Hublot Jean-Claude Biver new limited edition Big Bang

Inside is Hublot’s HUB 4100 Calibre automatic chronograph movement.  Water resistance is to 100 metres. 

Nastase won 132 titles in his career and in tribute to this the watch will be an edition of 132 pieces.  The Hublot Nastie Bang  comes presented on a black rubber and leather strap with contrasting yellow stitching.

If you were a lawn tennis fan in the 1970′s then you had a decision to make, should you cheer for the cool-headed, silky smooth Björn Borg or the charismatic and feisty Ilie Nastase? 

Borg was impeccable and flawless, Nastase took to the courts like a slightly scruffy rock star and his show-man antics had the more traditional Wimbledon spectators choking on their Pimms. 

The piece features a 44.5mm microblasted black ceramic case.  The dial is anthracite grey with black nickel appliques and faceted black nickel hands and a red chronograph hand. 

The Nastase personalisation comes in the form of a “tennis ball” 30 minute counter at 3 o’clock and a 60 seconds counter at 9 o’clock with tennis points markings, 15-30-40.  Ilie’s signature appears beneath the sapphire at 6 o’clock and the sapphire case back is inscribed with an image of the man himself.

2012 Hublot Chukker Bang watch

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is, of course the most famous Polo watch.  Eighty years old, its design is both elegant and enduring.

 Originally created to protect the watch dial during sporting pursuits such as polo, its flip-over watchcase has become a cult classic. 

The Chukker Bang although made to perform the same task, is the antithesis of the JLC – the reverse of the Reverso. Partly obscuring a watch dial with a grille, even if that watch is a Big Bang shouldn’t work, but strangely enough it does. 

Hublot’s Big Bang was never a watch designed to be hidden beneath a cuff and this one makes quite an impact.
 The Polo-inspired design isn’t just superficial inside is the the HUB 1141 Polo Fly-Back Automatic Chronograph movement with a “chukka” counter which will time a 7 minutes 30 seconds period of polo-play.

 The central chronograph hand completes its revolution of the dial in 30 seconds, twice the speed of more traditional timers.

The piece is designed within the 44mm Big Bang case, this one is constructed from titanium as is the grille so although it may look hefty it will be easy on the wrist. 

The matt black dial features lume coated indices and hands, with contrasting red chronograph and minute counter hands.  The bezel is black ceramic with six instantly recognisable Hublot screws made from titanium. 

On the side the pushers are steel/rubber and the solid caseback is decorated with “Chukker Bang” engraving. 

For a complete transformation the grille can be removed revealing a rather tasty if more reserved watch, the Big Bang always looks its very best when clad in black.

The Hublot Chukker Bang comes presented on a black rubber and beige leather strap and will be a limited editon of 500 pieces.  Think something is missing?  Also available is a version with a diamond-set grille.

Omega Returns to Ana-Digi with the Spacemaster Z-33 watches

The X-33 presents Omega with a large pair of shoes to fill and Omega seems to have combined many different elements into a super legible and retro-inspired design.

The Spacemaster Z-33 features a 43 mm titanium case which is 19.85 mm thick and 53 mm lug to lug. The titanium crown controls the analogue hands while the pushers control the Z-33′s many features.

The Z-33 uses its twin lcd displays to show date, UTC, dual timezones, chronograph, countdown timer, alarm and perpetual calendar information.

Omega does not make direct reference to the accuracy of this new movement but we hope that it will provide better accuracy than standard quartz movements which run +/- 15 seconds a month.

Omega has also included a flight log feature that will allow pilots to log flight data with date and hour indications. The twin displays look very cool with red-on-black readouts and they even a feature a back-lighting system which automatically adapts its brightness to ambient lighting conditions.

The Z-33 comes fitted with a sapphire crystal and a solid case back designed to amplify the alarm tone and still provide a minimal 30m (100ft) of water resistance.

The flaw of most ana-digi watches is that the screens are often obstructed by the hands as they display analogue time. Omega battles this issue in two stages on the Z-33, combining the pass-though view of a skeleton handset with the ability to have the hands disengage and point in a direction that does not block either screen (activated by pressing the 8 o’clock pusher).

Both analogue and digital functions are managed by the new Omega 5666 thermo-compensated quartz movement which is powered by a traditional lithium battery that should last about two years before needing to be replaced.

Bremont Origin Film Watches

Here is our review of the Bremont Supermarine S500 from last year and we hope to bring you another Bremont review very soon.If the sport watch segment has a darling, it may very well be Bremont Watches and now you can learn a bit more about the start of this successful British brand thanks to the video embedded above.
The film covers both the origin story of their brand, the many processes and tests that make their watches so tough, and even their highly sought-after limited editions. Decent watch clips are far too rare, so be sure to set aside 11 minutes and check this one out.  Want even more Bremont?