The latest artistic creation by Hublot is made with the help of Dr Samuel Ross, creating a timepiece that pushes the boundaries of materials, fusion and aesthetics.
Hublot has been creating artistic timepieces for more than 10 years now, with the Swiss watch brand working closely with unconvetional artists that aren’t afraid to push the boundaries. This latest timepiece is created alongside Dr Samuel Ross, with the collaboration with the British artist & designer starting back in 2020. For the past three years, Ross and Hublot have been working together on the engineering process of designing a brand new watch, from the case to crown, the bezel & dial and finally the strap. The Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A has been worked from the ground up, to create something never seen before.
Dr Samuel Ross has quite an illustrious career. The artist worked for Off-white early in his career, with Virgil Abloh being his mentor at the time. During his stint there, Ross designed Kanye West’s creative content company Donda. Ross founded his on fashion lable A-COLD-Wall back in 2015, and through this venture he has collaborated with Nike, Converse, Timberland and Kohler just to name a few.
The artist also launched SR_A, the name given to this latest Hublot watch creation. SR_A stands for Samuel Ross & Associates, and it was first launched at the Hublot Prize exhibition in the Serpentine Gallery in 2019. SR_A is now a studio that carries out operations within the fields of luxury industrial design, interior installation, architecture, furniture design, sound design and also sculptural & visual communication.
Building on Ross’s countless years of creativity and working with high profile brands, the artist has bought together his experience and knowledge in materials and aesthetic design to create his first ever timepiece. His creation? A 50-piece limited edition timepiece featuring a grey monochrome watch case and a unique artistic twist to be worn on three different rubber straps, that range from vivid green colour to black or white.
On this latest creation and collaboration with Hublot, Dr Samual Ross says that “We are focused on crafting refined, minimal and expressive timepieces. SR_A, looks to expand, re-define and establish timeless icons of design, reflecting a spirit of innovation, optimism and craft. I firmly believe we need all three properties to usher in the next chapter of luxury.”
The Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A comes in a 44mm case, which Ross has design to have an industrial appearance. The artist opted to design the watch case in shiny micro-blasted titanium, which has been extended to the clasps on the rubber straps. The crown has been overmolded in grey rubber which completes the grey monochrome look of the case. The case features a hexagonal shape, a signature design of Hublot’s, however, this time with a honeycomb structure on the four corners of the timepiece. This honeycomb design is one of the main elements of this watch, with the design being carried over through to the dial background, side profile of the watch case and even the rubber straps.
The design elements to this timepiece has been carried over from the sculpture Dr Samuel Ross envisioned for the creative collaboration with Hublot back in 2020. In regards to this unique artistic design, Hublot states that “building on the perfect hexagonal pattern, Ross knows how to contrast hyper-technical with traditional elements to ensure a perfect fit with Hublot’s Art of Fusion vision. Just as in the sculpture he created for Hublot, Ross takes on the Big Bang tourbillon by playing on transparency with holes in the structure, as well as referencing the origins of Fusion by mixing rubber with manufactured metal.”
The dial, while artistic, is quite busy with the different elements being intergrated together. The honeycomb structure sitting underneath provides a skeleton framework, which while being aesthetic, can get in the way of dial readability. The tourbillon is shown at the 6 o’clock position, with the mini winding-rotor located at 12 o’clock on the dial side. The hour indices are only shown at 2, 3 and 4 o’clock on left side, and 7, 8 and 9 o’clock on the right. The indices are displayed through circular markers and are filled with white Super-lumiNova. This along with the Super-lumiNova filled hands will provide great low light visibility.
Inside this latest artistic collaboration from Hublot is the brand’s own in-house 282 component Manufacture HUB6035 tourbillon movement. This movement beats at a frequency of 3hz and is able to produce a 3-day (72hours) power reserve. While the case back of the timpiece is open with sapphire crystal backing, most of the view of the movement is covered with the honeycomb structure on the dial. This isn’t an issue, however, as the key elements of the movement are presented on the dial side.
This latest Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A comes with three smooth rubber straps. As mentioned earlier, in the colours Vivid Green, Infinity Black and Full White. All three straps have a honeycomb structure on the top half of the strap, which transitions smoothly to the honeycomb design of the watch case.
Constantly pushing new boundaries in terms of materials, fusion and aesthetics, this latest collaboration between Hublot and Dr Samuel Ross brings together contrasting materials and a unique honeycomb design which the artist has used in his past creations.
Ricardo Guadalupe sums up this latest creation with “what defines the true nature of a collaboration between an artist and a brand? It is bringing together the best of two worlds while deeply respecting and building on the true nature of two visions. The Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross, launched in 2022, has ticked all the boxes of a successful and genuine collaboration, yet one in which Ross had left a powerful imprint through his aesthetic, functional and purposeful take on our watch, remaining true to who we are while shedding light from a different angle. His new iteration represents the next steps of a never-ending story demonstrating how creativity and engineering must never be taken for granted in consistently pushing existing boundaries to enhance our own creations.“
Reference: 428.NX.0101.RX.SRA23
Specification:
- Case: 44 mm
- Case Material: Shiny micro-blasted titanium
- Case back: Shiny micro-blasted titanium
- Dial: Skeleton with honeycomb structure
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
- Water resistance: 30 m / 3 bar
- Movement: Automatic HUB6035 Manufacture, self-winding micro-rotor, skeleton tourbillon
- Power reserve: Approximately 72 hours.
- Strap: Vivid Green smooth rubber with additional bracelets in Infinity Black smooth rubber or Full White smooth rubber.
