HUBLOT BIG BANG E
£4800/hublot.com
Nice timepiece. Does it come with a screwdriver set?
Not that we’re aware of, Tim ‘the Tool Man’ Taylor, but those very specific H-shaped screws are one way of telling this is a genuine Hublot, and at nearly five grand it’s certainly priced authentically. The Big Bang is actually one of the Swiss watchmaker’s most iconic designs and a consistent award-winner since its inception 15 years ago, incorporating such materials as Kevlar, carbon, ceramic, magnesium, tungsten, tantalum, titanium, cermet, steel, gold and, er, rubber.
So what does the added ‘E’ stand for - elastic? Expensive?
We assume ‘electronic’ - because rather than being analogue, this is Hublot’s attempt at a luxury smartwatch running Google’s Wear OS. It’s in much the same vein as the TAG Heuer Connected, only minus TAG’s bespoke apps and brand-specific styling. The pair are part of the same LVMH watch group, so it makes sense for the two to have some shared features, and we’re pretty smitten with Hublot’s 42mm ceramic and titanium editions.
Does it do anything special to even remotely justify that dizzying price tag?
Apart from incorporating the smartwatch hardware into a complex construction that’s the same size as a standard Big Bang, the E has a dial design that changes throughout the day - and we don’t just mean the hands move. A series of eight themes created by storytelling artist Marc Ferrero changes every three hours (because 8x3 = 24), going in sequence through Happy Yellow, Magic Blue, Orange Dynamite, All White, Lucky Green, Magic Red, Rainbow Spirit and Black Magic. Each hour is also marked by a five-second animation, with more artists and designers set to add their own interpretations.
THIS IS HUBLOT’S ATTEMPT AT A LUXURY SMARTWATCH RUNNING WEAR OS