-
10 years of the Hublot Big Bang All Black
In 2006, the first Big Bang All Black launches in black surfaces top to bottom, but ironically isn’t all black in the strict sense of the word. Photo: Supplied -
2007
The All Black returns as a Bigger Bang column-wheel tourbillon chronograph, a manual-wind model limited to 50 pieces. Photo: Supplied -
2008
Hublot continues the openwork treatment with an All Black Aero Bang, just a few cogs not wearing black now, along with contrasting pushers and crown. Five hundred are produced. Photo: Supplied -
2009
No open dial this year, but hey, the All Black is now indeed all black, nary a shiny surface in sight. Produced in a run of 500, the case is still 44.5mm, the pushers and crown steel with a black PVD coating. Photo: Supplied -
2010
A dramatic King Power Alinghi chronograph version is launched, a beamy 48mm in micro-blasted ceramic with the bright red Alinghi logo at nine o’clock, the model limited to 333 pieces. Photo: Supplied -
2011
Is this the most handsome All Black to date? After the busy Alinghi edition, Hublot reverts to the brand’s pre-Big Bang codes, creating 500 Classic Fusion All Blacks. Photo: Supplied -
2012
When is an All Black decidedly not all black? When it’s the “All Black Blue”. So should we dock a year from Hublot’s black record? The self-winding chronograph is now 45mm with blue composite resin. Photo: Supplied -
2013
The All Black gets Ferrari colours – in other words, touches of red for the chronograph hands and stitching, yellow for the date – along with a 45.5mm case. Photo: Supplied -
2014
The first All Black to host Hublot’s in-house Unico movement lands. Black anodised aluminium (for the bezel ring) joins the usual laundry list of exotic and blackened materials. Photo: Supplied -
2015
Hublot gives its 11-barrel La Ferrari vertical tourbillon extravaganza the treatment. Photo: Supplied -
2016
This year’s anniversary model is a show-stopper, an All Black version of the Big Bang Unico Sapphire. Photo: Supplied -
You may also like these photo galleries
It was a dozen years ago that Jean-Claude Biver, today president of LVMH's watch division, took control of the limping Hublot brand.
With its port-hole-inspired watches most popular in places such as Spain, Biver's task was to somehow revive the then niche brand, a challenge that led barely one year later to the introduction of something big: the Big Bang.
The launch of this chronograph in 2005 announced to the world the arrival of a fresh concept: the fusion of a variety of materials that appeared to be bolted together with screws passing right through the watch case.
Big Bang
The Big Bang, a large and layered metal watch with a rubber strap, was immediately recognisable and began to win awards, from Best Design of 2005 at the Geneva watchmaking Grand Prix to Watch of the Year in Japan, and to set sales records.
Not that Biver and his freshly energised team were content to rest on their laurels. The following year it was decided to launch an edition of 250 Big Bang models cast completely in black, a dramatic showcase for their "art of fusion" philosophy.
Metallurgist's dream
What metamorphosed from the drawing board was a metallurgist's dream, a 44.5mm model accommodating ceramics for the case, titanium for the case-back, nickel for the numbers and indices, black composite resin for the case sides, rubber for the strap and PVD-treated tungsten carbide for the oscillating weight. A further 25 examples were offered with a garnishing of 48 baguette-cut black diamonds on the bezel.
And so the Big Bang All Black was born, a press release dated Spring 2006 declaring it "the height of luxury … in which the visible time becomes invisible". So too began a story that continues very much in the same vein.
Down the decade the models have reflected a similar approach. They generally span about 45mm, with ceramic cases, titanium parts and rubber bracelets, and mostly feature a chronograph mechanism. Sometimes – but not always – they've been all black all over.
Scroll through the gallery above to see 10 years of the Big Bang All Black.
This article first appeared in the Australian Financial Review Magazine's Watch special.
Click here for a dynamic online edition.
For more watch news check our dedicated site watch-next.com.