Hublot Big Bang Chukker Bang – 317.NM.1137.VRX

First thoughts on seeing the Hublot Big Bang 'Chukker Bang' in the flesh: what the…? Second thoughts: Ah. OK. The grille comes off. So that's how you tell the time.
The Chukker Bang (Hublot ref 317.NM.1137.VRX) was released in 2011, to celebrate that year's Polo Gold Cup in Gstaad, Switzerland. The event had at the time been sponsored by Hublot for four years, and the luxury watch brand clearly decided to do something a bit impressive to mark its fifth year on the bill. So it took the revered Big Bang and turned it into a polo-playing machine, courtesy of some helpful design input from Facundo Pieres, one of the all-time great players of the sport.
The question of how to turn a luxury watch into an instrument capable of withstanding the fast, hard impacts of polo is one that has been addressed before, by Richard Mille. But Hublot and Pieres took a different approach, morphing an existing model into an armour-plated timepiece. The key component was the slightly sci-fi-looking titanium grille, which is affixed to the front of the Chukker Bang to protect it from the strike of a polo ball.
At first glance, this grille makes telling the time on the Chukker Bang a difficult proposition. But a polo player like Facundo Pieres doesn't want to know about hours and minutes when he's out on the field. He needs to know how long he has left in the seven-and-a-half minute chukka (period of play) he's currently involved in.
The Hublot Big Bang Chukker Bang features a large seven-and-a-half minute chrono 'chukker' counter at 3 o'clock. It's the only indicator on the watch face that's properly visible with the titanium dial guard screwed on, and it gives a quick, accurate indication of the state of play. If you want to know what else is going on on the dial, you're probably not in the middle of a chukka. And so you'll have time to unscrew the face guard, stow it in your watch box, and return the Chukker Bang to your wrist in all its naked glory.
The revealed Chukker Bang is one of Hublot's better-looking luxury watches. With its black ceramic bezel, brushed titanium case, and handsome brown leather strap, it's about as restrained as a Big Bang gets. But it isn't boring. The Chukker Bang hits all the familiar Big Bang notes, and it hits them as sweetly as Facundo Pieres hits a polo ball.
The bezel is textured on the side, and brightly, smoothly polished on top. The black dial, which features applied hour indices, is nicely accented with the red chrono hand and the red arrow-handed chukka counter. The caseband is in black ceramic, echoing the bezel. And that leather strap, a rarity in the Hublot world, takes the watch neatly from polo field to club table. The leather is lined with Hublot rubber, for comfort in all wearing situations, and to ensure the watch doesn't slip in the middle of a sweaty polo match.
The case is 44 mm in diameter, and is water-resistant to 100 m. The bracelet is secured with a double-fold clasp that features a titanium buckle. Caseback is solid, and the crystal is sapphire glass.
The Hublot Big Bang Chukker Bang 317.NM.1137.VR was launched in a limited-edition run of 500 pieces. A blinged-up version with diamond-studded grille was also released. Now, both versions are sought out by collectors. In my opinion, the non-diamond version described here is the nicer watch, and presents an interesting question (perhaps one never before asked by a watch owner): grille on, or grille off?
Image Credit – officialwatches.com vedere di piu watch replica e Breitling Chrono Matic