Hublot Big Bang Evolution Carbon: When Motorsports and Sports Watches Collide (VIDEO)

The Hublot Big Bang earned its name the old-fashioned way; brute strength. At the time of its launch in 2005, the big watch from the watchmaker best known for its rubber straps left established players from Rolex to Audemars Piguet reeling. In 2009 the Hublot Big Bang Evolution Carbon reminded rivals that while lightning never strikes twice “Big Bangs” certainly do…

“Evolution” is Hublot’s follow-up to the original Big Bang’s “revolution.” New materials and a cleaner dial treatment are the highlights of Hublot’s new breed.

The face of the Big Bang Evolution benefits from the distinctive weave pattern of its new carbon fiber bezel, case, and dial. Carbon fiber’s interlinked structure adds character and definition to the watch and prevents the massive case from reading as a monolith. This patterns continues on the dial itself, and new stick indexes replace the original Hublot Big Bang’s Arabic hour markers.

Hublot’s signature “big watch” ergonomic voodoo is present and prominent. Despite its colossal size, the Big Bang wears comfortably on an average sized wrist. Short lugs, a broad “cushion” case profile, and a supple strap are the key to taming this beast to play nice with average human anatomy. And this Hublot Big Bang Evo Carbon shrinks once on the wrist; even a 6-inch (15cm) circumference is viable thanks to Hublot’s thoughtful measures.

Carbon fiber construction is a big part of Hublot’s ergonomic secret sauce. Despite the size of this case, a layered carbon fiber bezel and case reduce the total mass to a very acceptable heft. Even better, the layers of aerospace-grade carbon fiber look completely badass. Whether viewed from the top, where the weave of the fiber is visible, or from the side, where the layers are revealed, Redwood-style.

Hublot’s legendary natural rubber makes prominent cameos in the form of a gloriously comfortable strap. Given the Hublot Big Bang Evolution’s 100-meter (330-foot) water resistance, the versatile rubber strap is a perfect partner for the ultimate summer-fun watch.

Inside its composite case, the Hublot Big Bang Evolution Carbon employs a specially modified variant of Hublot’s HB4100 automatic chronograph movement. Based on the tough and time-tested Valjoux 7750, the HB4100 is ideal for a go-anywhere sports watch. A 42-hour power reserve ensures ample autonomy between for a self-winding watch designed for daily use.

For the Big Bang Evolution Carbon, Hublot adds a unique blackened winding rotor, matching bridges, a black base plate, and selectively polished metallic elements. Traditional brushed finish (“dressage”) is applied to distinguish the levers of the chronograph system.

Video and content by Tim Mosso.