Kris Van Assche revamps Hublot’s iconic Big Bang Unico chronograph

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Nov 17, 2020

It’s Big Bang time again at Hublot, where the watchmaker has entrusted Berluti’s Kris Van Assche to revamp its most iconic watch.

 
A meeting of Berluti’s Venezia leather and its famed patina with Hublot’s signature fusion of materials and technological panache, the new Big Bang Unico watch marks the latest step in the collaboration between the French men’s fashion house Berluti and watchmaker Hublot, both of whom are owned by LVMH, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate.
 
A construction encases the rare leather between two pieces of sapphire glass, cut out for the first time to allow the wearer to admire the gears of the Unico movement. And in a notable innovation, the Venezia leather in what’s called Cold Brown patina actually features on the watch’s bezel.
 
“The Big Bang chronograph’s strong,  unmistakable and modern identity reflects Berluti’s new universe and lifestyle. The patina is our trademark, usually present in our shoes and leather goods, but all that know-how can also be used for something totally different. Bringing the Cold Brown patina - which was inspired by an archive patina and renewed through a glaçage process to obtain a rich, cutting edge color - to the Big Bang Unico is an opportunity for Berluti’s craft to be discovered in a new context,” said Van Assche in a release.
 
“It has already been four years since we began our partnership with Berluti and, for the first time, we have chosen the Big Bang Unico model as the basis of our collaboration. The final result combines an exercise in style, due to Kris Van Assche’s flair for fashion, with an amazing technical feat made possible by the expertise of our watchmakers, designers and engineers, all of whose know-how was required to master the conception of this new bezel,” said Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe.

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This marks the latest collab’ at Berluti, a house which has made linkups something of a specialty – from its ergonomic calf leather Oxford driving shoes with Ferrari to its luxury luggage linkup with Globe-Trotter.
 
The actual name of the new watch is not exactly laconic. It is called the Big Bang Unico Berluti Cold Brown. Delivered in a chest signed by the two houses, presenting the emblematic Berluti shoehorn key ring and travel case, this model will only be available in a limited edition of 100 pieces.
 
Like anything Berluti produces, the new watch does not come cheap. A highly distinctive model in black rubber and Venezia leather will set one back 25,900 euros.