For this latest showcase of material fusion, Hublot tops a micro-blasted black ceramic case middle with an unusual frosted carbon bezel in beige. The mottled pattern of forged carbon is, itself, similar to the deliberately random and organic camouflage print that earned its reputation as a military uniform but has since become an oft-repeated motif in fashion. By introducing a beige tone to the otherwise black and gray surface, the swirling tangle of colors becomes something quite unusual for a watchmaking audience.

The camo pattern continues onto the sapphire dial. Despite its arresting nature, legibility is at least someway maintained by the addition of raised, faceted, and brushed hour indices, and a matching handset. While it certainly isn’t the clearest display in Hublot’s catalog, it is by no means the least. Crucially, however, this piece’s raison d’être is hardly to tell the time — it is quite patently a curio designed to shock and awe (a remit it fulfills handily).

Although this style of camouflage might be best suited to the desert (having been inspired by “America’s rugged desert terrain”), it has a distinctly urban feel. As with many military objects and items of clothing, camouflage has long been adopted by counter-culture movements, and worn in a somewhat ironic fashion for long enough for it to become the norm in such circles. As such, the piece, while militarily styled in theory, fits well with Hublot’s target audience — the young, trendy, super-rich stars of Spotify, the silver screen, and sports stadia the world over.

So too is the sales strategy of this piece tailored toward the next generation. This 30-piece limited edition will be available exclusively in Hublot’s eBoutique, deepening the brand’s commitment to mainstreaming remote high-value luxury purchases.

Hublot’s eBoutique has been operational since 2020, a move perhaps expedited by the pandemic, but one that has worked for the brand and aligned seamlessly with its image as an innovator and thought leader in the watchmaking space.

At 42mm wide the diameters sound relatively reasonable for a Hublot. However, this piece is a) 14.1 mm thick, and b) a tonneau shape, meaning its lug-to-lug measurement (which, unsurprisingly, isn’t listed) will be somewhat heftier.

Buyers of this exclusive timepiece will have the option to wear it on either a beige-black camouflage rubber strap or a black Velcro-fastened alternative for a more low-key look. Buckle options include either a black ceramic and black titanium deployant buckle or a micro-blasted black ceramic sport buckle.

This is everything you want from a Hublot (if that is, you want anything at all from Hublot). It manages to be both quintessentially masculine and faintly ridiculous in the same breath. Somehow, as is often the case with Hublot watches, it works, but perhaps only within the context of what Hublot has become to the industry.

There are some incredible feats of product creation on display here. We have a ceramic case topped with frosted carbon (which I reckon less than 1% of the world’s population had heard of before Hublot made it de rigeur). There’s a high-frequency chronograph operating at 5 Hz, which matches the famed El Primero in vibrations per hour (36,000) while falling just ten hours shy of the mark set by Zenith’s modern 311 caliber (which you’ll find in a standard Chronomaster sport) with a 50-hour power reserve. There’s a camouflage rubber strap that benefits from Hublot’s unsubtle but extremely user-friendly quick-change system. Simply put, it ticks a lot of boxes on paper.

And yet, on the wrist, it is the watchmaking equivalent of a leopard print water bed. It’s sexy in an over-the-top way because it knows how far outside the realms of refinement it sits. It may be crass but its self-confidence is charming, almost disarmingly so. And while this might sound as if I’m criticizing this latest effort from one of my favorite (for good reason) brands, I’m not. I’m just marveling at its ability to get away with what we’d surely regard as utter nonsense from any other high-end maker.

But that’s Hublot’s schtick and it has mastered it. Hublot stays in its lane because it is the only one driving in it. As such, without the traffic encountered by other brands, Hublot is able to push the pedal to the metal and gun its creative engines to the max. It does exactly what it wants when it wants, and it doesn’t give a hoot about anyone who turns up their nose at its output. Its wearers buy the brand for exactly that reason and they tend to embody the same attitude. And more power to them for that.

Perhaps we need more brands like Hublot. Obviously, I don’t mean carbon copies. It’s been tried before and it simply doesn’t work. Only Hublot is Hublot. But its spirit, the spirit exemplified by this particular Spirit of Big Bang, is replicable.

Anyone looking for inspiration for what to do with a nascent watch brand should remember the motto of the SAS, which Hublot could very easily adopt as its own: He who dares, wins. Hublot dares time and time again. It dares the industry to turn its back on its impact at its peril. It dares its customers to push themselves to peacock as much as it knows they want to. And it dares itself to keep doing what no other brand has the guts to attempt in the same way and to sing its praises in full, unwavering voice. Once again, Hublot has reminded us that watchmaking can, if we allow it, be a little more fabulous than the Breguets, Vacheron Constantins, and Patek Philippes of the world would have you believe.