Early this year, Hublot has unveiled a Big Bang with a tonneau shape. Previously tonneau shapes were reserved for very special edition Hublot watches. This represents the first time that tonneau shapes were used as in a series production watch collection. The Spirit of Big Bang is very sharp, while maintaining the classic aesthetics that Hublot has become world famous for. This collection is set to be the fourth major pillar in the Hublot portfolio. The Spirit of Big Bang is poised to be one of the great releases for 2014 from this esteemed, and established Swiss watchmaker.
The Spirit of Big Bang comes in four versions – titanium, titanium with a ceramic bezel, King gold (18kt rose gold), and King gold with a ceramic bezel. This new collection is fitted with 6 ‘H’ shaped screws made from black PVD titanium. The bezel lugs made of composite resin characteristic of each and every Big Bang model remains on the new collection. The case material is satin finished on each of the variant designs. The chrono pushers are lever styled, which offer a great surface area making it easy to operate the chronograph.
The watch features a sublimely attractive open worked dial with indexes and hands generously coated in lume for exceptional legibility during low light conditions. The small seconds register occupies the 9 position. The chronograph subdials are bordered in red and black for quick identification. The chronograph seconds are indicated using a central hand tipped in red. At the 4:30 position is a striking date aperture bordered in red.
Powering this line of watches is an automatic movement, which is based on the El Primero high frequency movement from Zenith. Many eyebrows were raised when this specification was announced but the fact is that Hublot’s in house movement – the Unico was simply too large to fit in the tonneau shape. Hublot did very well to secure the El Primero movement. It isn’t a totally unsurprising move either as both Hublot and Zenith belong to the LVMH luxury group. Prices for these watches will start at approximately $24,000.
