BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
Back in 2016, Hublot partnered with a famed French leather-making house Berluti, which resulted in the creation of Hublot Classic Fusion. Following the collaboration, the two brands have paired on a number of occasions, which also led to the creation of Big Bang Unico Berluti Cold Brown last year. Now Hublot partners with Berluti again and the end result is a monochromatic watch with a strong element of leather in its design. The design of the new watch is roughly the same as the Cold Brown version, but the case is changed from black ceramic to silver-gray titanium, and the brown Venezia leather bezel and dial have also become cement-like gray. The shade that’s embellished on leather workings on the watch is developed by Berluti, it’s their emblematic Venezia leather featuring Aluminio, Berluti’s signature patina.
The case is satin-finished and is made of polished titanium in 44mm x 15.45mm, which itself is rendered in patinated Aluminio Venezia gray leather. The bezel is Hublot’s latest two-part bezel design, the first piece is the leather screwed into the second part which is titanium. This Aluminio Venezia is the expertise of Berluti, the leather will develop the natural hues of the dial over time, thanks to a special technique conceived by Hublot and Berluti. The case with sapphire crystal offers a water resistance of 100 meters/330 feet.
The semi-skeleton dial as mentioned earlier is also crafted out of Berluti leather, which is not something usual for a wristwatch dial and rightfully so, but when executed right the results are deeply captivating, as in this patinated dial in Berluti leather. This patinated leather on the dial produces various shades which are only possible as a result of a very intricate and fine handiwork.
The movement powering the Big Bang Unico Berluti Aluminio is Hublot’s MHUB1280 Unico, it’s a column-wheel flyback Chrono movement and offers 72 hours of power reserve. The watch comes with black rubber and genuine Berluti patinated Venezia leather to complement the overall unique leather-centric design. Limited to just 100 pieces with a price of CHF23,900.
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