Hublot
Deers, Beers & Cheers: The Hublot Big Bang Bavaria
Hublot
Deers, Beers & Cheers: The Hublot Big Bang Bavaria
The 19th of September 2017 was a day of surprises. Arriving in a hotel room in Munich, I was greeted with a traditional “dirndl” dress hanging in the wardrobe. After shoe-horning myself into the costume, I took the elevator to the hotel lobby where things got even stranger. Among a crowd of strangers, all attired in Alpine ensemble, I found Wei Koh, my boss and co-founder of Revolution, dressed in full Bavarian national costume – lederhosen, Tyrolean jacket, knee-high socks… the works. But it was when we arrived at the local Hublot boutique, where a similarly attired Jean-Claude Biver (Head of LVMH Watch Division) and Ricardo Guadalupe (Hublot’s CEO) were already in residence, that it became obvious we were definitely not in Kansas in anymore!
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The reason for the hordes in traditional German dress was two-fold. Firstly, we were about to attend the annual Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival and an important part of Bavarian culture. Secondly, our host Hublot was launching the new, 100-piece limited-edition Big Bang Unico Bavaria designed in collaboration with leather-company Meindl – originally a shoemaker in the 17th century and today a creator of the finest leather clothing.
Following one of the biggest trends of recent years – but for the first time in a Big Bang model – the case of the Big Bang Bavaria is made of bronze. Non-magnetic, corrosion-resistant and naturally patinated, the 45mm bronze case has a black ceramic caseback to prevent any possible skin irritation and gold screws. The bund-style straps are made from the same deer leather used in Bavaria’s lederhosen and dirndl bodices. In a process that takes up to four months, the hides are salted and soaked in a limestone solution before being treated with cod-liver oil, sun-dried and coloured with tropical wood bark dyes. The new watch comes with two quick-change straps, the first in natural brown embroidered with two deer heads; the second is dark brown leather embroidered with oak leaves.
The Big Bang Bavaria is powered by Hublot’s manufacture self-winding Unico movement, with 330 components, 72-hour power reserve and flyback chronograph function. The matte black skeleton dial and yellow-gold plated indexes and hands filled with beige luminescent material provide a striking contrast to the brushed bronze case. And to allow a deeper view of the calibre, there is a sapphire crystal opening to the caseback.
Following the tradition of Oktoberfest, the new watch was unveiled in exactly the same way as the festival is declared open – by tapping the first barrel of beer. The honour was conducted by Guadalupe who, on the strike of 4pm, yelled “O’zapft is!” (“It’s tapped!”), as he took a mallet to the keg. And, following initial celebrations of the watch’s unveiling, the party continued on to the 420,000-square-metre Theresienwiese, home to Oktoberfest, where traditional celebrations welcomed the Big Bang Bavaria into the heart of the festival.
Technical Specification: Big Bang Unico Bavaria
Movement
Automatic Hublot MHUB1242, Unico manufacture calibre; flyback chronograph with column wheel; 4 Hz; 72-hour power reserve
Case
45mm brushed bronze case and bezel; microblasted black ceramic and sapphire crystal caseback; yellow-gold “H” screws; 100m water resistance
Strap
Deer leather cuff with embroidered deer head plus black rubber and brown leather deer strap with embroidered oak leaf; deployant buckle clasp in black PVD-coated titanium with brushed bronze insert
