No offense to seanf, but I feel the need to correct a couple of points here. First, you are mistaken about the SS bracelet with black inserts. The gen bracelet is made from SS (or rose gold) with ceramic inserts. The rep bracelet is made from SS with RUBBER mid-links. If you examine the photos closely, you'll see that the mid-links are, in fact, rubber. There is no carbon fibre in any of the bracelets. The side panels, like the side panels on the HBB itself, are made from kevlar (which itself is just a fancy name for "plastic").
The "rubber" in Puretime's desciption refers to the black mid-links, NOT the bezel. The bezel is ceramic. No HBB, rep or gen, has ever used a rubber bezel.
The gen HBB bracelets are not common, but they are widely available. Tourneau in Boston always has at least one SS/ceramic and one Rose Gold/ceramic in its display case. There are always a couple on ebay as well. Although it probably is heavy, it can't possibly be any heavier than the ROO or Pam bracelets. Keep in mind that many people find the HBB deployant uncomfortable. These bracelets may be just what those people need.
Finally, swapping the strap/bracelet is simple. Most dealers sell the H-screwdrivers if you really want one, but I've always been able to remove the H-screws using the tips of a basic spring bar tool.
I just ordered the HBB with the all-SS bracelet. I'll report back when it gets here.
seanf said:
According to a poster over on RWG who has been in touch with Puretime, the bracelets are made by the 2nd HBB factory, not the first factory that produced the best HBB version. There are apparently no plans by any dealer to sell the bracelet as a separate accessory. This will only be sold as a single unit, and with the low beat 7750 at that (no plans for the higher 28.8k beat rate with bracelet). As a result, no one knows if they would even fit on any existing HBB models. Also, the first bracelet is SS and Carbon Fiber, not SS and Rubber. The Rubber in Puretime's description refers to the bezel.
Final point. I've seen several Authorized Hublot dealers and tried on quite a few gen HBBs. To date, I've never even seen a HBB with bracelet anywhere at any AD. I asked an AD in Las Vegas about this, and he told me that the bracelets are very unpopular. In the first place, they are VERY heavy and uncomfortable. Secondly, a lot of people think that it takes away from the design of the watch. Final point is that because of the special Hublot screws, it's not like you can easily swap a bracelet with a rubber strap if you don't like it.
