I could start this entry with so many cliche phrases. Let’s just get past that and get to the fact that I have ignored Hublot - for no good reason whatsoever. It’s always been there, in the corner of my mind. Taunting me. Then, suddenly out of nowhere, it hit me like an electron-positron annihilation beam. The ‘Big Bang’ may be hailed as the quintessential, iconic line from Hublot.
The design concept is simple. At the same time so complicated and elegant. The ‘portal-inspired’ marine design with the ‘H’ screws in the bezel and lugs are technically & aesthetically appealing. More inspiring is the entire ‘fusion’ concept of mixed materials. Admit it to yourself. It’s relatively easy to get your mind around platinum and leather. White gold and diamonds. Maybe even a tourbillon in a case of gold and titanium? No.
The ‘Big Bang’ line pushes it further. Think of a single watch made with natural rubber, ceramic, tungsten, kevlar, carbon, and steel. Now add Tantalum (Ta) which is a dense, corrosive-resistant heavy metal used in industrial and scientific applications. Now put in gold, platinum and set the bezels with precious stones like diamonds and emeralds.
It doesn’t end here. Open your mind to the notion of ‘invisible visibility’ where the entire watch is presented to the wearer in matt black. The dial, the bezel, the hands are all playfully camouflaged by natural light which reveals true details at different angles. Where time is not ‘obvious’ and you are left to interpret, and contemplate the concept - much like the ‘universal equation’.
This is where I feel the concepts of ‘fusion’ and ‘invisible visibility’ intersect to a true artistic zenith. So many of us who debate the theories and evidence of forces and events responsible for creating the universe can look to what discoveries await us from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. But, Hublot’s ‘Big Bang’ is an inspired metaphor for the fusion of forces and materials that combine to make an outstanding luxury product. Perfectly executed.
