The Most Underrated Chronograph Is Getting Harder to Ignore

More people should be talking about this.

Close-up of a Hublot wristwatch with a black and silver case, skeleton dial, and black textured strap against a red background.

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By Johnny Brayson

Published April 22, 2026

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To paraphrase the late comic Rodney Dangerfield, Hublot just don’t get no respect.

The brand gets a lot of hate. Much of that is directed at its styling, as the brand’s designs are purposefully big, bold and brash. It’s fine if you don’t like that, as the Hublot aesthetic decidedly is not for everyone.

Watches and Wonders Geneva: Rolex, Grand Seiko and dozens of other heavy hitters gather in Switzerland every year to release their biggest watches. Catch up on all the new novelties.

However, anyone who is dismissing Hublot’s technical prowess as a watchmaker needs to be dismissed out of hand. The brand’s Unico chronograph movement is one of the best in the entire industry, and I’d take it over any chronograph in the brand’s parent group of LVMH; a group that also includes legendary chronograph makers Zenith and TAG Heuer.

At this year’s Watches and Wonders, Hublot has made it harder for people to keep sleeping on the Unico by putting the movement front-and-center of its remodeled flagship sports watch, the new Big Bang Reloaded.

Blue Hublot wristwatch with a skeleton dial, silver and orange accents, and a blue fabric strap. — Hublot is putting other chronographs on notice.

A bigger bang

The Big Bang Reloaded is an update to Hublot’s openworked Big Bang Unico, and it is much more deliberate with what it shows you. Rather than a fully openworked dial like before, the watch now features strategic cutouts with greater contrast on the rest of the dial, with the intent to highlight some of the more impressive aspects of the Unico movement.

At 6:00, we get a window showing off the dial-side column wheel, complete with a label and an “H” logo on the wheel itself. Between 7 and 8, and also labeled, is a window showing the unique dual oscillating clutch that prevents stuttering and backlash when engaging the chronograph. There’s also an exposed gear train from the hand stack to 12:00, leading the eye to the highlighted skeletonized tip of the chronograph hand and “Flyback” Label on the rehaut.

Close-up of a mechanical watch movement showing the Liga Oscillating Clutch and Column Wheel components with metallic and copper details. — The Unico’s column wheel and oscillating clutch are literally highlighted on the latest Big Bang.

The minute counter at 3:00 is all-new, with a sportier look, tighter design and more contrasting colors. The date has moved from 3:00 to 4:30 so as not to interfere with the chronograph, and it gets a colorful arrow pointer that makes it easy to spot.

So, why is Hublot so purposefully highlighting its in-house chronograph movement? Because the thing is awesome, frankly. The movement boasts a silicon escapement for greater efficiency and improved magenetic resistance and utilizes five patents: the aforementioned oscillating clutch, an anti-shaking chronograph hand system, a “zero friction” ratchet wheel blocker, a simple fine-adjustment system and a shock-resistant time-setting.

Close-up of the back of a Hublot Big Bang titanium watch showing the intricate mechanical movement and black leather strap. — The Unico movement deserves to be shown off.

That’s a lot of technical jargon, but what does it actually mean? Well, in practice, Unico just feels incredible to use. You press the start pusher and immediately realize something is different. It doesn’t feel squishy like a cam-operated chrono, nor does it possess the hard “click” of a typical column wheel. It just feels like pressing a very satisfying button. It’s smooth, crisp and, dare I say, dreamy.

The chronograph hand getting off to a buttery smooth start almost feels like an afterthought to the pusher’s perfect feel, as does the seamless flyback function when activating the equally precise bottom pusher. Overall, Unico is just a joy to use and is an engineering marvel.

Black and green Hublot chronograph watch with transparent dial and green fabric strap. — The new Big Bang is, somehow, even sportier than before.

As for its new home, the Big Bang Reloaded is unmistakenly Big Bang, but it’s been slightly reworked to be a hair sportier than before, if that’s even possible. Its case is still a beast, measuring 44 x 14.5mm, and it’s equipped with two rubber straps that can easily be exchanged using Hublot’s dead-simple “One-Click” push-button system.

The watch is water-resistant to 100m and has sapphire crystals front and back, and it features a two-part bezel consisting of a titanium base and a screwed-on top portion in either ceramic or Magic Gold, Hublot’s proprietary scratch-resistant 18K gold alloy.

Five Hublot wristwatches in black, gold, blue, green, and silver with visible mechanical dials on a gray gradient background. — The five standard editions of the Big Bang Reloaded.

Availability and pricing

There are five main Big Bang Reloaded references at launch. The titanium model is the most “affordable,” retailing for $24,000. The three ceramic models in all-black, dark-green and blue each retail for $25,200, and the Magic Gold version naturally tops out the line at $44,500.

There are also two special editions of the Big Bang Reloaded made in collaboration with two of the brand’s athlete ambassadors: Usain Bolt and Kylian Mbappé. Bolt’s is in black ceramic and carbon, and Mbappé’s in white ceramic and King Gold. Both are priced at $30,000 and are limited to 200 pieces each.

Back of a limited edition Hublot Big Bang watch with visible gears and a brown lightning bolt detail. — The caseback of the Hublot Big Bang Reloaded Usain Bolt contains actual soil from the sprinter’s elementary school.

What’s more, both watches are filled with Easter eggs related to their legendary inspirations. Mbappé’s watch features an engraving of the soccer star’s mantra “Trust Yourself” on the bezel, while Bolt’s watch actually contains soil from the speedster’s Jamaican elementary school where he learned to run embedded in a lightning bolt motif on the caseback.

Blue Hublot wristwatch with a textured strap, skeleton dial, and multiple subdials with orange accents.

Hublot Big Bang Reloaded

Specs

Case Size	44mm
Movement	Hublot Cal. HUB1280 Unico automatic flyback chronograph
Water Resistance	100m

$25,200 at Hublot

About the Author:

Johnny Brayson is an editor at Gear Patrol mostly covering watches. He enjoys watches that are packed with blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em details and believes nearly every watch could stand to be a tad smaller.

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