With watchmaking and shoemaking inextricably linked, the collaboration between French men’s luxury fashion house Berluti and Swiss watchmaker Hublot is an obvious one. The partnership between the European crafters began four years ago, with pairing Berluti’s signature Venezia leather and patina with Hublot’s flair for fusing materials. Unlike former collaborations between Hublot and Berluti which have utilised the Hublot Classic Fusion watch as their base, this iteration takes on the Big Bang Unico chronograph, resulting in the Big Bang Unico Berluti Cold Brown.
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With the Big Bang Unico as the basis for the collaboration, the two noted houses took to the drawing board, working closely with Kris Van Assche, creative director of Berluti. With patinated leather a key element of Berluti’s brand DNA, it’s only natural that their Venezia leather was heavily featured in the collaboration. The Big Bang Unico features both a leather dial and bezel, encased between two pieces of sapphire glass, cut out for the first time to allow the wearer to admire the gears of the Unico movement.
“The patina is our trademark, usually present in our shoes and leather goods, but all that know-how can also be used for something totally different,” said Kris Van Assche on designing the Hublot Big Bang Unico Berluti.
The Cold Brown patina was inspired by an archival Berluti patina, renewed with a glace finish to highlight the various brown shades within the colour. “Using our tradition and heritage in innovative, forward thinking ways has opened up a world of possibilities,” said Van Assche.
Naturally, the heart of the Hublot Big Bang Unico Berluti houses the iconic Unico manufacture movement, a chronograph with flyback function. Here, this MHUB1242 calibre beats from within a case of 45-millimetre diameter, and offers a 72-hour power reserve.
Available in a limited edition release of 100 timepieces, the Hublot Big Bang Unico Berluti Cold Brown watch effortlessly merges the heritage and design style of French fashion house Berluti with the technical craftsmanship and mastery of materials possessed by Swiss watchmaker Berluti.
Words by Theo Rosen
