Hublot Big Bang Novak Djokovic: performance and lightness

That ‘The Art of Fusion’ is more than just a payoff for Hublot is well known. And the new Novak Djokovic Big Bang Unico is proof of this, on several levels. The Art of Fusion which today the Nyon-based brand turns into shapes, materials and complications in the service of haute horlogerie comes from the 1980s. From when the brand’s founder, Carlo Crocco, decided to unite two materials at odds in the watchmaking world in a single timepiece: noble yellow gold and technical rubber. We believe that Crocco wouldn’t have imagined that, one day, Hublot would take the fusion concept so far as to create a watch using polo shirts and tennis rackets. Yet, with the Novak Djokovic Single Big Bang, it happened.

DJOKOVIC AND HUBLOT, THREE YEARS OF MUTUAL ESTEEM

But let’s take a step back. And let’s start with the bond that ties the Serbian tennis player to the Swiss brand. A bond born in 2021, when Djokovic left the watch brand with which he had partnered for years to join the entourage of the brand’s then CEO, Ricardo Guadalupe. The collaboration and mutual esteem between the champion and the Maison have been strengthened over the years, as numerous Hublot references have passed on Djokovic’s wrist, starting with the Big Bang Meca-10 in blue ceramic with which he made his debut at the 2021 U.S. Open, which he lost in front of Daniil Medvedev by a triple 4-6 in the finals.

He made up for it two years later, however, when he beat the Russian 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, and accepted the trophy in the middle of centre court with a yellow ceramic Big Bang Unico Yellow Magic on his wrist – which caught the eye more than the beaming smile the Serb had on his face when he lifted the trophy. Although Djokovic has worn numerous references over the years, especially from the Big Bang collection, he had never been directly involved in the conception and development of a watch. Now, however, the Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic not only has his name on it, but also his contribution. And much more.

THE BIG BANG UNICO NOVAK DJOKOVIC: A SPECIAL MATERIAL

Let’s now get back to the present. That is, back to when, just above, we wrote about a watch made out of tennis rackets and polo shirts. Madness? Science fiction? No, all true, thanks to technology. By pushing the ‘Art of Fusion’ concept that defines Hublot to the extreme. Because to make the Novak Djokovic Big Bang Unico, the raw material arrived directly from the Serbian star – in the form of shirts and racquets. Which Hublot, thanks to its trademark expertise – somewhere between alchemic and the industrial – turned into a watch. How? We’ll see.

Accustomed as they are to handling chemical processes to create and synthesise new materials or to master ceramics, Hublot researchers developed a composite material by combining several ‘ingredients’. An epoxy resin reinforced with quartz powder and glass veil combined with a mix obtained by grinding and pulverising 25 Head rackets and 32 Lacoste polo shirts (17 dark blue and 15 light blue) provided by the champion created the composite that was then, after being processed at high temperatures and under very high pressure, forged into the watch cases.

The added value lies in the fact that the materials provided by the tennis player were actually used by him during the 2023 competition season, during which he won three Grand Slam titles, title which he was denied at Wimbledon when he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz. With those three wins, Nole reached 24 Slams victories in singles, the best result in the history of men’s tennis.

The main characteristic of the material born from this innovative synthesis process is lightness, which is naturally embedded in the watch. The timepiece combines lightness with excellent resistance to shocks and scratches, as well as an almost camouflage-like texture, characterised by light, dark and black fabric fragments that make each watch’s case unique. A case that is that of a classic Big Bang Unico: 42 mm in diameter by 14.5 mm thick, enclosing the skeleton dial, also designed to bring lightness to the whole.

OBJECTIVE: LIGHTNESS

Hublot, however, did not stop there in its effort to make the Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic feel like a feather on the wrist. In addition to the case and dial, the brand also worked on the glass, the movement and the strap. Let’s start with the glass. Here, the engineers had to find a compromise between the resistance of the sapphire crystal, which is very high, and its specific weight, which is too high to reconcile with the aim of making it lighter. The choice fell on another material: tempered Gorilla Glass. A material that, probably, many of us have to deal with without knowing it.

Conceived and produced by the American company Corning Inc., it is made of an alkaline aluminosilicate material specifically designed to be thin, light and resistant. Its main use is in advanced electronics, i.e. for the screens of portable electronic devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. Its special features are its high scratch and impact resistance, which can be achieved even with a small thickness. For the same performance, Gorilla Glass weighs about half as much as sapphire glass.

Work on the calibre – the classic IWC-manufactured Unico – also involved work on the materials. Operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour and with 72 hours of power reserve, it drives the continuous seconds hand at 9 o’clock, the chronograph with its central seconds hand, and the 60-minute counter at 3 o’clock where the date display is also located. The chrono column wheel is visible at 6 o’clock through the skeleton dial. Reading these lines, it might seem as if we are in front of the movement with which we are all familiar. Instead, Hublot, which normally creates the Unico in brass, used blue or grey aluminium here, which echoes the colour combination of the case. This calibre weighs around 27% less than the standard calibre, thanks to the use of aluminium – which is also found in certain components of the case such as the side elements at 3 and 9 o’clock, the flange, the bezel lugs, the pushers, the crown and the case back.

Finally, the strap, or rather, the straps. They are no less than four, the most notable being a blue rubber band which, when combined with the case, brings the watch to weigh only 49½ grams. Even with the other combinations – a blue strap with Velcro fastening and blue polished aluminium sports buckle; a white rubber strap with a titanium folding clasp; or a very stylish Lacoste tennis strap that attaches to the case with the One Click system – the Hublot Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic never reaches the ounce.

HUBLOT’S TRIBUTE TO TENNIS

The fact that the watch was created in collaboration with the king of tennis means that it is full of references to that world and to Novak Djokovic, of course. The chronograph’s start/stop button is yellow like a tennis ball, a colour that can be found on the flange indices, on the tip of the chronograph seconds hand and on the 60-second counter. The classic six screws that fasten the bezel to the case middle also recall the balls, both because they are domed and because the fluted head is not the classic H-shaped but has a wavy shape, just like the ball’s stripes. Mind you, this is not trivial: it means that Hublot also had to build special micro screwdrivers to be able to screw them in.

The references to Novak Djokovic are entrusted to its logo, which can be found on the counterweight of the central seconds hand, on the oscillating weight visible through the transparent case back, and on the special packaging. The box containing the watch is also a tribute to tennis because it recalls, in its openwork, the net of the playing court. It is not, however, made of nylon, but of solid oak (including hinges), traceable and with an origin and processing that support a local supply chain for wood. 

All this, as is easily understood, is not for just anyone. Both for the number of pieces of the Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic produced by Hublot, 100 (available only in single-brand boutiques or on the brand’s official website), and for its price: 54,900 euros. After all, one like Nole is born only every 50 years: 100 watches for those who want to put one on their wrist is more than enough.

By Davide Passoni