Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot has announced its second connected watch – the Big Bang e – which runs on Google’s Wear OS.
Hublot first released its Big Bang flagship watch back in 2005, and it has since become one of the brand’s most iconic timepieces. In 2018, to mark the 2018 FIFA Football World Cup in Russia, Hublot announced its first “connected watch model,” the Big Bang Referee 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Now, the company is taking a second stab at smartwatches with the Big Bang – “a fusion between tradition and innovation, cutting edge materials and the latest digital technology.”
“Electronic watches were created in Switzerland using quartz in the 1970s. Fifty years later, we are continuing in the same innovative vein by producing a second smartwatch which boasts an extremely high level of technological sophistication, whilst embodying all the aesthetic values, technical features, and excellence that have ensured the reputation of our Big Bang collection,” explains Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot’s CEO.
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The Big Bang e – the availability of which is still not known – will come in two editions: one in titanium and one in black ceramic both available in a 42 mm case. The watch’s hour numerals are metalized under the scratchproof sapphire crystal, which Hublot has covered with an AMOLED high-def touchscreen. An integrated pusher in the Big Bang e’s rotary crown activates controls for its electronic module just like it does on the mechanical version.
The watch, which will set you back $5,200 to $5,800, is “extremely complex,” comprising 42 components, 27 of which are for the K Module – the “cage” that contains the watch’s “digital heart,” a Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a 300mAh battery. The Big Bang e comes with a rubber strap and with the buckle that we’ve become accustomed to on Hublot watches since 1980.
Apart from being able to function in “Time Only” mode, the Big Bang e also features things like a Perpetual Calendar with moon phase or second GMT time zone. Also, Hublot guarantees that the watch is water-resistant to a depth of 30 meters.
The Big Bang e is powered with Google’s Wear OS, so wearers can access apps on Google Play, get answers from Google Assistant, and even make payments with Google Pay. With a swipe or two, the watch’s owner can get access to helpful information and stay up to date with notifications and messages. Hublot also says that a range of dials specifically created by Hublot ambassadors and Friends of the Brand will be unveiled over time.
The first collection of dials – available as soon as the Big Bang e is released – is part of the #HublotLovesArt movement, and features a series of eight dials designed by artist Marc Ferrero. The dial changes color every three hours, so all eight of them are shown in sequence over 24 hours: Happy Yellow, Magic Blue, Orange Dynamite, All White, Lucky Green, Magic Red, Rainbow Spirit, and Black Magic.
But that’s not all. An animation lasting five seconds marks every full hour that passes.
For the first time in the brand’s history, the Big Bang e will be sold online on Hublot’s website, as well as on the Wechat in China. Finally, it will then be available in boutiques and the traditional network.
Image: Hublot