By: Kevin Hatton

This limited edition men’s watch from Hublot is a bulky watch coming in at a large 48 mm. The black rubber strap is water, sweat, corrosion, abrasion resistant as well as flexible. The black ceramic case and bezel are durable and unique. The skeletal dial design lets the user see the characteristic quality of Hublot’s 1240 engine providing the automatic movement of the hour and minute hands which are also skeletal. The dial of the Big Bang King Power Unico 701.CI.0110.RX is protected by a sapphire scratch resistant crystal.

This all black and very sleek watch is a compelling piece. Hublot has limited manufacturing of this piece to 500. The rubber strap and the ceramic case are not characteristic materials used in prestigious watches of the kind of caliber one might expect of a limited edition. There are no diamonds and jewels embedded into the bezel and the case is not silver or gold or titanium, there is only rubber and ceramic. The skeleton design of the chronograph, hands, and rest of the dial further reduce the materials that might suggest such a high cost and limited availability. What is not reduced is the practical questions posed by the design of this watch. Looking at this watch, the skeleton based design to the dial and everything else makes its somewhat difficult to read with ease. There are two sub dials, also skeletal, that are simply too difficult to see negating their usefulness. The hour markers are fine as they are bolstered by the H shape screws around the bezel, so those are quite readable. The minute markers are clearly defined. The hours, minutes, and seconds hands are visible as well. There is a date calender at the 4:30 position that is also difficult to read, partly due to the visibility of the numbered date dial, again a problem posed by the skeleton design.

Limited editions are attractive because of the rarity of the release. Unlike precious gems and baseball cards, rarity is not synonymous with value or quality. This is a sexy looking watch. The all black and skeletal design is very sleek by the watch itself lacks greatly in features and value. The bezel is fixed so there is no tachymeter, the manufacturer does not rate the watch as being waterproof despite the rubber strap, and there is no illumination on the dial. All of these features are available on less exclusive watches even ones offered by Hublot in their Big Bang collections. There is no evident reason aside from appearance alone that justifies the limited edition where the manufacturer’s list price breaches 20K. On the other hand, you might be able to find this timepiece at other online retailers for under $500. Be advised that should you seek out these retailers the quality of the product delivered may not be indicative of the craftsmanship.