If I were asked to pick the quintessential Hublot watch, the choice would be easy. It’s the Big Bang Unico. Just about every watch brand has a model that can be pointed to as a sort of platonic ideal. That watch tells you pretty much everything you need to know about the core of a brand. For Hublot, it’s the Big Bang Unico, and Hublot knows it.
The Big Bang Unico is to Hublot what the 458 was to Ferrari, a pure distillation of the brands’ essence into something that you can (mostly) drive in the real world. The Big Bang Unico Ceramic, well that’s more like a 458 Speciale — mostly the same thing, but with a little extra oomph. For Watches & Wonders this year, Hublot is continuing to iterate on the tried and true 42mm flyback chronograph with the introduction of three new variants of the Big Bang Unico, each made primarily of ceramic.
To kick us off, Hublot is introducing two new versions of the Big Bang Unico Ceramic, one in orange, and one in green, each in a limited edition of 250 pieces. These aren’t entirely new colors for the brand, we’ve seen green ceramic on the Big Bang Integral Chronograph, and Hublot produced an orange ceramic limited edition Big Bang Unico inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge through their San Francisco boutique a few years ago. That said, they are welcomed additions to the lineup, and will each have their fair share of fans. Both the Orange and the Green come equipped with color-matched rubber straps and feature black accents throughout.
Perhaps more exciting though is the introduction of a new version of the “Ice Bang.” This 100-piece limited edition, which will only be available through the hublot.com e-commerce boutique, serves as a reimagining of the 2006 limited edition of the same name. Like the earlier version, this new Ice Bang is made primarily of black ceramic but swaps out its ceramic bezel for one made out of tungsten. Gone from the 2006 release is the knurled bezel, sacrificed in favor of a slightly less aggressive multi-finish and the new Ice Bang does forfeit the traditional Hublot rubber strap in favor of a more utilitarian velcro option — welcome updates for a contemporary Hublot.
Each of these limited editions is powered by the HUB1280 Unico movement. This automatic flyback chronograph movement should be familiar to fans of Big Bang Unico chronographs and is fitted with a double clutch mechanism and a column wheel, which are visible through the Big Bang’s skeleton dial. The watches are each 42mm in diameter, 14.5mm thick, and 100m water resistant.
The Hublot Big Bang Unico Orange Ceramic and Green Ceramic are each available in a limited edition of 250 for $29,600. The 100-piece limited edition Hublot Big Bang Unico Ice Bang is available exclusively through the Hublot e-commerce boutique for the same MSRP. Hublot
