Inspired by Djokovic’s incredible record-breaking achievements, Hublot designed a watch that captures Hublot Ambassador Novak Djokovic’s agility on the court and highlights Hublot’s approach to sustainable innovation. Together, they present an extraordinary watch. The new Hublot Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic is made of Djokovic’s HEAD racquets and Lacoste polos used by the tennis player and recycled to create this new material.
Djokovic’s story is now legendary. Djokovic turned professional in 2003 and has rewritten tennis history, breaking records, defying the odds, achieving the impossible, and overcoming adversity. Since winning his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2008, Djokovic has dominated the most competitive period in tennis history, elevating the game at every turn. Now a 24-time Grand Slam singles champion, Djokovic’s passionate will and determination have shone through in his journey and solidified his ongoing legacy.
Known for pushing the boundaries in terms of research and development, Hublot was able to not only create a new material but a highly personal one at that. Hublot developed a composite made up of 25 HEAD racquets as well as 17 dark blue and 15 light blue Lacoste polos worn and used by Djokovic during his 2023 season, to create the 42 mm case of the new watch. These materials have been developed and used to make the watch as light as possible —49.5 grams— without losing any strength or resilience and lighter than a tennis ball.
Hublot’s R&D teams went head-to-head with the materials for this new watch. Hublot’s wizards smashed one over the net with a composite whose requirements were entirely non-negotiable. It had to be unique to Djokovic, not hamper his game, be sufficiently lightweight to rival a tennis ball’s 56 grams, and give nothing away in terms of resilience. And so, the racquets were crushed, the polos cut to a specific pattern, and the combination of the two infused with epoxy resin reinforced by quartz powder and glass viel to create the material for the bezel and case of this limited edition run of just 100 watches, with specks of light & dark blue textiles, and black carbon forming a signature design.
Weighing in at 49.5 grams and engineered to be feather-like on Djokovic's wrist, both on court and off it takes match point by leaving certain elements courtside. Like the alchemists, metal founders, and astrophysicists of time who work alongside them, Hublot’s watchmakers have once again played around with component materials to achieve unprecedented lightness.
The fully skeletonized dial is stripped to the nearest gram, as have the lugs and ears. Conventional sapphire crystal has lost its tiebreak to tempered Gorilla glass, a material used in high-end electronics that is twice as light as sapphire. The same goes for the container in Peek Carbon, a lightweight as well as robust composite that leaves other materials standing. Yet another winning shot by the Swiss engineers of the time is the use of Hublot’s Unico manufacture movement.
Hublot’s design team has also served an ace with details that will appeal to the player’s fans and Hublot enthusiasts alike, such as the yellow seconds pusher, the printings on the dial, and the bezel screws whose subtle domed, curved shape alludes to a tennis ball. The Novak Djokovic logo appears on the seconds hand and again on the oscillating weight.
The Movement
At the heart of the watch lies the Unico manufacture chronograph movement. Nonetheless, the standard Unico movement in brass had to be reinvented to reduce the weight of the watch. To do so, Hublot chose aluminum, prized for its lightness, and anodized in light blue or grey to echo the camo color scheme of the case. In doing so, Hublot’s engineers were able to reduce the weight of the movement by 27%, shedding almost a third of its weight. Aluminum has also been used for some case components such as side pieces at 3 and 9 o’clock, sub-bezel, bezel lugs, pushers, crown, and case back.
Crafted from aluminum, it weighs a significant 6.1 grams less than a standard Unico calibre, making it the ideal match for Djokovic's style: fast, supple, athletic, playing near his line and hitting the ball deep into his opponent’s court. Like Djokovic himself, this movement is a game changer. One of Hublot’s first 100% in-house calibres, it rewrote the rules by positioning the automatic chronograph mechanism dial-side. It is also the ideal partner for the champion’s watch, whose skeleton dial reveals a completely reworked design that includes a double coupling system and a column wheel on the dial side.
Fans of the tennis player and collectors alike will appreciate the details that have been added to the watch, such as a yellow second pusher or the slightly domed and curved bezel screws reminiscent of a tennis ball. The Novak Djokovic logo is visible on the second hand and the oscillating weight.
The Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic comes with four straps for four different styles. The first bracelet is a “Lacoste” tennis wristband that attaches to the watch head with the One Click System, making the watch the perfect tennis companion. The second style is a blue elastic strap, this combination weighs a total of 49.5 grams, lighter than a tennis ball! The third style features a light blue Velcro strap with a polished blue aluminum sports buckle. The last style is a white rubber strap with a titanium deployant buckle.
This Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic comes with four straps: an elastic sweatband attached to Hublot’s One Click system, a Velcro strap with a blue aluminum sports buckle, a white rubber strap, and a Lacoste strap. A Lacoste polo shirt is included with the watch.
Owners of the watch will also receive a Lacoste sport wristband and a Lacoste polo signed by Hublot Ambassador and all-time record-holder of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, Novak Djokovic.
One thing we do have to say is that Hublot is the master of limited editions and they know exactly how to do it right in this type of business model. Materials innovation, development of a new calibre, and throwing in some extra goodies for the clients as part of their purchase, and you have a winning formula that despite it has been over-exploited still makes their clientele happy.
Sticker Price USD 52,700. For more info on Hublot click here.
