Is the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu the Ultimate Watch Brand x Artist Collaboration?

Like a lot of us, when I initially saw the first Hublot Big Bang Sang Bleu in 2016, I was surprised and amazed by how the watch paid tribute to Sang Bleu’s iconographic repertoire without compromise.

Then, in 2020, with the Big Bang Sang Bleu II, Hublot increased Sang Bleu’s involvement, incorporating his designs into the case and strap. The result speaks for itself.
 

Now, today, at Milan Design Week, Hublot unveiled the next step in this prestigious partnership’s evolution: the Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu.

But before we delve too deeply into what makes this collaboration so ideal, let’s take a look at the new All Black, Titanium, and King Gold limited editions of the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu, along with some glamour shots we were able to take while visiting the Hublot Manufacture in Nyon last week.

If the Hublot Sang Bleu I and II were examples of a high-level collaboration between a watch brand and artist, then the new Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu’s interplay of form and materials (provided by Hublot) and creative design (done by Sang Bleu) is just remarkable. And it results in these new models pushing the boundaries of what it means for a brand to create a collaborative piece.
 

Whether in black ceramic, titanium, or King Gold, the Spirit of Big Bang Sang Bleu’s material and the 42mm tonneau-shaped case allows for its dramatic lines and details to play with light in a very pleasing way and be observed and appreciated at different angles. Thus, by focusing on architecture, geometry, design, and ergonomics, Sang Bleu has undoubtedly ferried the Spirit of Big Bang collection to new territory it had not previously explored.
 

Every part of the design, each shape and proportion – from the overlapping geometric “tattoos” on the case to the skeletonized dial and the disc hands – has been reworked and rethought to showcase Hublot and Sang Bleu’s identity. And the result is a large watch that fits perfectly on the wrist thanks to a caseback and sapphire crystal that have been arched at several points and, most importantly, looks like nothing else on the market.
 

All in all, these watches – powered by the HUB4700 automatic skeleton chronograph movement – embody what a brand x artist collaboration should be about: Creating novelties that represent a departure from a collection’s typical design while simultaneously keeping the brand’s identity intact and becoming a canvas for the artist’s signature motifs or design codes.