OK come on, this watch is cool. I am not even a basketball or Miami Heat fan, but this watch is really cool. It doesn’t take a lot of thought to understand why Hublot is doing well with the aspirational youth audience or wealthy individuals who wouldn’t take a Patek out for a night on the town in fear that they might fall asleep at 9:30pm from a lack of visual excitement. This watch is really what Hublot is doing best. The designs we see might sometimes be redundant or predictable, but they are still cool.
I talked about Hublot and the Miami Heat a while go here in an enjoyable article. First they produced a limited edition watch for Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade, then announced that they would be the official watch maker and timer of the Miami Heat, and here is the first Miami Heat watch. It is called the Hublot King Power Miami Heat Chronograph and will be produced as a limited edition of 200 pieces.
The number 48 appears three times in the watch. The 18k King gold (red gold mixed with some platinum I believe) case is 48mm wide, the power reserve in the movement is 48 hours, and the special chronograph measures 48 minutes. Why 48? Not sure actually. The chronograph has two centrally mounted hands. One measures 60 seconds and the other measures up to 48 minutes. That is sorta cool and quirky. Hublot said it is to measure the “four quarters of a basketball game.” I thought Basketball was two halves. Maybe I missed something… You also get the date on the dial. UPDATE: I feel silly as people keep telling me NBA games are four 12 minute quarters. Has it always been that way?
On the watch dial you see the Miami Heat logo, and a plate before the exposed movement that is supposed to look like a swoopy basketball net. On the rear of the watch located on the sapphire exhibition caseback is another Miami Heat logo. One of the nicest basketball themed feature is the texturing on the rubber strap that is meant to look like the surface of a basketball itself.
The case is further constructed of rubber, resin, and black ceramic (for the bezel). The black and gold crown with the Hublot logo appears particularly nice in this watch. Black and gold color combinations tend to look good in my opinion and with the Hublot style and hints of red this makes for a nice high-end sports watch. It is glitzy and loud, and just how many people like it.
Inside the watch is a Swiss automatic Hublot movement. The skeletonzied dial shows elements of the movement in action and the piece has a unique rotor for the King Power watches. Limited to 200 pieces each, the watch will come in a rather neat looking basketball style box and each piece will come with a Miami Heat team jersey signed by Udonis Haslem. Price is $42,400.