Hublot Big Bang full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

[OSMP]

When I visited my local AD, looking for a watch to buy for my 50th birthday, I was knocked down by the rose gold HBB appearance, when I tried it on my wrist.
Needless to say, that finally I bought an Omega SMP Chronograph (I am just not willing to spend 20k for a wristwatch, even I can afford that), but the look and feel of HBB still chasing me. So I decided to try a HBB rep. Being sceptical about gold plating quality and durability, I started with a "high end" HBB quartz rep in a rose gold plated SS case and black PVD bezel. This rep turned to be pretty close in appearance and overall feeling to the original one, except the weight and wrong subdial layout. I used this watch as a daily beater for several month and found that the gold plating still good - no signs of tarnishing or wearing, only minor scratches. But these scratches driving me mad, and they will drive me even more mad, if I wear a real 18k rose gold watch - that's why I think, that the gold case simply is not practical. Some time ago I spotted a full ceramic gold HBB for sale at RWG and since then tried to find a dealer who sells it, but no luck.
Ten days ago I entered into HBB full ceramic section at TimeShop and, voila, here it is. But with a gold bezel... Too blingy for my taste. After a short conversation with Mark he confirmed, that the case is a gold-colored ceramic, which will never fade or scratch. Also, Mark assured me, that he can install a black brushed ceramic bezel, as I requested, and will check the low beat A7750 movement for obvious flaws.

Five days later I received my HBB, took it apart for broken screws check, some basic "splash proofing" and, most important for me - scratch test for gold ceramic finish.

The case is really made of rose gold colored ceramic. It is scratch proof - I tried pretty hard to scratch some inner surfaces of ceramic case with XActo blade (surgeon grade hardened steel) with no success, just broke the blade tip. The color of the "gold" ceramic is virtually undistinguishable from the rose gold plated stainless steel HBB quartz rep I have, and matches very well the color of the crown and clasp . Also, as I recall, it is pretty close in color with the real HBB (sorry, can't go to AD to compare

).
The inner case is made of material looking like a light gray ceramic or titanium, but definitely not a stainless steel, it is very hard. The overall quality of the rep is amazing - nice CF dial, perfectly aligned hands, black DW with white font and a thick sapphire crystal with decent AR. I was lucky to get flawless low-beat A7750 with engraved rotor - after few days of wearing it keeps very good time (+1s/24h), has no problems with reversing wheel and perfectly functioning chrono.

Here are the pictures (sorry for quality, I am lousy photographer):

Few shots of my HBB rose gold quartz rep for comparison:

 

[guru]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

congrats to your nice HBB, looks good...I love these HBB's

 

[indyberetta]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

The watch looks great! Congrats!

Do the shine of the ceramic have more shine than gen rose gold?

 

[OSMP]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

The polished ceramic gold is a bit shiny than the natural rose gold, but you can tell that only if you compare both side by side. Brushed ceramic lug parts look almost the same as gen.

 

[guanaco]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

Thanks for the pics! Are the crown and pushers plated steel or ceramic?

 

[OSMP]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

Crown, pushers and clasp are gold plated stainless steel. There is nothing to worry about crown and pushers because
these parts are not in direct and constant contact with skin, so gold plating will last for years. Clasp eventually will show signs of wear, but it is not so critical, because gold plated SS will show only discoloration and never leaves that ugly green tarnish as cheap copper alloys do. I use this clasp almost for six month everyday and it doesn't show any sign of wearing yet.

 

[AXO]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

Thats a beautiful time piece. I am definately adding her to my wish list.

 

[Spirit]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)


For me, this is the most beautiful combo to get in a Hublot ever... the rose Gold with Carbon Fiber Dial is just breathtaking...
...Too bad the factories don´t make it with the Carbon Fiber & Gold bracelet too, instead of these cheap rubber ones only.

I´m totally against rubber bands...

Cheers,
Spirit.

 

[indyberetta]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

It would be nice if they used ceramic gold for the clasp as well!

Great watch!

 

[OSMP]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

...Too bad the factories don´t make it with the Carbon Fiber & Gold bracelet too, instead of these cheap rubber ones only.

Plastic midlinks and side inserts on a rep bracelet look cheap and obvious candidates to be broken or fall out - in a gen bracelet they are made of ceramic. Rose gold bracelet it too bling and chunky for my taste - with a rubber strap the watch has an optimal amount of "gold".
The rubber strap itself is not cheap - it is virtually the same as a gen, with citrus scent and doesn't attract dust.
The quartz HBB rep strap has a vanilla scent.

 

[pays]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

doesnt mention whether its AR coated??

 

[pays]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

also i have just compared timeshop and puretime $300 difference... could be the price difference between high beat and low beat.

BTW............ ur watch is a stunner!

 

[OSMP]

Re: Hublot Big Ban full ceramic rose gold case (modem burner)

The crystal has a decent AR from the inside (you can see it on pictures - the blue tint). It is definitely not a double AR coating as advertised at TimeShop, but it is very similar to gen - the gen HBB doesn't have such strong AR as Omega Planet Ocean.

Regrading the price difference between V2 and V1 - it is hard to justify $200 price difference only for high beat A7750, probably there is a difference in the case construction too.

The low-beat A7750, installed in my HBB is simply stunning - it is very clean, shiny and beautifully finished, it works wery well too. My Corum rep has a high-beat A7750, and it doesn't have the same level of finish and from the beginning has a problem with reversing wheel.

I don't have HBB V1, so I can't tell what the difference, but I found several construction flaws in the V2 case. As you know, HBB case constructed of SS main case, where movement and crystal installed, and decorative case elements, attached to the main case - upper and lower plates, lug inserts, "kevlar" side inserts, upper under bezel "kevlar" ring and the bezel itself. In V1 (the same I seen on gen disassembling diagram), upper and lower plates are fastened to the main case by the special hidden screws. On my V2 these screws are missing (but respected holes with threading are exist). The bezel is fastened by 6 H-screws, but on my V2 only four of them are actually hold the bezel, two other screws, located over chrono pushers are too short and simply decorative - you can see that these screws were shortened at the factory (just cut off the threaded part) and their respective holes in the case even without threading. These screws will eventually fall out if you're not glue them. I think that the case construction simply does not have enough "body" to make a threaded hole near the pusher shaft, so they desided not to bother. When I reassembled the watch case, I glued these screws to the besel with a tiny drop of CA glue. I also glued the bezel to the maincase rehaut ring, because all H-screws are pretty flimsy (the gen uses titanium screws). If somebody, who has the HBB V1, can confirm, that it doesn't have the same flaws, may be the price diff will be more justified.

 

[pays]

Just ordered mine!
I will post pics whenever I get the watch! Maybe then there will be more female interest in the watch!

 

[pays]

also im very curious and alittle apprehensive now that you mention the screw issues....if i wanted to glue my screws is there a special h-shape screw driver u use.
did you glue only the decorative screws or all 6 screws.
i really wish you had documented what u did by picture.... that way idiots like me could do the same.

i will check mine but no doubt it will be the same thing.

 

[evildee]

I'd buy this in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the silver rehault. sigh

 

[pays]

I'd buy this in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the silver rehault. sigh

erm..... silver rehaut??
whats that exactly?

 

[evildee]

I'd buy this in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the silver rehault. sigh

erm..... silver rehaut??
whats that exactly?

The inner rim. Look at the pics. Gen is gold.

 

[OSMP]

Don't hold your breath for gold rehaut - all HBB reps use SS inner case and rehaut is a part of it.

 

[OSMP]

also im very curious and alittle apprehensive now that you mention the screw issues....if i wanted to glue my screws is there a special h-shape screw driver u use.
did you glue only the decorative screws or all 6 screws.
i really wish you had documented what u did by picture.... that way idiots like me could do the same.

i will check mine but no doubt it will be the same thing.

I'll post a picture of the screwdriver (it is homemade) and some how-to's, but no pictorial of step-by-step modification, because I already assembled the bezel with epoxy glue and it is nearly impossible to disassemble it once again without damaging the ceramic bezel. But I'll try to explain the whole process and provide some diagrams.

1. Making the H-screwdriver
==================

You can make a H-screwdriver by yourself in 5 minutes. First, you need a watchmaker 9 piece screwdrivers set, which you can at eBay for around $15 including shipping:

This is for sure not a best quality set available, but it will be your handy toolset and will do its job very well for a while. This set also includes 7 spare blades, one of which you're going to turn into H-blade. You should use a 2.00 mm blade. Also you need two files, triangle shaped and blade shaped:

Carefully file the tip of the blade exactly in the middle, using triangle file, then refine the blade profile using the blade-shaped file. Finally, your modified blade should be like that:

Ugly, but that's exactly what you need. Now you can install this blade into 2.00 mm screwdriver:

2. Removing the bezel
===============

Using your new tool, carefully unscrew all six H-screws, holding the bezel. The screws are tiny and you should use a small watchmaker tweezers to take them out. Be careful not to loose these screws.
Before proceeding with a glue, you should inspect all screws - there are four 5mm screws and two 3mm screws, which are installed above the chrono pushers. Look carefully at 3mm screws for threading - if they have a threaded tip, try to screw them into respective holes in the case. Don't apply too much force when screwing - you may easily damage the threading, or much worse - broke the screw. If you see, that these H-screws don't go into threading, or simply were cut off (like mine) - you have no other option except to glue them into bezel. First, insert these short screws into respective holes in the bezel. Double check, that you're using the right holes, located near chrono pushers - brushed strokes on the face of the bezel will help you to get a proper orientation, strokes should go from lug to lug direction. Put the bezel with inserted screws face down:

3. Gluing
======

Now you are ready to glue them. The best glue for this purpose is any available CA glue (aka "Super Glue" or Cyanoacrylate):

Be careful not to glue your fingers, otherwise it will be rather painful to take them apart!

Apply a tiny (a really tiny) drop of glue into the hole with installed screw - due the capillary action, the glue will spread inside and will fix the screw. If you'll apply too much glue, it may go down through the screw head and make a real mess on the bezel face - you don't want that!

It takes 3-5 minutes to harden the glue and you can install the bezel. If you're not planning to remove the bezel in the future, you may glue it to the bezel rim. You can use a 5 minute epoxy and apply six tiny drops of glue on the outer side of the rim (the steel ring under the crystal), one drop between each pair of holes (red arrows show where to apply epoxy). The drop size should be about 1 mm, no more - otherwise the epoxy may go out under the bezel and make a real mess! Do not apply epoxy on the inner surface of the bezel - it will go up and mess your crystal:

Now install the bezel:

and carefully tighten four H-screws.

If you'll found that some long screws cannot be tightened, it means that the threading in a watchcase has been damaged - you can apply a small amount of CA glue to the tip of the screw and screw it down. CA glue hardens enough in 3-5 seconds only when the thin film of glue is spreaded between the glued surfaces, but it still be liquid for 15-20 seconds if applied only to the screw tip, so you will have enough time to install the screw.