Twenty years on, Hublot’s iconoclastic Big Bang watch remains beautifully defiant
It was never meant to be just another watch. When Hublot unveiled the Big Bang in 2005, the brand didn’t just debut a timepiece—it declared a manifesto as revolutionary the name of the new collection.
Refreshingly loud and radically engineered, the debut model challenged the status quo with an unapologetic spirit. Armed with its Art of Fusion philosophy, Hublot drew from horological heritage not to simply preserve it, but reimagine it through modern lenses—fusing unexpected materials and avant-garde construction into timepieces that were as provocative as they were precise.
Two decades on, that disruptive ethos hasn’t dimmed. To mark the Big Bang’s 20th anniversary, Hublot is unveiling a series of 2025 editions that pay tribute to the original icon while hurtling it into the future.
Back to the future
At the heart of Hublot’s commemorative roll-outs is the Big Bang 20th Anniversary Collection. A suite of five models, the timepieces marry the design codes of the original 2005 Big Bang and Big Bang Unico watches, along with the powerhouse Unico automatic chronograph movement.
Demonstrating the collection’s multifaceted personalities and versatility, each model is distinct yet unequivocally part of the Big Bang family. The Titanium Ceramic and King Gold Ceramic versions—limited to 500 and 250 pieces, respectively— feature new 43mm cases and accentuated carbon fibre weave patterns on the dials, and hark back to the original material combinations of the first Big Bang watches.
Meanwhile, the Red Magic and Magic Gold models (limited to 100 pieces each), and All Black editions (limited to 500 pieces), turn our attention to Hublot’s innovations in the field of proprietary coloured ceramics and precious metal alloys. Besides revisiting the past, Hublot also shows how far it has taken the Big Bang collection with the Master of Sapphire Set. A five-piece ensemble, the collection demonstrates Hublot’s unmatched expertise in working sapphire, an ultra-tough material that is a notoriously challenging material to work with.
These aren’t your standard see-through watches, either. Each of the 44mm Big Bangs is encased in coloured sapphire: Water Blue, Deep Blue, Purple, Clear, and a radioactive-looking Neon Yellow SAXEM. All five house the MECA-10 calibre, a manually wound movement with a 10-day reserve and a rack-based display that fully showcases the mechanics.
Last but certainly not least, for those who desire a Big Bang that is elegant while still retaining the collection’s characteristic edginess, the Big Bang Unico and One Click models in Petrol Blue and Mint Green offer a cool take on ceramic couture.
These two hues sheathe both the sporty Big Bang Unico 42mm and the dressy Big Bang One Click 33mm, the latter laced with diamonds on the bezel. The tones extend to open-worked or solid dials and colour-matched rubber straps, executed with a meticulousness that speaks to Hublot’s attention to detail.
And if a dose of glamour is what you want, there is the Big Bang One Click Joyful collection. Red spinels, orange sapphires, pink sapphires, sky-blue topaz, and green tsavorites encircle the bezels of the watches’ 33mm stainless steel cases, complemented by rubber straps that pop in matching shades and, as the name attests, allow the wearer to easily swap them out with an ingenious one-click system.
“The Big Bang is without a doubt one of the most significant watches of the 21st century,” says Julien Tornare, CEO of Hublot. “Its influence has reshaped the potential of what a watch can be, crossing all boundaries between tradition and modernism, science and art.”
Taken together, the 2025 class of Big Bang watches doesn’t just honour contemporary watchmaking. Rather, it celebrates a world view—one where tradition serves as a reference point, and not a rulebook.
