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Watches and Wonders 2024: Hublot Downsizes Big Bang 

The latest entry to the Hublot Big Bang series is not so big and displays a bit less bang.

One of six debuts The new Hublot Big Bang Integrated Time Only collection.

The new Hublot Big Bang Integrated Time Only, one of many Watches and Wonders 2024 debuts from the Swiss watchmaker, takes Hublot back in time to its 1980 roots with its three-hand-and-date display within an integrated 38mm case. 

While 38mm models with similar dials can be found in the current Big Bang Original collection, all are higher-priced diamond models. (Most existing Big Bang Original models measure 41mm or 44mm in diameter.)

The existing models are all also attached to straps. The new models feature fully integrated bracelets that offer a clean, screw-free link with their case. 

The 2024 debut series maintains Big Bang’s so-called ‘ears’ on each side of the case, as well as the six H-shaped functional screws that secure the bezel. The new watches also displays time with the Big Bang’s familiar large skeleton hour hand and minute hand, each accompanied a seconds hand that is tipped with the Hublot ‘H’. And as you can see, the same even-numbered indexes mark the time on the dial.

As an added bonus, all the debuts feature soft ferromagnetic steel dials that protect the Hublot MHUB1115 automatic movement from the problematic effects of magnetic fields.

Hublot debuts the Big Bang Integrated Time Only series with six models. Two are made with a brushed titanium case and bracelet, with a black or a blue dial. The next two versions are in King Gold, also with a blue or black dial. 

Two more versions are in cased in ceramic. One is entirely navy blue with a blue dial while the other is a familiar Black Magic style (above) known to Hublot collectors. The watch’s case, bracelet and dial are black, which makes it the first Big Bang Black Magic with a 38mm diameter (with an exception within the Classic Fusion series.)

Prices: $13,100 (Titanium), $15,300 (blue ceramic and Black Magic) and $47,100 (King Gold). 

Smaller Fusion Too

We’ll have more downsizing from Hublot in future posts. These smaller new models include of the 29mm Classic Fusion Original and Classic Fusion series in various case metals, with or without diamonds.  Here’s a preview: 

Two examples of Hublot’s new Classic Fusion models available in a wide range of 29mm case metals.
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Featured News

Patek Philippe To Exhibit Rare Handcrafts

 

Collectors in Geneva for Watches & Wonders 2024 can also stop in at the Patek Philippe Salon on Rue de Rhone, where the watchmaker will exhibit select items from its Rare Handcrafts 2024 collection.

From Saturday, April 13, to Saturday, April 27, 2024, watch enthusiasts can join the general public to see more than eighty artisanal watches, dome clocks, desk clocks and pocket watches during what is an annual high-end horological event in this premier watchmaker’s hometown.

The exhibit is a must-see for those who appreciate artisanal workmanship on all forms of timekeeping instruments. Beautifully rendered, hand-crafted dials, cases, stands and decorative accessories will be on display, many of which will exhibit examples of high-end enameling, marquetry, engraving, guilloché and dial-painting.   

Here are two examples of what Patek Philippe will have on display.

Portrait of a White Egret

Ref. 995/143G-001, Portrait of a White Egret

This 45mm white gold pocket watch is a unique piece featuring a case back in wood marquetry, highlighting a white egret and its plumage. The marquetry maker cut out and assembled fifty-three tiny veneer parts and 400 inlays, which include eighteen species of wood in different colors, textures and veining.

 

Artisans hand-guilloche the gold dial with a sunburst motif recalling the plumage and coat it with translucent blue enamel, according to the traditional technique of flinqué enameling.

Applied Breguet numerals and leaf-shaped hands, all in white gold, indicate the time. An orange opal cabochon echoing the golden color of the bird’s bill embellishes the crown.

The white gold stand is decorated with a motif inspired by reeds and is attached to an oval base in silver obsidian. Inside Patek Philippe fits a manually wound movement with small seconds.

 

Ref. 5089G-129, Morning on the Beach

This 38.6mm white gold Calatrava wristwatch features a dial in wood marquetry. A limited edition of ten, the watch’s dial highlights a surfer waiting for the waves on a California beach.

Morning on the Beach

To create the dial, the marquetry maker cut out and assembled 100 tiny veneer parts, as well as seventy-five microscopic inlays, together spanning twenty-three species of wood of different colors, textures and veining.

Dauphine-style hands in white gold with a pierced center fillet adorn the dial.

The white-gold case is endowed with a sapphire crystal case back protected by a hinged dust cover. When open, this allows a view of the caliber 240 ultra-thin self-winding movement.

The Patek Philippe Salon is located at 41 Rue du Rhône, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland, and is open from 10 am until 6:30 pm. It closes at 6 pm on Saturdays and is closed Sundays. 

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The Watches

Frederique Constant Teams with Peter Speake  

British watchmaker Peter Speake continues his collaborative work with Geneva-based watch manufacture Frederique Constant, launching the Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Designed by Peter Speake, a steel-grey hued edition of the brown-accented collaborative watch from 2022.

The new Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Designed by Peter Speake.

The new 42mm steel-cased perpetual calendar retains the skeletonized design of the original model. The openwork design nicely displays Frederique Constant’s own automatic FC-775  caliber, here showing the hour and minutes without a seconds hand.

The idea is to allow the eye to more clearly focus on the perpetual calendar displays, which include the day and date, the month (at 12 o’clock), moonphase (at 6 o’clock) and, finally, the leap year. 

Frederique Constant explains that “since this detail is not needed for everyday use, it has been moved over to the month display at 12 o’clock. A discreet red dot appears for the month in question when the year has 366 days; at all other times, the window remains white.”

Frederique Constant finishes its in-house movement with a circular satin finish and blued screws. The watch’s transparent caseback displays an openwork, blue-colored oscillating weight. Also visible are the words ‘Limited Edition 135 pieces’ which are engraved on each watch. Each watch arrives on a grey nylon strap with matching overstitching. 

Price: $11,995.

 

Specifications: Frederique Constant Slimline Perpetual Calendar Manufacture Designed by Peter Speake

(Reference FC-775PS4S6, a limited édition of 135) 

Functions: Hours, minutes, moonphase, date, day, month, leap year.

 

Movement: FC-775 in-house caliber, automatic, perpetual calendar, Perlage decoration on movement, anthracite bridge, blue rotor, satin finishing on all springs, circular finishing on perpetual calendar wheels, 38-hour power reserve, 28,800 alt/h. 

 

Case: Polished stainless steel 3-part case, diameter of 42mm, height of 12,05 mm

Anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal, see-through case back, water-resistant to 3 ATM/30m/100ft.

 

Dial: Grey color dial with matte finishing, skeleton, luminescent printed indexes, 

White and polished hands with luminous treatment, moonphase with luminous treatment.

 

Strap: Grey nylon strap with tone-on-tone stitching, folding buckle.

 

Availability March 2024 at the Citizen Flagship Store New York and at select Frederique Constant retailers.

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The Watches

Teak Tock 

Swiss watchmaker Cvstos has been making avant-garde mechanical watches for eighteen years at workshops in the center of Geneva, with production facilities just outside the city. 

Specializing in bold, tonneau-shaped watches, Cvstos reports that it concentrates primarily on creating an “ultra-contemporary, yet sporty dimension to the most sophisticated complications.”

The Cvstos Challenge Sealiner PS.

Among the latest set of Cvstos debuts, the Challenge Sealiner PS certainly embodies all those descriptions. At 41mm by 54mm, the watch’s impressive sapphire case is endowed with a non-reflective coating on both sides and is affixed with specialized Cvstos polished titanium screws.

And while the sapphire case allows a clear view of the movement from the back, it’s the teak dial that really sets the watch apart from other nautically themed models.

Just below the stylized luminous hands (including a very cool propeller-shaped small-seconds hand) lies a teak-wood plate, echoing the woodwork found on many an ocean-cruising yacht.

Additional Challenge models include examples with colorful sapphires set in titanium framing the teak plate.

Cvstos will make twenty-five examples of the Challenge Sealiner PS with orange or turquoise dial and crown accents and matching rubber strap.  Price: $49,500. 

Specifications: Cvstos Challenge Sealiner PS

 (A limited edition of 25 in each of two colors) 

Case: Tonneau-shaped 53.7 x 41 mm sapphire crystal with non-reflective coating on both sides.

Caseback is open with sapphire crystal. Crown is screw-down with polished titanium Grade 5 or 5N rose gold rubber insert. Polished titanium (grade 5) screws in exclusive pattern.

Dial: Teak wood plate, rhodium-plated or golden decorative applique polished with Côte de Genève finish. Colorful sapphire indexes and Super-Luminova treated hands.

Movement: Skeletonized Cvstos CVS410, self-winding mechanical with 42-hour power reserve. 

Bracelet/Strap: Rubber, alligator leather or Alcantara with folding clasp.

Price: $49,500. 

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The Watches

Frederique Constant Upgrades Classics

Frederique Constant adds four handsome new dress watches to its accessibly priced Classics collection. Each model combines an elegant dark grey or silver-color dial with a new, customized G100 La Joux-Perret movement, all set in a wrist friendly 38.5mm steel or rose-gold-plated case.

One of the new Frederique Constant Classics Premiere models, each with a new automatic movement boasting an extended power reserve (68 hours).

Frederique Constant uses this Premiere addition to its Classics collection to feature the new automatic movements, which represent an upgrade from earlier Sellita or ETA-based calibers used in the Classics series.

Primarily, the new automatic movement offers a superior power reserve of sixty-eight hours, considerably higher than the thirty-eight-hour reserve typical of the standard Classics models.

Frederique Constant displays the new movement through a special open caseback set with a glassbox that magnifies the movement, showing off its Côtes de Genève finish.

On the dial, the watchmaker sets applied indexes around a mother-of-pearl, diamond-setting or a snailed dial decoration. The dials also feature Roman numerals, Breguet-style blue-tinted hands and a railroad-style minute circle.

Frederique Constant offers its Classics Premiere collection in four variations (plus one diamond-set gold model not sold in the United States). The plated rose gold version with sun-ray dial and embossed center (above) is a limited edition of 500 pieces ($2,095); the steel version with a silver dial or a dark grey dial is limited to 500 pieces each ($1,895) and the steel model with mother-of-pearl dial and diamonds is limited to 300 pieces ($2,295.)

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