rc42 0 Posted November 24, 2008 Hublot Big Bang 44mm Rose Gold (301.PX.130.RX) This is a review of the Hublot Big Bang (HUBLOT-020) replica that I obtained from Kingwatch in December 2007 The Genuine For Hublot’s 25th birthday, CEO Jean-Claude Biver introduced a new range of watches combining materials such as gold, steel, titanium, ceramics, kevlar and rubber to create the "Big Bang". By connecting a rubber straps to their rose gold watch case and using Kevlar inserts and H-style screws on the bezel Hublot created a very distinctive range of wristwatches'. The "Big Bang" is the winner of the 'Best Professional Sport Watch' at the 'Watch of the Year 2005' awards in Japan, and Geneva's 'Best Design' 2005 at the November 'Grand Prix d’Horlogerie'. The clear caseback reveals the decorated Hublot movement with skeletonized and blackened rotor. The Replica This replica is labelled as the HUBLOT-020 model by King (and by Hublot as 301.PX.130.RX) and can be found on the Kingwatch site at http://cclv.net/ It was available for $520 shipped in December which is expensive for what you actually get, hopefully the price will fall as demand goes down. The genuine equivalent for this watch has a list price of $20,900 so you would expect a lot of differences. The rep weighs in at 149g which is probably a little lighter than the gen due to the solid gold on the latter. There seem to be model variances for the HBB range and even on the Hublot site there are different pictures shown for the same 301.PX.130.RX red gold model, this is particularly noticable on the subdials (see below). Some variations of the same model even have silver surrounds on the subdials instead of red gold and the datewheel can even have white numerals on a black background. Differences - The Watch Face Both rep and gen have sapphire crystals with a strong double AR coating. Even Hublot accept that a replica cannot be identified by minor design variations on the watch face but there are some general point to note when comparing. Below are the rep and gen watches: - In this comparison, the gen datewheel has inverted colours but this is not the usual case as can be seen on the Hublot site pictures further up. - Most details are slightly finer on the gen, such as the horizontal and vertical markers on the 9 O'clock seconds subdial - Also, compare the thickness of the gold circular surrounds on the other two subdials and the spacing between the 3 O'clock surround and the '2' O'clock hour number and 3O'clock hour marker. - The 'Hublot', 'Geneve' and 'Swiss Made' text has very slight differences when seen side by side but not enough to clearly identify a rep without the comparison. On the replica from King there is a 'fault' on the 12 O'clock numerals as the '1' does not have the destinctive groove cut through it, this can actually be seen on the picture from King's site and there is a closeup of my replica. Compare the '1' in the '12' with the one in the '10'. Another point to note is the finish quality of the rep when viewed under a loupe, in the picture below you can see very small marks on the hands and hour numerals, notably there is a scratch on the minute hand close to the center and in the 2 O'clock position in the picture. Although barely visible without the loupe compare this with a similar picture of a gen. Again, the gen has the same model designation but shows variations in marker colours and textures. Although the differences look significant through the loupe they are very difficult to see without it, this probably applies to every replica watch out there. Differences - Crown and Pushers The duplication of the crown and pushers on the rep is also good, again differences require a loupe to be seen and the pictures are below. - The crown on the rep is slightly smaller and the grips slightly more rounded. The movement in the rep is slightly lower in the case so the bottom of the crown is aligned with the bottom of the case which leave the top a little lower than the gen. - The rubber pads on the pushers are slightly raised on the rep and not as evenly cut as the gen - Although not visible, the rep has a screw down crown whilst the gen does not. Differences - Strap and Clasp The strap and clasp are again very close to the gen, if anything the strap texture is very slightly deeper on the gen and the sides of the clasp are slightly more angular and the 'HUBLOT' stamping is a little deeper. The pictures are below but one thing they cannot convey is the strong 'vanilla' odour that comes from the strap on the rep, presumably this is added to hide any 'rubber' like odours. One point of some concern with the strap is the sharp inner edge of the clasp, this can irritate the underside of your wrist and become very uncomfortable when wearing. The problem area on the rep is shown below: The solution for me was to place a sticky foam pad onto the strap to keep the metal edges away from my wrist. This does not look very nice and is only temporary but is the only way that I can wear it for more than a few hours. Differences - Caseback The caseback on this particular rep is Stainless Steel but on the gen it is Rose Gold, some rep versions do have the RG caseback so it is available. Although this is a major difference, it still matches the colour of the movement so looks OK. Pictures of the rep and gen casebacks: - The rep should have 'GOLD 750' on the case but this is missing - The text engraving on the caseback is bolder on the rep - The rep has the same serial number as shown on the example 'fake' on the Hublot website (more later). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
onzenuub 307 Posted November 24, 2008 Great review, thanks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rc42 0 Posted November 24, 2008 Differences - Movement The gen movement is essentially an ETA Valjoux 7750 albeit with some modifications developed in collaboration with La Joux-Perret and a new designation as a Hublot Calibre HUB44. The mechanism composed of 255 parts and 27 rubies has titanium skeletonised oscillating weight with dimpled surface treated in black PVD. The mechanism provides a 42-hour power-reserve. The rep utilises the Asia 7750 movement so subdial spacing is correct and this has been further enhanced with a skeletonised rotor and some engraving. The earlier versions of the HBB replicas had stick on letters on the rotor as can be seen below in this picture of a TWP rep (left), compare this with the true engraving on the current rep from King: A comparison of the gen and rep movements is shown below: - The fine adjuster is not present on the rep - The rotor bearing has a larger surround on the gen - The rotor engraving is sharper and coloured black on the gen A document has been created by Hublot and is available on their website which describes how to identify a fake Big Bang, and can be found here 'http://www.hublot.com/hublot_prod/site/hublot/data/fake/identifying_hublot_replica.pdf'. The document includes some comparison pictures such as the one below and lists the above three points as being the best ways to spot a fake. The only difference is that the 'saw-tooth' effect is not present on the replica from King. Lume The rep Big Bang has fairly poor lume and there is not much of it, pictures of lume can never really tell you much about how bright the glow is or how fast it decays but I will include them for completeness. Conclusions The Rose Gold HBB rep is a nice piece of work, despite minor flaws it looks accurate to the gen and also looks quite blingy, this watch does get noticed. The strong double AR coating looks fantastic and the crystal disappears much of the time leaving a clear view of the dial. Spot the crystal.... However, there are some comfort issues and it is very expensive for what it is but if you simply must have one then its a good version to get. Wristshots Finally, some wristshots of my HBB RG replica. I hope you found this review useful and worthwhile. rc42 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AllergyDoc 40 Posted November 24, 2008 Thanks for posting your review here, RC42. I remember reading it on RG and wondering about the clasp. Now that I have a HBB King I find that I cannot wear the strap very tight or it gets quite uncomfortable. So I just loosen it up a bit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rc42 0 Posted November 24, 2008 Same problem for me I did like that HBB but it had to go as it was never comfortable enough. I got the HBB King in the hope that it would be different with the wider strap but it felt worse if anything so I modded a spare VCO bracelet to fit and I just love it now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AllergyDoc 40 Posted November 25, 2008 I don't see why holes couldn't be drilled in between present holes. I think it would be a perfect size for my 7.5 inch wrist. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alphakazi 0 Posted November 25, 2008 your right Oscar, that bracelet looks great gota love Hublot though - a bold beauty Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bene3 0 Posted December 21, 2008 a great review. the watch looks fantastic on the VC bracelet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pob944 0 Posted February 18, 2014 This review is so great! Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horlogeman 0 Posted February 18, 2014 Great review !! Specially the small details !! Tumbs up !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plankton 1 Posted March 13, 2014 Great review thanks!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
