‘To see in black and white is a delight for the soul’: Introducing the new Hublot Big Bang One Click 39mm Marc Ferrero
The new Hublot Big Bang One Click 39mm Marc Ferrero, designed to pay homage to the 21st century woman, marks the partnership between Hublot & Marc Ferrero for the second year running.
Two versions, both featuring lacquered dials, calf and rubber straps, and Marc Ferrero art work have been unveiled, one depicting the night in satin-finished and polished black ceramic case (reference: 465.CX.1120.VR.1204.LIP20) and one representing the day in satin-finish polished steel and resin case (reference: 465.SX.2020.VR.1204.LIP20).
The Artist
Marc Ferrero is a French painter and artist. He is the founder of Storytelling Art movement and is famous for his body of work titled ‘Lipstick’ that is representative of a leading lady or heroine of modern times.
“I love the power of black and white. Shade and light. Yin and Yang. One is profound, unclassifiable, eternal. The other is subtle, ethereal, timeless. They symbolise antitheses and complementarity. Choosing black and white means getting straight to the point without an excess of tonalities. The black and white make ‘Lipstick’ even more graphic and its red lipstick—more magnetic,” says Marc Ferrero.
After Baselworld 2019, Hublot is collaborating for the second time with Ferrero, again using his most emblematic work, ‘Lipstick’ to create another round of limited edition watches.
The Context
Since Hublot has been promoting the concept of “Hublot loves Art” and establishing itself to be the master of the ‘Art of Fusion’, it then comes as no surprise that they are teaming up with Ferrero to create an artistic blend that features rare and innovative materials — black ceramic — with different graphic — Lipstick artwork dial — styles
“When I am asked ‘What innovative and modern idea develops your painting?’ Without hesitation, I answer fusion… Using different graphic styles (cubism, impressionism, surrealism, figurative, etc.) on the same plane or over my works—just like a film director uses special effects to tell a story—will always represent an extremely exciting challenge for me.”
Marc Ferrero
The Sin City Look
Now while the first release from last year was most prominent for its burst of colours featuring spinels in shades of red and topazes set on a turquoise case, this new release is very monochromatic and presents the artistic side of black and white.
The new models retain the Big Bang case size of 39mm and the patented Hublot “One Click” strap fastening system, while increasing the limited edition run from 50 to 100 pieces.
So what’s different about these new releases you might ask? Well, there is a quote by Andri Cauldwell, a contemporary American photographer, that answers this very succinctly.
“To see in colour is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul.”
Meet the new Hublot Big Bang One Click 39mm Marc Ferrero, in black and white. A watch that might as well have been featured in the Sin City movies with its avant-garde and edgy appeal.
The Specifications
To give credit where it’s due, before we list the specifications, just for record we would like to note that Hublot hasn’t taken the short-cut home and presented a women’s offering with a quartz movement.
The movement — HUB1710 — used is a self-winding movement comprising of 166 components, 27 jewels & beats at the frequency of 4Hz (28’000 A/h) allowing for a decent 50-hour power reserve.
The black and white lacquered dial designed is by Marc Ferrero and is framed by a polished black plated ceramic featuring 6 H-shaped screws and set with 42 diamonds totalling ~1.00ct.
The black bezel blends with the black ceramic case and the polished black ceramic display case-back that is engraved “LIMITED EDITION” XXX/100.
Watch Ya Gonna Do About It
In terms of use, we would say it definitely boasts of the dimensions — 39mm x 12.55m — and features — 50-hour power reserve & 100m water-resistance — that make this a daily wear watch, but given the bold artwork and diamonds, it may just be reserved for special occasions. It is definitely a beautiful dress watch and the burst of red really adds to its charm.
Like most Big Bang watches, the satin and polished ceramic case is punctuated by the contrasts provided by the chamfered and angled surfaces and textural interplay.
The bezel is shiny and polished, clearly demarcated against the integrated lugs that wrap themselves around the wrist as they exit the flank of the watch. In the three part case the middle sandwich ‘ears’ in-lay is grained contrasting with the shiny bezel and the grooved surface of the crown at 3’o clock also contrasts well against the smooth circular bezel.
If there were any improvements that I had to suggest, it would be to increase readability of the dial. The watch face shows the traditional functions of central hours, minutes and seconds, though the legibility is fairly compromised owing to the art design on the dial. Conventional indexes are missing and all we get is a peripheral minute track. Perhaps a few bursts of that red to form the indices might have done the trick? Maybe even adding red to the tip of the seconds hand?
Ignoring this bit of colour, the watch (ref. 465.CX.1120.VR.1204.LIP20) is primarily black, and Hublot has a done an exceptional job of providing contrast to the various elements of the watch. The white on black lends that extra flair to the watch, which in the white version is somehow missing. The white version is more elegant and feminine I suppose, but these watches aren’t meant to be subtle understatements; they are almost larger than life art forms that happen to tell time. And for this reason, I would go with the black version.
Even though the watch comes with a Marc Ferrero designed calf leather and rubber strap, I prefer it on the other option of a standard Hublot black alligator and rubber strap. The former is too busy with artwork, while the latter integrates well with the case visually, letting the dial do its magic.
Film Noir
Like I said before, out of the two versions my pick would be the polished black ceramic one; as if leaping out of the pages of a comic book, the leading lady is at the centre of adventure in the dial, with other female characters surrounding her. The more I look at this dial the more it fills my imagination up with scenes from Film Noir movies from the Golden Age of cinema.
“With my brains and your looks, we could go places,” says the actor John Garfield in the 1946 movie, The Postman Always Rings Twice.
The new watch comes with the technical brains at Hublot and the looks provided by Marc Ferrero; the Hublot Big Bang One Click 39mm is sure to go places.
And the burst of colour in the form of red lips simply elevates the appeal of the black and white lacquered dial. Ranging from 17’400 to 18’400 CHF, anyone looking to own a piece of art for their wrist has come to the right place.
It’s like we quoted, “to see in colour is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul.”
For more information on this watch and other Hublot watches, head to their website here.
