The Hublot Big Bang Original Soft Touch takes the brand’s exploration of materials into a dimension still relatively unexplored in watchmaking: touch. Available in All Black and All Red, the new chronograph reinterprets the design introduced in 2005 through an exclusive textured rubber compound with a velvet-like feel, transforming the case, bezel, dial and strap into surfaces that add a new tactile experience to their visual character.
BIG BANG ORIGINAL: FROM 2005 TO TODAY
To understand the Soft Touch, we need to go back to 2005, when Hublot introduced its first Big Bang. The model was destined to become the brand’s bestseller and, more importantly, to define its aesthetic language for the following two decades. Its arrival marked a clear departure from the conventions of traditional watchmaking: the construction of the case, the six exposed screws on the bezel, the rubber strap and the combination of very different components gave it an immediately recognisable identity from the outset.
The earliest versions combined steel or gold with fibreglass, rubber and ceramic, paired with a dial featuring a carbon-fibre-inspired pattern and small red accents. In essence, it was the evolution of an idea that had been part of Hublot’s identity since its foundation in 1980: challenging the conventions of traditional watchmaking through combinations that were unusual and revolutionary for their time. Twenty-five years later, with the Big Bang, that vision evolved into a more complex design philosophy, extending to the watch’s construction, materials and finishes.
ART OF FUSION: HUBLOT’S APPROACH TO MATERIALS
At the heart of this language lies one of Hublot’s fundamental principles: the Art of Fusion. A philosophy that goes beyond simply using different materials within the same watch, instead bringing together elements from traditionally distant worlds and combining the codes of fine watchmaking with more contemporary materials, techniques and solutions.
The pairing of gold and rubber in 1980 represents its original expression: on one side, a precious metal deeply rooted in luxury watchmaking; on the other, a technical and sporty material. In 2005, this principle became an integral part of the Big Bang’s design, where metals, ceramic, rubber and components of different origins coexist within the same construction.
Over the years, the Art of Fusion has also taken on a more technological dimension, leading the Manufacture to develop and work with coloured ceramics, sapphire and Magic Gold, while achieving several world firsts in the field of materials. More than twenty years after the collection was introduced, that same philosophy now finds a new application. The aesthetic identity remains faithful to its historic codes; what changes is the way one of the materials most deeply connected to Hublot’s history is treated.
A NEW INTERPRETATION OF RUBBER
The protagonist remains rubber, reinterpreted through a different manufacturing process. For the new model, Hublot has developed an exclusive textured compound used across the case, bezel, dial and strap. This is not a coating or a treatment subsequently applied to the surface: the distinctive finish is created directly during the manufacturing of the material itself.
The compound is produced through a specific overmoulding process, using specially developed equipment to integrate the texture directly into the rubber during production. At a microscopic level, thousands of micro-elements define the structure of the surface, giving it its characteristic softness to the touch without compromising the durability and resistance of the rubber.
The effect is as tactile as it is visual. To the touch, the surface delivers the softness from which the name Soft Touch derives; visually, the matte, velvet-effect finish reduces reflections and alters the relationship between light, texture and volume. The innovation therefore lies not in a different shape for the watch, but in the way its surfaces are created and perceived. The same treatment ultimately takes on two opposite chromatic identities, All Black and All Red, each connected to a specific chapter in Hublot’s recent history.
BIG BANG ORIGINAL SOFT TOUCH ALL BLACK: ABSOLUTE BLACK IN A NEW TEXTURE
The Big Bang Original Soft Touch All Black revisits one of the most radical aesthetic languages in Hublot’s history. The All Black concept, first introduced in 2006, was born from an almost counterintuitive idea: using the absence of colour to emphasise form. For Hublot, black is not simply a colour choice, but a genuine tool for defining the watch’s aesthetics. Over time, this monochromatic approach has become one of the most recognisable codes of Hublot’s Art of Fusion and now finds a new interpretation in the Soft Touch.
The titanium case with velvet-effect black rubber overmoulding takes this principle even further. The matte surface absorbs light, while the different finishes allow the geometry of the case to emerge without interrupting its monochromatic character. The black DLC-coated pushers further reinforce the visual continuity of the watch.
The dial, crafted from the same velvet-effect black rubber, features the carbon-fibre-inspired pattern alongside raised counters and a tone-on-tone rehaut, creating depth through layers and variations in texture rather than colour. Satin-finished black-plated hands follow the same direction, as does the structured velvet-effect black rubber strap. Completing the watch is a black ceramic and black-plated titanium deployant clasp.
Rather than relying on a single uniform shade, the All Black builds its identity through different expressions of the same colour: matte, satin, textured and metallic. With the Soft Touch, this approach gains an additional dimension, as the visual variations are joined by the distinctive feel of the textured rubber.
BIG BANG ORIGINAL SOFT TOUCH ALL RED: WHEN COLOUR BECOMES MATERIAL
If the All Black works through subtraction, the Big Bang Original Soft Touch All Red takes the opposite direction. Red directly recalls another important milestone in Hublot’s exploration of materials: Red Ceramic, introduced in 2018, when Hublot unveiled the world’s first high-tech ceramic in a vivid colour, combining technical performance with chromatic intensity.
Here, however, the colour loses the glossy, compact surface normally associated with ceramic and takes on a much softer appearance. The titanium case overmoulded with velvet-effect red rubber creates a strong chromatic presence, while its matte texture reduces reflections and gives the red a visually deeper character.
The same material continues across the velvet-effect red rubber dial, where the carbon-fibre-inspired pattern, raised counters and layered construction reveal different shades depending on how the light hits the surface. In this version, satin-finished rhodium-plated hands introduce a clear metallic contrast while also making the dial easier to read.
The strap combines structured velvet-effect black and red rubber, while the deployant clasp is made of titanium. This is perhaps the version that expresses the Soft Touch concept most clearly: a colour traditionally associated with energy and intensity is almost “softened” by the material, without losing the dramatic character typical of the Big Bang.
43 MM CASE AND UNICO HUB1280 FLYBACK CALIBRE
Beneath their almost opposite chromatic identities, the All Black and All Red share the same technical architecture. The titanium case measures 43 mm in diameter and 13.2 mm thick and offers 10 ATM water resistance. The characteristic polished titanium H-shaped screws remain, while bevelled edges, more curved and polished lugs, a rubber-coated crown and rectangular pushers with rubber inserts update the proportions of the Big Bang Original.
At its heart is the in-house Unico HUB1280 automatic flyback chronograph movement, manufactured by Hublot. The calibre integrates a column wheel, a double-coupling architecture, a layered construction and the distinctive openworked tungsten rotor shaped like an H. The movement measures 30 mm in diameter and 6.75 mm thick, operates at a frequency of 4 Hz, or 28,800 vibrations per hour, and delivers a 72-hour power reserve.
Both models also feature Hublot’s One Click interchangeable strap system, retaining one of the functional elements that has become characteristic of the Big Bang family.
HUBLOT BIG BANG ORIGINAL SOFT TOUCH: PRICE AND FINAL THOUGHTS
The Hublot Big Bang Original Soft Touch All Black and Big Bang Original Soft Touch All Red are both priced at € 24,400.
And it is precisely when the two watches are viewed together that the project begins to make even more sense. On one side is black, one of Hublot’s most recognisable aesthetic statements for the past twenty years; on the other is red, connected to one of the most significant milestones in the brand’s research into coloured ceramics. Two chapters of its history are reinterpreted through a new element: touch.
The Big Bang Original Soft Touch therefore does not attempt to reinvent the Big Bang silhouette. Instead, it preserves the recognisable design born in 2005 while changing the way we perceive it. It is an especially interesting approach for Hublot, a brand that for more than twenty years has built much of its identity around making material experimentation visible. This time, however, looking at the watch may not be enough to fully understand it.
By Elisa Copeta