Hublot is celebrating the 18th Birthday of the Big Bang this year, and to help the festivities has lunched an all new Big Bang Unico in full Magic Gold – Hublot’s wonderous gold allow impervious to scratches! Limited to just 200 pieces, it’s sure to be a hit with collectors and Hublot fans alike.
Say what you want about Hublot, they’ve certainly made their mark on the international watch scene over the past 40 years. A brand not afraid to innovate, they’ve had some major ‘firsts’ for the industry and today still come up with some insane pieces of engineering you can wear on your wrists. Just look at the Big Bang Tourbillon in neon yellow SAXEM they released at the start of the year. If you missed it, have a read of it here and think about the engineering that’s gone into that piece!
So for the Big Bang’s 18th Birthday, it’s not surprising that Hublot would bring out a statement piece like the Big Bang Unico in full Magic Gold. For those not familiar with Magic Gold, it’s the first 18k Gold alloy in the world to withstand scratches, entirely developed by Hublot. To give an idea of its hardness, traditional gold has a rating of 400 Vickers. Hardened steel, 600 Vickers. Magic Gold, 1000 Vickers!
Hublot achieve this by injecting liquid gold into cold-pressed boron carbide components at very high pressure, the equivalent of 2000m of pressure under the ocean. Doing so, Hublot has managed to create a completely unique material, composed of gold and ceramic, that can only be scratched by diamond. Let that sink in – a gold that does not scratch. Who else does this?
The all new Big Bang Unico is in full Magic Gold, so you get major wrist presence with the 44mm Chronograph and amplifying this is the gold on the numeral, hands and indices on the skeletonised dial – all housed under the scratch resistant sapphire crystal.
The Magic Gold is both satin polished and sandblasted to give the case and bezel different textures, which is generally needed when you have a mono-chromatic watch like this. In true Hublot style, they’ve paired the Magic Gold case with a black rubber strap, black titanium pushers and crown to give the watch an overall imposing aesthetic.
Inside beats the heart of the new Big Bang Unico Full Magic Gold – the HUB1280 Unico 2 movement. A self-winding flyback chronograph, entirely developed in house by Hublot. With a 72 hour power reserve and beating at 28,800 vph (4Hz) it’s a solid movement. The Unico 2 has one of the smoothest chronograph pushers I’ve experienced in a long while. It’s almost effortless to operate the stop/start function, which in my opinion is what you need for timing so there’s no delay. Hublot achieve this by employing a column wheel and a new vertical clutch system, ensuring there is no jump at the start and alleviates any wear and tear on the movement itself.
Final Thoughts
Hublot is a brand that you either love or hate. But without haters, you can’t have lovers, and for this reason Hublot is successful. The one thing you can’t deny is they innovate and break the rules set by the watch industry. They try new things, experiment with new materials and in some cases, do many years in research and development prior to using new methods and alloys. The new Big Bang Unico is a combination of all these factors rolled into one watch.
At 44mm in diameter and 14.5mm thick, the Big Bang Unico’s are not for the faint of heart, or slight of wrist, but if you can pull it off, and afford it, you will certainly have a talking piece at the next watch get together! The new Hublot Big Bang Unico Full Magic Gold is water resistant to 100m and comes with a 2 year warranty, 3 years if registered online. This really needs to be 5 years these days, and with a price tag of $54,200, you would expect it to last at least this long!
Reference: 421.MX.1130.RX Limited to 200 pieces
Specification:
- Case: 44 mm and 14.5mm in thickness
- Case Material: Polished Magic Gold
- Dial: Matte black skeleton dial
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
- Case-Back: Microblasted black ceramic with display sapphire crystal
- Water resistance: 100 metres with screw-down crown
- Movement: HUB1280 Manufacture automatic flyback chronograph movement
- Power reserve: 72 Hours
- Strap: Black structured lined rubber strap with black ceramic and black-plated titanium deployant buckle
