s an interesting choice of phrase. You could take it literally and assume that Hublot are referring to the watch as a way for people who obsessed about Meccano and technical constructions when they were younger to move into some more grown up gadgets. Or you could interpret that it’s talking about a transitional object for Hublot the brand, and their design language. We are erring on the side of the latter. You see, we think the Big Bang Meca-10 is quite an important watch. With a deep new movement (that isn’t a chronograph) and a look that somehow seems even more confident and assured, we can’t help but wonder if this the start of the next chapter of Big Bang?
Hublot released the first Big Bang Ferrari watches, products of a collaboration with the famed Italian automaker, in 2012. Since then, the brand has expanded the Hublot Ferrari collection each year, with all models equipped with Hublot’s in-house Unico movement.
In early 2013, the brand released three new models headlined by the Hublot Big Bang “Red Magic Carbon.” Its Unico movement incorporates a flyback chronograph mechanism that uses two push-buttons and can be reset at any time. Unlike many other chronograph movements, it has a column wheel visible on the dial side, an hour counter driven directly by the barrel, and no jumper in the chronograph mechanism. Its pallet fork and escapement wheel are made of ultra-light silicon and affixed to a removable platform. First released in 2009 (and, according to Hublot, continually adjusted ever since), the movement has 330 parts, a high frequency of 28,800 vph, and a power reserve of 72 hours.
With the launch of its Unico movement, Hublot became a manufacture. In this in-depth review we find out how the Unico performs inside the brand’s King Power Unico All Black. Scroll down to read the full article, with stunning visuals by Zuckerfabrik Fotodesign. Click on the pictures for larger images.
Hublot announced its latest high-profile partnership — and introduced its newest limited-edition timepiece — on April 20, during New York’s Madison Avenue Watch Week. The new Hublot Big Bang Sang Bleu is a totally redesigned version of the brand’s Big Bang Unico, with a dial design, and timekeeping system, inspired by the work of Swiss tattoo artist Maxime Büchi.
