Hublot has announced new versions of its flagship watch, the Big Bang.
The three Big Bang Integrals are launched in titanium, yellow gold and black ceramic. The watches, all time-and-date models with skeletonised dials, measure 40mm and are water resistant to 100m.
The other defining feature of these watches, as their name suggests, is their integrated bracelet – a growing trend in luxury sports watches, where the bracelet and the watch case are joined together, as opposed to the more traditional system of a strap connected to lugs.
Hublot, known for its pioneering use of exotic materials such as Kevlar and tungsten, released the first in its Integral line, the Big Bang Unico Integral, in 2020, in celebration of the Big Bang’s 15th anniversary.
Further versions in colourful ceramic cases followed last year.
If the integrated bracelet looks retro, that’s because it is.
It was pioneered by Gérald Genta, the celebrated designer who has been called “the Picasso of watchmaking”. Genta used an integrated design first for Audemars Piguet (the Royal Oak, 1972) and later for Patek Philippe (the Nautilus, 1976). They are frequently cited as two of the most iconic watches ever made.
The Genta name continues to exert a huge influence on the watch business – he's the subject of an extensive profile in the latest issue of The Big Watch Book, the annual publication from Esquire, while Audemars Piguet is preparing big things for the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak, a year-long celebration, in 2022.
Watchmakers including Cartier, Bulgari, Chopard, Panerai, Piaget, Girard-Perregaux, Maurice Lacroix, Urban Jurgensen, Oris and Bell & Ross have all recently experimented with integrated designs, ones that emphasise a geometric case with lines that flow continuously into a multilink bracelet.
Now Hublot, whose Big Bang line has proved an award-winning commercial hit since 2004, is doubling-down on the trend.
The new watches are priced at £14,700 (titanium); £16,500 (all-black) and £40,000 (yellow gold). The all-black ceramic version is a limited edition of 250.
