Another nod to the club is that the Chelsea lion in gold at 12 o’clock. The applied hour markers are rhodium-plated and full of white luminescent material. Similarly, the rhodium-plated hour and minute hands will also be filled with white luminescent material to aid legibility in dimly-lit environments. The movement within is the caliber HUB4100, which is really based on an ETA 2894 or Sellita equivalent and fitted with a chronograph module. Obviously, an in-house Hublot Unico motion would have been chosen and would have made the opinion more desired, but the HUB4100 is a dependable combination and it does help keep the price down, if just a little. The grade HUB4100 beats at 4Hz and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The motion is visible through the watch’s sapphire display caseback on which a symbol of the crest of the bar is printed.Like a season’s Classic Fusion Chronograph Chelsea FC watch, this new Big Bang Chelsea FC watch was designed specifically for Chelsea fanatics. In comparison to last year’s model, this new watch comes in a shade of blue that I think is more accurate and faithful to the home colors of the bar. The Hublot Big Bang Chelsea FC watch is limited to 200 pieces and is priced at #13,000 (currently roughly $17,000).Each year in Munich, the steins are stuffed (and re-filled), and also the men don their brief leather breeches to celebrate Oktoberfest. This season, Hublot joined the festivities by partnering with local tanner Meindl to make a distinctly Bavarian incarnation of its popular Big Bang watch which has had so many versions resulting from several collaborations. The Hublot Big Bang Bavaria is the first Big Bang to include a bronze case, and it appears as though the material was selected for its rustic colour and properties to match the hand-embroidered deer leather strap in the Bund design, evoking a connection with all the German region of Bavaria’s conventional garb.
Hublot adds two models to the Big Bang Ferrari line-up, the result of a partnership between the Swiss watchmaker and the Italian maker of supercars, including the Big Bang Ferrari Grey Ceramic, a tribute to the Ferrari NART.
Soon to be unveiled at Baselworld 2015, the Hublot Big Bang Ferrari Black Ceramic is styled in black and red, the classic colours of Ferrari. And the second model is the Big Bang Ferrari Grey Ceramic, modelled on the colours of Ferrari NART (short for “North America Racing Team”), the American-backed team active in the sixties and seventies that competed in endurance races, winning at Le Mans and Daytona. Both the new Big Bang Ferrari models are in 45 mm in diameter, with cases in ceramic with black composite inserts. A black mesh inspired by Ferrari grilles, the dials have a Ferrari prancing horse inset at nine o’clock. And the minute register at three o’clock integrates the date window with a skeletonised date numeral against a bright yellow backing.
Schedoni leather-covered rubber straps – the Italian firm is the maker of Ferrari leather goods – are standard, and are easily interchangeable by pressing the button on the lug. To complete the automotive aesthetic, the straps are painted with a racing stripe. And Inside is the HUB 1241 Unico movement, Hublot’s modular, in-house chronograph calibre with a flyback function, fitted with a rotor inspired by a hubcap. Each model is limited to 250 pieces, with pricing to be revealed at Basel next month.
