Last year, Hublot teamed up with British artist and designer Samuel Ross to create a striking and unusual version of the Big Bang Tourbillon. Featuring a highly skeletonized design consisting of a skeletonized honeycomb-shaped frame, the original Hublot x Samuel Ross collaboration piece was characterized by its vibrant orange colorway and produced as a limited edition of 50 pieces. While Hublot offers a wide assortment of bold and striking watches, its Samuel Ross piece didn’t quite look like anything else in the brand’s current catalog, and as one of its latest new releases for 2023, Hublot and Samuel Ross have created a follow-up edition to their original model. While the first collaboration piece was a very orange-colored watch and entirely inseparable from its bright and vibrant appearance, the new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross embraces an entirely monochromatic gray hue for the case itself and instead gets paired with interchangeable straps in three different colors.

So, how exactly is the new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross (ref. 428.NX.0101.RX.SRA23) different from the original model? On a fundamental level, the design and construction of the case largely remain the same, although rather than having bright orange PU polymer case bumpers, the entire case is now crafted from micro-blasted titanium. Dimensions and specs therefore also remain the same at 44mm in diameter by 13.75mm thick, with a water resistance rating of 30 meters and sapphire crystals fitted to both the dial side of the watch and its screw-on caseback. In that same spirit, the rubberized grip on the winding crown no longer appears in the original model’s signature shade of orange, and it is now gray to match the monochromatic aesthetic of the case.

With that in mind, despite featuring a sapphire window, the caseback of the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross isn’t really intended to showcase the movement. Like the original model, a flat sapphire crystal forms the lower surface of the watch, although sitting right under the crystal is a honeycomb-pattern titanium plate that occupies the entirety of the caseback and matches the skeletonized structure that forms the integrated lugs and the sides of the case. In addition to functioning as the baseplate for the movement and visually tying the different sections of the external case together, the skeletonized titanium plate also serves as a backdrop for the various movement components that appear to float above it on the dial side of the watch.

Powering the new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross is the same in-house Caliber HUB6035 automatic movement that can be found inside both the previous Samuel Ross limited edition and the brand’s various other Big Bang Tourbillon watches. Running at a frequency of 21,600vph (3 Hz) with a power reserve of approximately 72 hours, the 264-component Hublot Cal. HUB6035 features a tourbillon at 6 o’clock and a micro-rotor proudly displayed on the dial side of the watch at the 12 o’clock location. While the movement inside the new Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A is mechanically identical to the version that can be found inside its orange-colored predecessor, the tourbillon bridge no longer appears in a matching shade of orange, and it has instead been updated to a metallic gray color to better complement the updated full-titanium appearance of its case.

The new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross comes with a trio of rubber straps in black, white, and a vivid shade of neon green. Since the full-titanium case is a monochromatic shade of gray, the idea behind this follow-up edition is that owners can swap out the straps to switch up the colorway of their watch, rather than being forced to adhere to a single color like the original version. Aside from the color of their rubber, the included straps all offer the same style and construction, with large ventilated center sections that mirror the skeletonized honeycomb pattern structure that forms the lugs and sides of the case. The straps all feature Hublot’s quick-release system that allows users to easily detach them from the case by simply pressing the two buttons located on top of the lugs, and all of them connect on the bottom of the wrist using a signed titanium deployant clasp that operates with a double push-button release.

Just like the original Samuel Ross collaboration piece from last year, this latest version will also be produced as a limited edition of 50 examples. However, because it features additional titanium case components and comes as a set with a trio of interchangeable straps, the new Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross costs a bit more than its orange-colored predecessor from last year, and it is accompanied by an official retail price of $127,000 USD. While this is objectively quite a lot of money to spend on a wristwatch, it is also undeniable that the Samuel Ross editions represent some of the more unique and unusual iterations of the Big Bang Tourbillon that Hublot produces, and this makes the price of the new Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A seem somewhat reasonable, considering that even the least expensive Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon models cost a minimum of six figures. For more information on the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross, please visit the brand’s website.