Hublot’s Big Bang Integrated Ceramic represents the Nyon Manufacture’s prodigious know-how.
Before it was En Vogue, Hublot was the first brand to have dared to combine gold and rubber in the same watch, becoming a master of the “Art of Fusion”. In fact, innovation has been a driving force at everything the brand has done: fusing traditional, modern and pioneering materials.
At Hublot, materials are an integral part of their watches’ design, complementing their design, while protecting their comparatively fragile mechanisms within ‒ resulting in timepieces that can withstand the test of time.
As such, the Manufacture has chosen to use high-tech ceramic for certain bezels and cases: an ultra-tough and almost entirely scratch-proof material (apart from the diamond) with a base of zirconium sintered at very high temperatures. Hublot’s ambition would eventually lead them to create a fully ceramic timepiece 15 years after the launch of the Big Bang with integrated bracelet.
An integrated fusion of monobloc and mono material rendered in monochrome, the Hublot Big Bang Integrated Ceramic is the definition of “integrated”. Considered to be scratch and wear proof, ceramic boasts a hardness that is unlike any traditional watch metal, such as stainless steel or gold, but its relative strengths also betray a new challenge: the difficulties in machining a monobloc ceramic watch case.
Under compression, ceramic can bear extremely high loads with strengths ranging 1000 to 4000 MPa. Comparatively, titanium only has 1000 MPa. That said, low ductility and brittleness means that ceramic can shatter on severe impacts; with sintered zirconium, this disadvantage has been surmounted at a serial production level with the latest Big Bang Integrated Ceramic.
Hublot has pushed the boundaries of ceramic, by increasing the hardness and scratch resistance of this material and enhancing the intensity of its sun-proof fade-proof colour while retaining its lightness ‒ making it a delight to wear, thanks to its low thermal conductivity and its hypoallergenic quality.
The Big Bang Integrated is emblematic of Hublot’s DNA, fusing its ingenuity and the high fashion quotient of four new monochrome shades to the collection. A technical-looking sports chronograph with seriously fun vibes (losing only to the Purple summer edition), the new series Big Bang Integrated Ceramic watches possess a character completely different from the original titanium or gold editions.
The Big Bang Ceramic’s sportiness is further enhanced by the HUB1280 Unico with the column-wheel flyback chronograph. The calibre operating at 4Hz with 72 hours of power reserve is similar to the first-generation Unico movement, but it enjoys a number of patented new parts which make it more reliable, easier to service, a little thinner, and also slightly more efficient.
Each is available in a limited edition of 250 pieces; there are four colourways which represent the elements of water, earth and wood: indigo blue (from the Majorelle Garden and the streets of Chefchaouen in Morocco, and the Blue City of Jodhpur in Rajasthan); sky blue (from the South Seas); sand beige (from the deserts, and from the beaches of the Caribbean); and jungle green (from the tropical forests).
HUBLOT BIG BANG INTEGRATED CERAMIC
PRICE + SPECS
Case 42 mm satin finished and polished ceramic with 100 metres water resistance
Movement Automatic HUB1280 with 72 hours power reserve
Price US$24,100
(Images: Hublot)
