The Hexagonal Soul of the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross

As the first brand to espouse the concept of fusing disparate materials like gold and rubber, Hublot has taken “fusion” to the next level, reworking some of its icons with top-tier contemporary artists like Richard Orlinski, Maxime-Plescia-Buchi (aka Sang Bleu), Shepard Fairey and Murakami. The latest collaboration has been percolating in the lab for three years and responds to a design by Samuel Ross, the multi-talented British designer, creative director and artist. Taking the Big Bang Tourbillon as a base, Samuel Ross has unleashed his creative juices to produce a sculptural watch that mimics certain geometric patterns found in Nature and carved in lightweight titanium.

It’s hard to pigeonhole Dr Samuel Ross, but for starters, the title in his name corresponds to a doctorate in art, not medicine. Born in Brixton, London, Ross’ artistic domain encompasses painting, sculpture, furniture and industrial design, and fashion. Founder of A-Cold-Wall and SR_A, his design language brings a millennial edge to luxury goods and has resulted in countless awards. At the same time, his artworks and sculptures are exhibited in museums worldwide.

As a brand that has forged its identity on innovative design and technical materials, the Hublot-Ross adventure makes perfect sense. Ross’ monochromatic aerodynamic titanium vision for the Big Bang Tourbillon took three years to engineer. Using shiny micro-blasted titanium for the 44mm diameter and 13.75mm thick case, Ross has made the case look and feel lighter thanks to the perforations that give the watch its identity. Still flaunting the six functional screws on the bezel, Ross’ design for the Big Bang Tourbillon plays with the six-sided hexagon and transparency.

Inspired by Nature’s perfect honeycomb shape, the case middle features a latticework of hexagonal perforations that traverse the dial, introducing light and making the watch even lighter. The contrasting polished, brushed, hammered and perforated surfaces emphasise the radical architecture of the case. Naturally, rubber plays a starring role and is featured in grey on the crown and used for the three rubber straps – white, black and green – accompanying the watch.

The openworked dial, which is flooded with light from the hexagonally perforated plate, reveals the skeletonised movement with the 60-second tourbillon suspended at 6 o’clock and the Hublot-branded micro-rotor at noon. Again, the number six comes into play with the six circular and luminous hour markers positioned above the movement under a transparent sapphire chapter ring. The rounded central hour and minute hands are also luminous.

The reverse side reveals the honeycomb-perforated plate and parts of the 282-component automatic HUB6035 calibre beating at 3Hz with a 72-hour power reserve.

Availability & Price

The Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross is a limited edition of 50 pieces and is presented with Vivid Green, Infinity Black and Full White rubber straps. It retails for CHF 120,000, EUR 132,000 or USD 127,000.

For more information, please consult Hublot.com.