Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon: carbon excellence

Hublot is a brand that loves to amaze. In the brand’s collections, the Spirit of Big Bang model is the one with this deeply amazing soul. The Spirit of Big Bang collection is the most successful example of the art of fusion that has become Hublot’s payoff – and has always been a “gym” for Hublot’s crew, in which to “train” with cutting-edge technical solutions and materials.

THE SPIRIT OF BIG BANG’S EVOLUTION

Just to refresh your memory, the Spirit of Big Bang collection was launched at Baselworld in 2014, with the aim of honoring that same name: the most innovative Spirit of the Big Bang – born in 2005 – was already an innovative watch itself. Almost 10 years after its launch, we can say: mission accomplished.

The collection has taken on different expressions of Hublot’s highest industrial, and at the same time artisanal, capacity. In the same way, the Spirit of Big Bang was accompanied by the materials that have become the manufacture’s icons over the years: from King Gold to ceramic, up to titanium.

Chronograph, Time Only, Meca 10 (with an extraordinary 10-day power reserve) and Tourbillon are the four faces of excellence that currently make up the Spirit of Big Bang collection. Today we want to put the spotlight on the Tourbillon and its most recent novelty: the Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon 5-day Power Reserve Carbon Sky Blue 42 mm.

HUBLOT’S WORK ON MATERIALS

The watch is fully a Spirit of Big Bang, starting from its aesthetic and functional signatures: the 6 H-shaped titanium screws and the unmistakable sandwich case structure. A case that is a concentrate of research on materials in pure Hublot style, where form and function are at the service of technology.

With the Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon 5-day Power Reserve Carbon Sky Blue, Hublot blends black and blue on a watch in which the 42mm case, case back and bezel are cut from carbon fiber with inserts of composite sky-blue material. It is a type of material already used by Hublot on this collection, for example on the white version of the watch.

This material is made up of glass microfibers in the form of NWF (Non-Woven Fabric), used mainly to improve the breaking strength of composites. Non-woven fabrics made from glass fibers or yarns are widely used in buildings, where they serve as support layers, cladding or reinforcement.

This type of fabric can help create a resin-rich surface that helps reduce the formation of microcracks and increases chemical stability. Indeed, in Hublot’s manufacturing process, this NWF is co-impregnated with the carbon fibers using tinted epoxy resin while the composite preforms are created in a special mold.

THE MANUFACTURE CALIBER

The Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon 5-day Power Reserve Carbon Sky Blue is produced in a limited edition of 50 pieces boasting an interplay of contrasts and transparencies. This is made possible by the sapphire crystal dial and case back with anti-reflective treatment, which allow a view of the HUB6020 in-house movement’sarchitecture. The dial plays on the decentralized indicators; at 3 o’clock the large hour indicator is placed, which occupies a large part of the visual space; that of the power reserve is at 8 o’clock. All balanced by the tourbillon at 6 o’clock and amalgamated by the skeletonization of the anthracite grey-plated bridges.

The hand-wound HUB6020 caliber’s heart stands in the one-minute tourbillon, specially skeletonized to fit the Spirit of Big Bang’s tonneau-shaped case. Taking a look at the power reserve indicator, you can see a 5-day counter: the autonomy of this movement is around 115 hours, a respectable performance.

Now standard in Hublot collections, the patented “One-Click” strap-interchangeability system is also part of the Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon 5-day Power Reserve Carbon Sky Blue. The blue striped strap is a black and sky-blue structured, lined rubber strap, and has a black ceramic and titanium folding buckle.

HUBLOT’S VALUE FOR MONEY

With this watch, Hublot adds another piece to the Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon collection, a piece with a contemporary color beside the White and Green Carbon, and the brand offers a further alternative to the Sapphire to those who want to stay on a more moderate price without giving up a top watch.

This moderate price, in the case of the Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon 5-day Power Reserve Carbon Sky Blue, is 105,000 euros – as for the two other Carbons. Coherence, which places this watch in the Hublot tradition of experimentation and avant-garde, always with great attention to the so-called “value for money.” This is the only way to create inimitable timepieces.

By Davide Passoni