In the 1970s there were special chronographs called “Soccer Timers” with markings on the registers for counting the 45 minute halves of a match. Hublot has taken things much further here with the Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono, building a mechanism from the ground up that is optimized for this function.
The Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono replica come in the in-house movement. It is assembled with the caliber HUB1260 which was built through using the same dual-coupling column-wheel technology as the UNICO caliber, but with the marked difference of having two center-mounted retrograde hands for the chronograph mechanism. The two retrograde hands clock the seconds and minutes on a specially designed scale and a window at the center of the dial shows which half is being timed. The main timekeeping is separated in a smaller dial at 6 o’clock, so you can wear the watch off the pitch.
You’re probably confused about that point how the soccer-timing functions work. It’s as simple as using a typical chronograph, but the display makes all the difference. The minutes scale is marked in red at 45 minutes – the end of regulation time for a half – and you can track the added time until the half closes out. Pressing the green pusher at 2 o’clock starts the green seconds hand; each time it reaches 60 it snaps back to zero and the yellow minutes hand advances one spot. When you stop the chronograph with the green pusher, the window at the center will advance as well. It displays first half, half time, second half, and end of match. The 45.5mm Big Ban Unico style case is rendered in either ceramic or “King Gold,” a proprietary red-gold alloy containing more copper and a little platinum, both with carbon-fiber bezels. Titanium H-shaped screws and textured rubber straps finish off both editions.
The case, bezel, and dial forming the Hublot Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono replica are exactly what you’d expect from genuine Hublot. The Hublot Big Ban Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono is a limited edition, while you can get one replica without paying large dollar.