Hublot Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic Review

I have been a huge fan of Hublot ever since the brand's 2005 release of the Big Bang. When the Big Bang was released the entire industry took notice of this seemingly out of nowhere watch that combined steel, ceramic, carbon fiber and rubber. The most popular watch of the time, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore, suddenly had a worthwhile contender in the Big Bang.

Little did anyone but the most dialed in watch collector have any idea what had been happening prior to the launch of the Big Bang over at Hublot. Legendary watch industry figure Jean-Claude Biver had just been appointed as CEO of Hublot one year prior to the release of the Big Bang and he had his eyes set on disrupting the industry. Biver had just come off of extremely successful stints at Omega and Blancpain and if anyone could transform Hublot it was him.



Hublot is the brainchild of Carlo Crocco who left the Binda Group on the mid 1970s to start forming his own watch brand. His signature design was a watch based off of a ship's porthole, which is "Hublot" in French. Crocco also had the wild idea of mounting this new design on a rubber strap, which was not something acceptable to be paired with a luxury timepiece at the time.

Crocco launched his new brand, MDM Geneve, in 1980 and its first watch was the Hublot. After being shown at the Basel Watch Fair the Hublot was met with mixed reactions but ended up finding a niche audience with celebrities and watch collectors looking for something a bit different. As the decades progressed Hublot found mild success but never got within earshot of the giants of the Swiss watch industry. The brand MDM Geneve also slowly gave way to being simply called Hublot over this time period.



Jean-Claude Biver brought with him the marketing genius that pretty much saved Omega and Blancpain and applied it to Hublot's Art of Fusion mantra that defines the brand. While the use of gold and rubber on previous Hublot models were the basis for the Art of Fusion, the Big Bang really took this to the next level.

Over the next three years Biver transformed Hublot into one of the largest names in the watch industry. He used key sponsorships such as FIFA, Formula One and Ferrari to give credit to this relatively unknown brand. Hublot also started to focus on bringing vertical integration to their manufacturing process and investing in developing their own in-house calibers.

All this work by Biver did not go unnoticed and in 2008 Hublot was purchased by luxury group LVMH (Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton). Under LVMH Hublot continued to grow and innovate adding more and more in-house calibers, expanding their collections of watches and using even more unheard of and unbelievable materials in their watches. Today Hublot is constantly within the largest ten brands in the watch industry and doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

Now that I've gone over a brief history of Hublot, I do feel it's important to touch upon the negativity Hublot has found pointed towards itself over the last few years…



If you're reading this review you are probably at the least fairly versed in watch collecting and have probably heard some of these negative viewpoints. The biggest criticism of Hublot is that they charge a lot of money for a watch containing an off the shelf movement. While this might have been correct in the 2000s, that just isn't the case today. Also the big push for in-house movements only started to appear in the 2000s with many brands taking decades to catch on. The biggest competitor to the Big Bang, the Royal Oak Offshore, was not using an in-house movement either in that time period. In fact Hublot put their in-house UNICO movement into the Big Bang before Audemars Piguet moved to a fully in-house movement in the Royal Oak Offshore.

Past the UNICO, Hublot has developed some truly out of this world movements for their high horology series of tourbillons and extremely long power reserve watches. For watches Hublot does not outfit with an in-house movement they have started to use movements from fellow LVMH brand mate Zenith. In all honesty if you can't have an in-house movement there really isn't a better alternative to a Zenith movement. Remember that the watch world's darling, the Rolex Daytona, used the Zenith El Primero movement for many years and nobody criticized Rolex for not using an in-house caliber.



Also remember while some of these critics might have a very loud voice in the watch collector community, this is a very small community. There is a much larger segment of people that will purchase a Hublot without knowing about this negativity. Also watch collectors that have been in the hobby for a considerable amount of time know these anti-Hublot comments don't hold up. I for one love the innovation that Hublot is doing with both their materials and movements and have owned a few over the years. Meaning I have backed up my positive opinion of Hublot with purchases.

Initial Thoughts

Ok now that I've covered a brief history of Hublot and also gone over the negativity some associate with the brand, now it's time to talk about the watch we have in for review. The Big Bang UNICO is the latest evolution of the Big Bang collection that debuted in 2005. The Big Bang is now fitted with Hublot's in-house flyback chronograph movement called the UNICO which is comprised of 354 components and offers a 72 hour power reserve. Most UNICO models also have a skeleton dial where you can see the top layer of the movement. The model I asked to review was in the larger 44 mm case size and is crafted out of white ceramic.

When the watch arrived the first thing I noticed was naturally the white ceramic case. I'm very familiar with ceramic cased watches and we even own three personally, but they are all black ceramic. Up until this point I haven't spent any significant time with any other color of ceramic. The white on the Big Bang UNICO almost has a pearl like character having a very interesting sheen to it. The watch definitely isn't a flat white which is what I was expecting for some reason. The white ceramic also looks great when paired with the black composite mid-case.



The next thing I noticed about the Big Bang UNICO was how nice the watch felt in hand. We have owned older Big Bangs as well as King Power models and the newest UNICO version just feels much more solid, for lack of a better word. I handle multiple new watches every week and this watch just feels like a true quality product. The tolerances with the watch are extremely tight and everything just feels super cohesive. Even the rubber strap and clasp seem super beefy and compliment the build quality of the watch well.

The last thing I noticed about the Big Bang UNICO from my initial time with the watch was just how satisfying the watch was to operate. Since this is all tactile, I'll try my best to convey it. The screw-down crown is covered with a soft rubber coating that feels great in hand. All crown related features feel extremely smooth to perform and screwing the crown back in works on the first attempt every time, unlike some crowns you have to fight with to get to screw back down.



Now what really blew my mind was how nice the chronograph pushers felt to use. I'm not trying exaggerate at all when I say the pushers on the Big Bang UNICO might be the smoothest pushers I have every used on a chronograph. When you push the pushers to control the chronograph you are met with just the right amount of resistance to get the function to fire. There is no harsh click or jump in the pusher, just the faintest of clicks and your desired operation happens. It's almost as if you are using something more digital like the buttons on a video game controller than a mechanical switch. It's a very interesting sensation and one I actually really prefer over harsher chronographs I'm used it.

Technical Specifications

Now that we've gone over my initial impressions of the Hublot Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic, let's take a look at the technical specifications of the watch. The Big Bang UNICO is crafted out of white ceramic and has a quoted case size of 44 mm. On a watch with the shape of the Big Bang I'm not really sure where this measurement is taken, but if you just go by the outside of the bezel the measurement is 42.7 mm. Measuring left to right across the case the measurement is 48.7 and the lug to lug length is 54.7 mm.

At its thickest point the Big Bang UNICO is 14.7 mm thick, which really is proportionate when you consider the lug to lug size and also that the watch houses a flyback chronograph. On our scale the watch weighed in at 134 grams when attached to the rubber strap and deployant clasp. Being a larger watch that figure is fairly lightweight which shouldn't be too much of a surprise given the watch's ceramic construction.



The Big Bang UNICO uses a flat sapphire crystal that has been treated with an anti-reflective coating. On the bottom side of the sapphire the Hublot branding and logo are printed since the skeleton dial doesn't really allow much space for it to be placed.

Around the outside of the dial there is a black minute track ring with printed minute markers and Arabic numerals for each 5 minute interval. "Swiss Made" is also printed at 6 o'clock on the minute track. The Big Bang UNICO uses a mixture of stick and Arabic numeral polished applied hour markers, with even numbered hours getting an Arabic numeral and the odds getting a stick marker. The hour markers are covered with Super-Luminova that glow a stunning green in low light.



The polished hour and minute hands are partially skeletonized and use the same lume as found on the hour markers. The chronograph seconds hand is centrally mounted and has a counter weight in the shape of Hublot's H logo. At 3 o'clock you have the chronograph minutes subdial which also houses a black backed date window. The chronograph minute hand is also coated with matching lume. Finally at 9 o'clock you have the running seconds subdial with another small lumed hand. The running seconds subdial is a bit smaller than the 60 minute chronograph subdial since that subdial has a lot more information to display.

The skeleton dial is fascinating to look at and serves as a silver backdrop to the dial elements. The most obvious part of the exposed dial is the date wheel that goes around the perimeter of the dial. Parts of the dial are also truly skeletonized in being possible to see through the entire case, the most obvious area where you can see straight through the case is at the running seconds subdial. Activating and restarting the chronograph functions also cause various dial side movement pieces to move.



Moving on from the dial next you have the round white ceramic bezel. There are six screw heads visible on the bezel which run all the way to the caseback. The top surface of the bezel is satin in finish while the side of the bezel is polished. Hublot uses this same mixture of finishing techniques on the rest of the ceramic case surfaces as well. With the large front facing areas being satin and the edges and sides being polished.

Looking at the case profile you can see that the short lugs point down sharply and help the watch conform to your wrist. With this view of the watch you can also see the interesting contrast between the white ceramic and black composite used for the mid-case. This look really adds to the visual interest of the piece, I almost feel if everything was white the watch might have looked a bit washed out.



Both the left and right hand side of the case flare out and two more case screws are found on each side. The right hand side features the two chronograph pushers as well as the screw-down crown. The pushers are both crafted out of brushed titanium and the crown is also made from titanium and is covered with black rubber.

The screw-down crown aids in the 100 meters of water resistance the Big Bang UNICO carries. When un-screwed the crown allows you to manually wind the movement when in the resting position. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the date and this is also where you can see the date wheel moving on the skeleton dial. Pulling the crown out to position two allows you to set the time and also stops the seconds hand allowing for precise time setting. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand and screwing the crown back in doesn't require any additional care to align for the crown to catch.



Like I mentioned earlier, the chronograph action on the Big Bang UNICO is really next level. The feel of pushing the pushers along with how precise the actions feel really are second to none. The top pusher starts and stops the chronograph while the bottom pusher resets it. Being a flyback chronograph the chronograph is not needed to be stopped to be reset. While the chronograph is running you can simply press the bottom reset pusher and the chronograph will restart. This is especially nice since it requires no additional time to restart timing.

The Hublot Big Bang UNICO uses an integrated strap design, so only straps designed for the Big Bang UNICO will work. The watch comes on a white ribbed rubber strap with black highlights. The width of the strap is 27 mm and it tapers down to 21.5 mm at the white ceramic and blackened titanium deployant clasp. The clasp has Hublot branding and uses two buttons to release the clasp. The strap slides behind the clasp so no extra strap is visible while being worn.



Two more case screws are visible on either side of the quick release system for the strap on each lug. Hublot might use one of the best quick release systems on the market that just requires you to depress the quick release button and while being held down pull out the strap. At the end of the strap is a piece of metal that has an area notched out where it fits into the case. When the strap goes back into the case it does so with a re-assuring click. This strap system is not only extremely easy to use, but also very quick and seems incredibly sturdy.

The strap is extremely comfortable and supple and required no break in to be comfortable. While being so comfortable the rubber is also rather thick and gives you a lot of confidence that it is robust enough to handle a large watch. The width of the strap also helps keep the watch centered on your wrist and it never favors one side over the other or feels top heavy.



Flipping the watch over shows off the white ceramic case back complete with a large sapphire crystal and a great view of the UNICO movement. A skeletonized winding rotor tops the movement which has Hublot branding on it. Most of the movement has been bead blasted and gives the mainplate a matte look to it. There is also some vertical brushing on the winding rotor. The balance is nicely framed by the movement giving a little extra visual interest to the movement. Overall the movement is nicely finished but not over the top. The aesthetic of the movement really goes well with the overall look of the watch in my opinion.

The specific UNICO movement used on the Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic is the HUB1280, which is an automatic self-winding caliber created in-house by Hublot. The movement offers 72 hours of power reserve and runs at 28,000 bph (4Hz). On our timegrapher the movement showed an accuracy of +4 seconds per day when averaged out over several positions. This is a great result and just inside of chronometer specifications.



On The Wrist

If you've read any of my reviews you probably know that the Hublot Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic is a perfectly sized watch for my tastes. The 54.7 mm lug to lug length is in the range of some of my larger pieces like my Royal Oak Offshore Montoya and IWC Pilot's watches. Also the 44 mm case diameter looks proportionate to the lug to lug and the watch covers my 7.25 inch wrist with a 55 mm flat area perfectly. It's no secret that I'm a fan of lightweight high tech case materials like ceramic, carbon and titanium which makes larger watches tolerable. In the case of the Big Bang UNICO the weight just felt right for the size of the watch and it never gave me any wrist fatigue.

As is human nature, you can't personally be a fan of everything. This happens with watches we get in to review from time to time and I force myself out of my comfort zone to wear the watch and give it a fair chance. The Big Bang UNICO is not one of those watches, I was actually super excited to get this watch in and while it was here I found any excuse to wear it. This meant the watch accompanied me on all my daily errands and also out to dinner and drinks. Since the footprint and weight of the watch is so close to what I wear personally it integrated into my life seamlessly.



With my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers the white and black Big Bang Unico looked right at home as well. Of course the white aesthetic of the watch lends itself better to being a summer watch, but even on the last few cool days of the year we had here in Austin it fit in just fine. I could imagine that this watch would be a blast to take on a beach vacation and does its best next to a pool. The watch does resemble the recently released Aspen edition though, so maybe it would also make a great watch to take on a trip to the slopes.

I test a watch's legibility by seeing how easy it is to tell the time while driving with just giving the watch a quick glance. Typically skeleton dialed watches do terrible on this test due to the lack of a solid dial color making the hands and indices blend into the dial. The high polish and white color of the hour markers and hands over the matte silver of the skeleton dial actually provide pretty decent contrast and the Big Bang UNICO passed my legibility test rather easily. Also the lume on the watch is very strong and applied to many areas of the dial, so in lower light situations it was fairly easy to decipher the time as well.

As would be expected the Hublot Big Bang Unico White Ceramic drew a lot of attention when I wore it out. It's really hard to not glance at a large white watch in public, I know I'd definitely take a look. Over the last few years the integrated sports watch craze has just exploded, so it's natural for a watch like this to draw people's eyes. I was asked by numerous people about the watch and many of them knew Hublot well. The friends I showed the watch to were also blown away by it. One of my friends I'm always showing watches to is even debating taking the plunge and purchasing one since he liked the watch so much. The white ceramic case along with the skeleton dial seemed to be by far the most commented on features of the watch from both strangers and my friends.



Value and Position in the Market

The Hublot Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic retails for $23,000 which in a vacuum sounds like a lot of money. For that price you are getting a stunning white ceramic case with a very accurate in-house movement and skeleton dial. While Hublot is a relatively new brand, the Big Bang collection is a well known and respected collection and the UNICO is just the best variant to date. To really see the value of the watch we should compare it to other integrated sports watches and see how it stacks up value and features wise.

Up first we have the Royal Oak Offshore in black ceramic from Audemars Piguet. When the Big Bang first launched its main competitor was the Royal Oak Offshore, so it's fitting to compare the two here now. The Offshore has a case diameter of 43 mm and has the same water resistance as the Big Bang UNICO at 100 meters. The watch is powered by the in-house caliber 4401 automatic flyback chronograph movement with around the same power reserve of 70 hours. The Royal Oak Offshore is much more expensive than the Big Bang UNICO at $58,400 though, which is more than double the price.



Next up is the Laureato 42 mm from Girard-Perregaux which is crafted out of black ceramic. The Laureato comes on a full black ceramic bracelet to compliment the ceramic case. The Laureato is a standard 3 hand watch and does not include a chronograph complication. The Laureato also has 100 meters of water resistance and is powered by an in-house movement with only 54 hours of power reserve. The Girard-Perregaux is a bit less expensive than the Hublot at $20,300.

Moving on is the Nautilus 5990/1A from Patek Philippe which is 40.5 mm and crafted out of stainless steel instead of ceramic. The Nautilus features a flyback chronograph and also adds GMT functionality and is running on an in-house automatic movement with only 55 hours of power reserve. The watch is only water resistant to 30 meters as well. The Patek does retail for much more than the Hublot at $69,640, and that is before adding on any market adjustments.

Finally we have the Streamliner Flyback Chronograph from Moser which is crafted out of stainless steel and has a case diameter of 42.3 mm. The Streamliner does offer the most water resistance of the watches compared at 120 meters. Like the Hublot and Audemars Piguet pieces the Moser also offers a flyback chronograph. The Streamliner is powered by an in-house automatic movement with 72 hours of power reserve which is the same as the Big Bang UNICO. The Streamliner also costs more than double of the Big Bang UNICO at just over $50,000.



Even though the Hublot Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic seems expensive, when you compare similar watches from other top manufactures the watch actually looks like a bargain. It is nearly the least expensive of the compared watches and only the Girard-Perregaux Laureato is less expensive but is just a simple time only watch. The Royal Oak Offshore probably compares closest to the Big Bang UNICO in both case material and features and is more than double its price.

Closing Thoughts

So in the end is the Hublot Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic for me? It is very rare that I find a modern watch that I would consider buying and the Big Bang UNICO is one of those watches. Over the past few years I've seriously looked into various models of the UNICO in either titanium or ceramic and have gotten close to pulling the trigger a few times. Along with the MECA-10 series, the Big Bang UNICOs are just amazing pieces. The 44 mm case diameter and 54.7 mm lug to lug is just perfect for my tastes and really resembles a lot of my personal watches. Since I sold my Hublot King Power Oceanographic in carbon a year ago I've really missed owning a Hublot. My wife does own a Big Bang All Black and I'm a little jealous of her. Even the white ceramic colorway is probably what I would end up going with since I have a few all black watches but nothing with a white case. The biggest challenge would be deciding between a MECA-10 and a UNICO to be honest.



Would I recommend the Big Bang UNICO to somebody looking for an integrated sports watch from a top manufacture? With Hublot offering this watch in both 42 and 44 mm cases, there is really a version of this watch for most wrist sizes. If only the 44 mm version was available it might be harder for me to recommend unless they were big fans of larger watches like myself. Also you need to be fine having a watch that will call attention to itself, which I'm also a fan of. A large white cased watch is no wallflower.

The Big Bang UNICO offers such an interesting contrast of materials and finishes that it just shines on the wrist. The white ceramic is something you just never see on a watch and how it plays off of the matte black composite mid-case is stunning. The skeleton dial is also very well executed and legibility is still top notch. The in-house movement is about as accurate as you're going to get and the chronograph action is probably the best I've ever experienced. Adding the flyback complication to the movement is just the cherry on top as well. Finally comparing the Big Bang UNICO to competing models also shows how good of a value it is in the integrated sports watch market.



The Hublot Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic is really everything I thought it would be and more after spending a few weeks with it. I've been a huge fan of the Big Bang collection since it launched in 2005 and have owned a few. The Big Bang UNICO is really the finest version of the long running series and the white ceramic just puts the watch in a class of its own. If you've ever been curious about Hublot, I'd leave all the noise behind and take a trip down to one of their boutiques and check out these watches in person to form your own opinion. I'd really like to thank Hublot for sending us this watch and we can't wait to get more of their watches in for review, especially a MECA-10.

For more information about the Big Bang UNICO White Ceramic please visit : Hublot

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 421.HX.1170.RX

Retail Price: $23,000

Case Size: 44 mm

Lug to Lug: 54.7 mm

Thickness: 14.7 mm

Weight: 134 Grams

Case Material: White Ceramic / Black Composite

Bezel: White Ceramic

Strap: White Rubber Strap with White Ceramic and Titanium Deployant

Movement: In-House UNICO HUB1280 Automatic Movement

Functions: Flyback Chronograph, Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: 72 Hours

Water Resistance: 100 Meters