After the round Big Bang and the tonneau-shaped Spirit of Big Bang, this year, Hublot has launched a new shape into the game – square. The new collection, the Hublot Square Bang Unico comprises five pieces (for the moment) with a bang, but square. We have a look today at the Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic, a very interesting and representative piece for the collection and the brand.
Hublot finally did the big step in completing the offering with a square collection. While the most known square pieces are coming from brands like TAG Heuer (Monaco) and Cartier (Tank and Santos), comparing them with the latest Square Bang Unico is a bit childish. One needs no trained eye to see how good the brand kept the spirit of the “Big Bang” collection in the new shape. Plus, if one brand copies another in this age of copyright will be a legal and media suicide…
The Square Bang offers the same familiar details met in the previously mentioned collections but reveals a bigger estate to express these particular elements. And since the brand is a pioneer in materials, the larger surfaces are an excellent stage to reveal them.
Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic
The new collection comes with a wide choice of materials: titanium, black ceramic and King Gold ( a proprietary alloy which has a warmer hue than the traditional red gold) in various combinations. For today’s review, I chose the Ref. 821.OM.0180.RX – King Gold Ceramic that combines the three materials in a good-looking wrist piece.
Black and gold
The new form factor added by Hublot is a courageous step since there were cases with other brands that did not succeed in playing positively with the market. But I consider it opens new horizons for the brand’s fans. The Big Bang, an already bold piece with strong language has now the chance to expand into new dimensions. The new square case offers a more concise and well-visible wrist presence, a more powerful statement.
Built in the same layered design as the round and tonneau shapes, the Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic brings together titanium, black ceramic and gold. A central housing offers the possibility to use various materials for the bezel and caseback to multiply the end variants. In today’s review, the watch is covered with a polished and brushed finish black ceramic bezel fixed in the King Gold top case.
The caseback in King Gold with curved sapphire see-through is fixed with only four screws and offers an impressive 100m water resistance, making it an exceptional daily beater. It is interesting to see the caseback covering the entire 42mm “diameter” estate.
The left side of the watch reveals the sandwich construction of the case. The right side is reserved for the long chrono pushers in gold with a rubber insert. The crown, also in red gold, has a large shape with increased grip due to the black rubber over-moulded.
The case construction is enriched by the multitude of angles and shapes featuring a light-playing contrast between polished and brushed or matt surfaces. Note the trapeze shape that is used for releasing the strap. This operation can be done super easy and offers the possibility to exchange the look of the watch.
Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic is fitted with a black rubber strap decorated with a square pattern. The folding clasp is manufactured in black titanium and features a King Gold insert.
Transparency and multilayering
The multilayering idea is perpetuated beyond the case. The dial of the Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic is displaying an entire suite of details made possible due to the use of sapphire and some design tricks.
The dial layout is simple: central hours and minutes gold hands, partly skeletonised, partly SuperLuminova filled; running seconds at 9 o’clock; a central chrono seconds’ hand with skeletonised oblong tip and Hublot logo counterweight; a 60 minutes chronograph counter at 3 o’clock.
Note the applied indexes (with complex shapes and finishes), the logo and the subdial delimiters floating about the mechanism. It is an effect obtained by using a sapphire crystal as a dial base. The chrono minute counter uses a darker, greyed sapphire. The Hublot name and logo contribute to the deepness effect of the sapphire crystal dial.
The date is displayed at 3 o’clock using a skeletonised metal grey disk that goes almost unobserved around the dial, being highlighted by a dark surface under the date window position. Unfortunately, due to space restrictions, the date window cuts part of the minutes’ register, making the reading more difficult between the 10th and the 20th minute. Otherwise, the legibility is quite good even in low light.
Another attraction offered on the dial side is the column wheel visible on the lower side of the dial. During the use of the chronograph function, one can observe the actuation cam and the activation/deactivation of the desired function.
Unico, the 2nd
Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic is powered by the manufacture calibre Unico 2. Although sounds a bit funny (Unico – Italian for unique), the Unico 2 is designated for the brands’ smaller chronographs. With interesting architecture, the calibre was designed to offer a wide landscape without going too deep with the skeletonisation process.
As one can observe, the movement is quite open, revealing gears and functions all over the place. The 354 components calibre has an impressive power reserve of 72 hours (quite a lot for an automatic), being ready for action after a weekend or half of the work week. In the picture above, please note the chrono actuation cams (the left two levers outside the round shape) that make the use of a complication a bliss, still keeping a good water tightness.
The Unico 2 operates at 4Hz, a common frequency in the last decades. The balance wheel can be enjoyed even under the generously open rotor weight. A nice detail is the regulating system using a curved rack and pinion reminding of the Tompion’s or Thuret’s regulator and containing the Hublot logo.
The Unico 2 is a good looking example of modern capabilities: mostly industrial produced and finished but with an exceptional quality. Not to fall into a trap, no hand made finishes that can create a clear difference between man and machine are made. In this way, the clean and uniform style is preserved.
Handling and overall feel
The curved design and relatively reduced diameter of 42mm make the Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic a nice presence on the wrist. Due to the two plates of gold, the watch makes its weight present on the wrist, but not too dramatical. Even Diana enjoys it well on the wrist without being overly burdened. And in my opinion, it doesn’t look too bad either…
What impressed me, in particular, was the behaviour of the chronograph: precise and smooth actuation, excellent feedback and balanced actuation force. The overall handling and setting are facile and the legibility is good. The Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic is a nice watch, an excellent implementation of the Big Bang design into a square shape and I am sure it will have its devoted fans.
Hublot Square Bang Unico King Gold Ceramic Technical Specifications
Ref. 821.OM.0180.RX
Movement
- Unico Manufacture, Self-Winding Chronograph
- Frequency: 4 (28, 800 vib/h)
- Power reserve: 72 Hours
- Number of components: 354
- Jewels: 43
Case
- Satin-finished Black Ceramic
- Titanium
- Satin-finished King Gold
- Diameter: 42 mm
- Thickness: 14.5 mm
- Water Resistant: 10 atm
- Caseback: Satin-finished and Polished King Gold
- Bezel: Satin-finished and Polished Black Ceramic
Strap & Buckle
- Black Decorated Rubber
- Black Ceramic and Black Titanium Deployant Buckle
- Satin-finished Titanium Deployant Buckle
- King Gold and Black Titanium Deployant Buckle
Price
- 37,900.00 CHF
- 39,400.00 EUR
- 39,900.00 USD
- 33,000.00 GBP
HUBLOT
Founded in Switzerland in 1980, HUBLOT is defined by its innovation, which began with the highly original combination of gold and rubber. This “Art of Fusion” stems from the imagination of its visionary President, Jean-Claude Biver, and has been driven forward by CEO Ricardo Guadalupe since 2012.
The release of the iconic, multi-award-winning Big Bang in 2005 paved the way for new flagship collections (Classic Fusion, Spirit of Big Bang), with complications ranging from the simple to the highly sophisticated, establishing the extraordinary DNA of the Swiss watchmaking house and ensuring its impressive growth.
Keen to preserve its traditional and cutting-edge expertise, and guided by its philosophy to “Be First, Different and Unique”, the Swiss watchmaker is consistently ahead of the curve, through its innovations in materials (scratch-resistant Magic Gold, ceramics in vibrant colours, sapphire), and the creation of Manufacture movements (Unico, Meca-10, Tourbillon).
HUBLOT is fully committed to creating a Haute Horlogerie brand with a visionary future: a future which is fused with the key events of our times (FIFA World CupTM, UEFA Champions League, UEFA EUROTM) and the finest ambassadors our era has to offer (Chiara Ferragni, Pelé, Kylian Mbappé, Usain Bolt, Novak Djokovic).
Discover the HUBLOT universe at our network of boutiques located in key cities across the globe: Geneva, Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong, Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore, Zurich and at HUBLOT.com