Our picks of the best Hublot watches of 2020, including some Black Magic, beautiful bracelets and modish millennials
Over the last few years we’ve seen lots of brands turn to their archives as inspiration for new watches. Heritage is very, very popular. But what if you don’t have a century or more of archives to dig through in search of exciting designs? What if your brand was only founded in 1980? For Hublot, celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, that hasn’t been a problem. Perhaps thanks to having such a legendary innovator as Jean-Claude Biver at the helm for so many years has seen that philosophy ingrained into the very fibre of the brand. Innovation has been at the core of what Hublot has done for a long time. From their R&D sharing partnerships with brands like Ferrari, to their pioneering approach to new watchmaking materials, Hublot hasn’t looked back because they’ve been too busy moving forwards. In the year of their 40th anniversary, Hublot hasn’t wavered, releasing a number of novelties that explore new concepts, materials and movements. With that in mind, these are a few of the best Hublot watches of 2020 that offer a capsule insight into what the brand is capable of four decades into their journey. Prices and availabilities: The Hublot Big Bang…
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This year has truly separated the ones who live with dress watches from the ones who love them, as fewer opportunities to dress up formally have left many collectors leaving their simpler and more elegant pieces stashed away. But for the people who can’t get enough of their most finessed timepieces, the humble dress watch genre has been treated to some truly stunning releases, with these fantastic options some of the best dress watches of 2020 under $10K. Dan Henry 1937 Dress Chronograph If you want a more affordable and reliable alternative to the typically Landeron 47/48 powered Swiss chronographs of the 1930s and ’40s, Dan Henry came to the rescue with his 1937 Dress Chronograph, loaded with a Seiko mecha-quartz movement. Based on pieces from his own collection, this watch harkens back to a time when elegant looks and military utility weren’t mutually exclusive. Available in vertical or horizontal bicompax layout, on two different silver or black dial options, the 38mm art deco crowd-pleaser is slim, sharp, and sure to find its way into many collections for the $270 USD asking price. Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 The Oyster Perpetual feels as ubiquitous as its eternal name suggests, being one…
The 20th annual GPHG was streamed and broadcast live, with digital spectators tuning in around the world to see who would win what some refer to as “the Oscars” of watchmaking. Each year, an academy of industry experts, journalists and influencers is assembled to determine the nominees for these prestigious awards – with 30 of these members ultimately selected to serve as the final jury. This year, unfortunate circumstances minimised the physical in-person presence at the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève). Nonetheless, the show was upbeat and filled with that good ol’ Swiss humour and an abundance of cheese-related puns and references. They were a bit CHEESY if I may say so myself. I’ll see myself out … Anyway, for those who do not speak French, the show was also translated into English. While I appreciate the effort, it was a lot to follow at times with both the speaker and translator equally audible and therefore talking over each other frequently. Fortunately for English speakers around the world, many of the CEOs accepting their awards were fully cognisant of the worldwide audience and keenly opted to make their speeches in English for us to understand. Challenge – Tudor Black…
It’s certainly time for a Friday afternoon beer, and for no more reason than the eyebrow-raising results that came out of the GPHG overnight. The GPHG is, of course, the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève or, as is endlessly repeated, “the Oscars of watchmaking”. The ceremony was held yesterday, with a couple of awards that caused Zach to almost ruin his laptop by spitting his drink out when certain watches were announced as the winners. Not that they weren’t excellent watches in their own right, but were they the best in their category in 2020? We’ll leave that one up to you to decide. There were a couple of watches that were certainly deserving winners, including the Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1, the Vacheron Constantin Overseas Perpetual Calendar ultra-thin skeleton, the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Flyback Chronograph Automatic and several others. My favourite of the lot, after having the privilege of holding the watch on two occasions, would have to be the Hand Made 1 by Greubel Forsey. It is 95 per cent made by hand, and took more than 6000 hours to complete, a feat that is hard to wrap your head around in the age of ubiquitous…
As with any awards show, there can be a discrepancy between which watches fans think should have won and the watches that actually win. And it has to be said that the divide between popular and GPHG opinion is something of a canyon these days, with mega-brands like Rolex and Patek Philippe curiously not making any kind of showing. If this is indeed the “Oscars” for watchmaking, aren’t we rolling without Spielberg? Or, in the modern day, saying no to Nolan? This is a subject deserving of a post of its own, because, of course, “it’s complicated”. How so? It’s like, they need to be invited to the dance if they haven’t bought tickets to the dance, but Rolex and Patek don’t wanna dance, so they politely decline to go to the dance, etc etc etc. We can leave this as a topic for another day. But, to wit, some of the winners in 2020 struck me as eyebrow-raising, and some straight-out dubious – this is increasingly an age of transparency and it would be fair to say that the GPHG remains cloaked in more than a reasonable amount of secrecy. Here are three winners that had me running a gamut…
Let’s face it – blue is a very saturated colour throughout the novelties of 2020. This is not necessarily due to a lack of creativity. If anything, it is fan service: brands truly working to provide what the people want. Hublot, on the other hand, is not one to just follow a trend – they find a way to tweak it in their moderate moments, and disrupt the hell out of it at their most extreme. And thus, they have created a new answer to the blue craze with the Hublot Big Bang Unico Sky Blue. Leveraging their innovative approach to materials, design and fabrication, Hublot presents a compelling candidate for the most interesting blue watch of 2020. The case The Hublot Big Bang Unico Sky Blue is 45mm in case diameter, and is made from Hublot’s masterfully constructed and crafted sky blue and white ceramic. The ceramic is executed with contrasting satin-brushed and high-polished finishes. The ceramic material used isn’t just aesthetically pleasing to the eye, it is also a tough and strong material that is highly robust with an extraordinary degree of shock and scratch resistance. The contrasting finishes applied to the ceramic, especially the polished facets, will…
Yes, let me say it again, we love colours! I’ll shamelessly repeat the same statement from part 1 of this delightfully green story, this one coming to you from a more rough-and-ready angle. This story is still meant as an inspiration to move away from the quiet solitude of matt black dials and embrace a bright new world of everything from matte olive to bright apple green, so let’s take a look at a few more of the best green dial watches of 2020. Mood upswing guaranteed. Seiko Prospex “Captain Willard” SPB153J Yes! They did it. After the beautiful SLA033, an almost too beautiful rendition of the “Captain Willard” 6150 diver, of Apocalypse Now fame, Seiko has finally released a more affordable version. As expected, the black-dialled version (SBP151J) as nature intended, an everyday version with the solidity of the 6R35 movement. But wow, how much a little colour can do. Unlike the original black dial, the green dial on the SPB153J in a mossy olive green tint is a stroke of genius. The sharp indices pop against the fresh green stage, and that fresh red pop of the classic traffic light lollipop seconds always makes us smile. Go! Do…
All the connotations and daydreams that come with the image of a fighter pilot are on show in the intriguing IWC Pilot’s Watch Double Chronograph TOP GUN Ceratanium, a functional tool watch that transcends the genre. The cool black finish could only be German, and following a strict code of functionality that, while formal in its monochrome symmetry, exudes a calm feeling of trust. The case is not exactly lithe at 44mm with a close-to 17mm thickness, but the fit on the wrist makes me believe that there is a well-staffed Department of Ergonomics at IWC Schaffhausen. Even without the visual cliché of black being slimming, the elegant shape of the lugs sure make it shrink, and yes, Ceratanium is light enough that, with eyes closed, you’ll think it’s a slim 40mm. The Ceratanium case The lineage of ceramic pilot’s watches starting in 1994 culminates in what here is a matt black case with a smooth surface. The stealthy feel is a masterstroke by IWC, combining titanium and ceramic in a composite material, having the lightness of titanium while being ultra scratch-resistant. The surprising feature is that Ceratanium has a softer feel, both through its silky surface and feeling warmer…
Editor’s note: We recently performed an overview of the watches most commonly worn by Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but despite being fresh from the campaign trial neither has ever had to do what former French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy did. Sarkozy — fearing his Patek Philippe would be stolen — actually took his watch off as he met the people, after a few aggressive/enthusiastic handshakes with the crowd, to ensure his precious timepiece was not ripped from his wrist in the process. Say what you will about American presidents, but they have never had to remove their watches in fear of indulging their crowd of supporters. There is a case to be made that leaders of countries should not wear such expensive and opulent timepieces, especially in harder times, but if you had Sarkozy’s collection, it’s hard to say you wouldn’t want to flex the watches as well. Let’s revisit the wrist of Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as remind ourselves why the French are known around the world for their fashion – Mr Benedictus, take it away … “If you don’t have a Rolex by the time you reach 50, then you have clearly failed in your life.” Remembering Sarkozy, the…