Hublot’s Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono King Gold Carbon is the “Official Watch” of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and it is limited to 100 pieces. Also available in the Ceramic Carbon version which is limited to 200 pieces. Photo: © Hublot
The “Official Watch” of the 2014 FIFA World Cup is the Hublot Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono.
Available in two versions: the King Gold Carbon and the Ceramic Carbon, this watch was unveiled in mid-March 2014 in Tokyo, Japan.
What is noteworthy are the “firsts” scored with this watch. This is not only the first Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono; it is also the first Hublot watch with the bi-retrograde function.
More importantly, it is a watch designed for timing football matches because of its chronograph counter display and what is known as the match period display seen through an aperture at the 12 o’clock position.
Every football match officially lasts 90 minutes and this is played over two 45-minute halves. There is a 15-minute interval or half-time in between the first half and the second half.
The green push button at 2 o’clock allows one to select the time period from four available options: 1st half, ½ time, 2nd half and the end of the match. The time period chosen can be seen on the match period display.
Once activated the chronograph’s retrograde seconds hand (in green) and retrograde minute hand (in yellow) move from left to right in a circular arc covering 60 seconds for the seconds hand and 45 minutes for the minute hand.
Hublot’s Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono even includes the display for 15 minutes of “added time”.
The Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono may be more “complete” if there were blue accents on the watch; either a blue sub-dial at six o’clock or a blue pusher at four o’clock or maybe blue hour and minute hands. The reason: blue, yellow and green are colours of the Brazilian flag.
However, one must understand that this is the official watch of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and not a “Brazil” watch.
Hublot Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono Ceramic Carbon: the “Official Watch” of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Limited to 200 pieces. Photo: © Hublot
While hundreds of millions are expected to view the World Cup, in total, only 300 pieces of Hublot’s Official Watch of the 2014 World Cup, the Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono will be made.
For Hublot, the intention of the brand’s sponsorship and being the official timekeeper and official watch is not about selling thousands of watches; rather it is about building the brand.
“For us, the World Cup has a wide reach but a narrow target,” Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe tells us.
Now, for those who wish to place their bets on the winning football team, it seems that Brazil is the favourite.
Based on the PwC World Cup Index (published in a June 2014 report) and using “econometrics” where key variables include the number of players available in each country, the national interest in football, long-term footballing tradition and recent form among others, PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) is of the opinion that Brazil is the favourite this year.
Also in Brazil’s favour is its home advantage. The second, third and fourth-placed are Germany, Argentina and Spain, countries which also enjoy “good chances”.
England, PwC adds, is ranked eighth in their index and faces a “tough battle to progress from the group stages given the slightly superior strength of their rivals Italy (ranked seventh) and Uruguay (ranked sixth).”
Who will eventually emerge the winner? Time will soon tell.
It is just four hours before the first match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup begins as at the time of writing. We therefore wish all football fans an enjoyable and thrilling 2014 World Cup!
Other related articles on timewerke.com that may be of interest:
i. How it works Part 1: Hublot Big Bang Unico Retrograde Chronograph UEFA EURO 2016
ii. How it works Part 2: Hublot Big Bang Unico Retrograde Chronograph UEFA EURO 2016
iii. Hublot Big Bang Unico Retrograde Chronograph UEFA EURO 2016: Because football is for everyone
iv Bulgari Octo Bi-Retro Brazil: Brazilian wax?