Hard to believe, but it has only been about one year since the official collaboration between Ferrari and Hublot began. Overall, it has undoubtedly been both a commercial and marketing success for Hublot, the latter of which of course contributes to the former. Building on the success of the initial Ferrari Big Bangs — pieces which I referred to as “ridiculously awesome” at the time (what can I say it was a heartfelt moment) — Hublot is full speed ahead in 2013 with three new editions for its Big Bang Ferrari family. There is a black carbon case w/ red sapphire glass, a King Gold and carbon fiber, and a black ceramic and carbon fiber — all three are pictured above on one of two straps that ships with the watch, the red Schedoni leather strap with red stitching and black rubber lining. I’ll explore them all in detail, below.
First as a quick refresher, if you haven’t seen the first two Hublot Ferrari Big Bangs you can click through now and do that; I’ve also pictured them below — Titanium and Magic Gold. The latter being Hublot’s patented — and the world’s first — scratch-resistant 18K gold. Among many excellent attributes, these pieces featured the Ferrari “prancing horse” on the dial, “Ferrari” emblazoned chrono pushers, and a five-spoke wheel design for the rotor. The movement, by the way, was from Hublot’s in-house UNICO series, in this case the HUB1240 UNICO flyback, column-wheel chronograph. The Ti version was announced as a limited edition of 1000 pieces; the Magic Gold, just 500 pieces.
Technically speaking there was a model which preceded these two models, but it was a 20-piece LE Big Bang Ferrari Chrono Tourbillon for the Chinese market.
Now, let’s get to the three new models in the 45mm Big Bang Ferrari family. These models essentially carry through the same design attributes. They also reflect Hublot’s continued progress on vertical-integration: the case and movement are designed, developed, and produced in-house. What is new is the material choice — gold, carbon fiber, and ceramic, in various combinations.
Some enthusiasts may find the carbon fiber case a bit much (left, below), and in fact even the King Gold with carbon bezel (middle, below) may not suit the tastes of those for whom carbon fiber is not desirable. If this be the case, the All Black Ceramic could be your choice — it is certainly my favorite of the bunch.
In contrast to the red straps above, the models are shown here on the black Schedoni leather strap with red stitching and rubber lining. By the way if you are wondering who “Schedoni” is, you can check out their website or just know now that that the century-old Italian leather-crafters make all the fitted luggage for Ferrari road cars. We’re talking supreme quality leather straps here is basically what it comes down to.
The movement in these new pieces is again a UNICO series — the HUB 1241 flyback chronograph. There are some technical details on this caliber that Hublot is quick to point out. I’m just not familiar enough myself to give them a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, but here they are: the flyback chronograph can be reset at any time (which Hublot says is unique in the watchmaking industry); the hour counter is driven directly by the barrel, and there is no jumper in the chronograph mechanism. The earlier Big Bang Ferrari models have the HUB1240. I’m not sure of how it differs from the HUB1241, but I do know that Hublot has been making continual adjustments to the UNICO series since introduction in 2009/2010.
You can see that the famous “column wheel” — complete with “H” in the middle — is visible on the dial side.
Hublot Big Bang Ferrari “Red Magic Carbon”
Limited Edition 1000 pieces
45mm carbon fiber case, red sapphire crystal
The carbon fiber case is entirely designed, developed and manufactured by Hublot. Unlike forged carbon, Hublot uses the multi-layer technique which involves the stacking of several sheets of carbon fibre (up to twelve for the thickest component), pressed into moulds and placed in polymerization ovens. The advantage of this principle: No bubbles.
Hublot Big Bang Ferrari “King Gold Carbon”
Limited Edition 500 pieces
45mm case King Gold, carbon fiber bezel
Hublot Big Bang Ferrari “All Black” Ceramic
Limited Edition 1000 pieces
45mm ceramic case
And there you have it, the three newest additions to the Hublot Big Bang Ferrari family. I really like the All Black ceramic.
Maybe there will be another surprise or two at Baselworld. Another BB Ferrari, maybe? Or how about an early look at Magic Silver? Stay tuned…
