How do you make a watchmaker like Hublot bigger and bolder than they already are? Hand the reins to someone like A Cold Wall* designer Samuel Ross. It’s a partnership that’s been going since 2019, when the protegee of the legendary Virgil Abloh and won the watchmaker’s Hublot Design Prize.
At first it was just an overlap of creative ideals, but it wasn’t long before Ross turned his design studio – SR_A – towards horology. The first fruit of that partnership was the Hublot Big Bang Samuel Ross Tourbillon, a 45mm mix of brushed and polished titanium with hexagonal, honeycomb cut-outs and lashings of orange polymer. It was a lot, and followed up by two further tourbillons, first in monochrome titanium then in carbon.
Now, Samuel Ross is back with his fourth Hublot edition and while it’s by no means subtle, it’s still the designer’s most restrained watch yet: the Big Bang Unico SR_A.
The reason the new UK top replica watches stands out on paper is that this is the first SR_A designed Big Bang Unico model, i.e. the first equipped with Hublot’s in-house movement. That requires a few case changes and dial tweaks, which we’ll get to. But more importantly, it’s not a tourbillon. That puts the new piece in an entirely different category from the previous SR_A trio pricewise. There are no high complications here, just a solid, skeletonised flyback chronograph that’s more in line with Hublot’s core collection.
While its lighter, Samuel Ross’s touch is still very much front-and-centre in the model’s daunting case shape. It’s like the base cheap fake Hublot Big Bang Unico watches have been stretched out and moulded, with layered edges and Ross’s signature industrial design touches. At 42mm across, it might seem at the smaller end for Hublot, but that sculptural construction has huge aesthetic weight behind it, right down to the intensely machined crown and chronograph pushers.
The collection’s visible screws have never seemed a more natural fit here, sandwiching the midcase between overhanging black ceramic plates front and back, the SR_A logo nestled on the side between. Surfaces alternate between brushed and polished and there are blacked-out titanium flourishes that bring a different texture into the mix. Where, say, Unimatic’s approach to industrial design is less-is-more, Ross’s is maximalist, and the result is a watch with huge visual impact, even by Hublot’s standards.
What has been dropped however, at least on the main watch body, is the honeycomb embellishments that defined the SR_A tourbillons. They were there to give it a certain lightness to the larger watches, but here it’s all a lot darker and heavier. That’s not a bad thing though. The Unico movement was designed from the ground-up with skeletonisation in mind. As such, it’s already laid-out to look great without a dial, with the chronograph column wheel dial-side rather than hidden at the back. With its 72-hour power reserve and 4hz frequency, its specs are as solid as it’s looks. It might not have a signature SR_A honeycomb flourish, but it also doesn’t need it.
Not that all the honeycomb is gone. Instead, it’s been moved to the strap like an industrial rubber twist on a classic perforated racing strap. It’s as big and chunky as you’d expect from an Hublot strap – slim and delicate wouldn’t exactly suit a case like this – but the perforations allow the wrist to breathe. It’s intensely sporty and feels like it.
Now, I was hoping, when Samuel Ross and Hublot reprised their partnership, that colour would be involved. Perfecct copy Hublot Big Bang Unico SR_A watches have used a bright palette of green, orange and yellow in a few previous partnerships, like their Acqua di Parma limited edition Colonia bottles. But here it’s all monochrome black. I can see why that’s the case; all-black looks work hard for Hublot, and it puts the emphasis on shape rather than hue, precisely what you want for a new potential collection. But I’ll be disappointed if we don’t see this shape in some brightly coloured ceramics in due course – especially as Hublot did much the same with their Richard Orlinski collaboration watches.
Granted, the buy replica Hublot Big Bang Unico SR_A watcches is are little more out-there than the Orlinskis, which at least had the artist’s ultra-faceted signature all over them. Still, at a new price point, this is a high-end design collaboration in the realms of attainability and honestly, is the best Samuel Ross edition yet.
That price point is £24,500. For comparison, the closest core collection model to this would be the Big Bang Unico All Black Calavera, for £21,600. Given just how much a departure the SR_A designed case is from the standard collection, I’m honestly surprised the difference isn’t higher. It’s still not going to be for everybody, and not just because of the aesthetics but because it’s limited to just 200 pieces. Though as I said, I’m sure we’ll see plenty more editions to come.
