The Polo-and-Racquet-made Hublot Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic

Hublot has all the time been related to the fusion of disparate supplies, beginning with Carlo Crocco’s stunning cocktail of a gold case and rubber strap on board the flagship Classic Original. Hublot’s newest watch devoted to tennis legend Novak Djokovic takes the “artwork of fusion” to unimaginable ranges and even slips within the much-desired sustainability card. The brand new Large Bang Unico is actually created from the very supplies which have accompanied the Serbian ace on his warpath to safe 24 Grand Slam titles. Introducing the Large Bang Unico Novak Djokovic, the world’s first watch created from the tennis participant’s used (and recycled) Lacoste polos and Head tennis racquets.

Novak Djokovic, an Olympic gold medalist, tennis GOAT (Biggest of All Time) and holder of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, is among the most fun gamers as we speak. Now working collectively, Hublot and Djokovic (who was related to Seiko earlier than) determined the watch needed to have a sustainable part and be extremely light-weight, resilient, and extremely private. Launched 4 years after the eruption of the Large Bang in 2005, the Big Bang Unico has rounded pushers, Hublot’s in-house Unico built-in automated chronograph motion, a skeletonised dial and a fast strap change system.

This Large Bang Unico Novak Djokovic is created from a composite of 25 Head tennis rackets, 17 darkish blue and 15 gentle blue Lacoste polos worn by Djokovic throughout his 2023 season – which explains why it needed to be a restricted version. The matte blue recycled epoxy resin obtained from the tennis racquets is bolstered with quartz powder and glass veil to type a composite materials for the case and bezel. The composite materials is, in flip, sprinkled with fragments of sunshine and darkish blue Lacoste shirts and black carbon to create a delicate camouflage look.

Related in construct to different Large Bang Unico fashions, the 42mm case has a thickness of 14.5mm and is waterproof to 100 metres. It options the signature sandwich development with protecting lateral bumpers and a spherical bezel with 6 H-shaped titanium screws. When you look carefully, you’ll discover that the screws are barely domed and have a extra indented, swirling sample like these discovered on tennis balls. Choosing up on tennis symbols, the highest pusher has a yellow tennis ball-coloured cap, whereas the underside pusher is white (tennis whites, perhaps?).

Retaining the watch featherlight has produced modifications to the exterior parts of the case, lots of that are created from light-weight aluminium. The lateral protecting bumpers are usually not strong however hollowed out, a characteristic that has been utilized to the bezel, the lugs and even the strap attachment module. Within the pursuit of lightness, Hublot has additionally switched the normal sapphire crystal for tempered Gorilla glass, a cloth that’s two instances lighter than sapphire.

The openworked dial affords a partial view of the mechanics, together with the column wheel at 6 o’clock and the uncovered date wheel. The operating seconds counter is at 9 o’clock, and the bigger, blue-framed disc at 3 o’clock homes the 60-minute chronograph register. Tennis ball yellow is used for the central chronograph seconds hand, the hand of the 60-minute register and the numerals on the minutes monitor. As an alternative of Arabic indices, the hours are represented by white openworked luminescent indices that seem like tuning forks. A spherical white ring inserted within the chronograph counter on the 15-minute place reveals the date window. Different tennis-related particulars are the ‘D’ counterweight on the seconds hand and the Novak Djokovic emblem on the glass.

Not solely was the case reworked to lighten its load, however the motion was additionally revisited with light-weight anodised aluminium. Powered by the HUB1280 Unico manufacture automated 4Hz built-in flyback chronograph calibre with column wheel with a 72-hour energy reserve, the brass parts have been changed with light-weight aluminium anodised in gentle blue to match the camo color scheme of the case and lowering the burden by virtually 27%.

The Large Bang Unico Novak Djokovic comes with 4 totally different straps within the picket watch field: a Lacoste tennis wristband (whole weight of watch and wristband 65g), a blue elastic strap (49.5g), a light-weight blue Velcro strap with a blue aluminium sports activities buckle (54g) and a white rubber strap with a titanium deployant buckle (75g). The Large Bang Unico Novak Djokovic is a restricted version of 100 items and retails for CHF 48,000, EUR 54,900, USD 52,700 or GBP 45,300. It comes with a Lacoste sports activities wristband and a Lacoste polo shirt signed by Novak Djokovic. Extra data at Hublot.com.