NIt is June 5, 1983. When lifting the Mousquetaires Cup at Roland-Garros, Yannick Noah (the last Frenchman to win the Paris tournament) wears a Sport Classic model from Ebel on his wrist. A few years earlier, in 1978, another Swiss watchmaker made a sensational entry into the world of tennis: Rolex. Indeed, it was at this moment that the crowned brand began its conquest of the courts in the oldest tournament in the discipline at the All England Club which hosts the Wimbledon tournament. Many players have become “Rolex Testimonials” for tennis, such as Chris Evert, Björn Borg (past ambassador of the Mido manufacturer), Roger Federer, Sréfanos Tsitsipás and Carlos Alcaraz. This, without forgetting the collaboration that followed between Rafael Nadal and Richard Mille or that established between Stanislas Wawrinka and Serena Williams with Audemars Piguet.
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What about Novak Djokovic, the 37-year-old Serbian having won 24 Grand Slam singles titles, which is the record for men and women combined, tied with Margaret Smith Court? After wearing timepieces from the Japanese house Seiko on his wrist, the tennis player (currently 7th in the 2024 ATP ranking) joined forces with Hublot for the 2021 US Open. A major marketing and sponsorship of the manufacturer based in Nyon, Switzerland, already known to be active in the world of football (with partnerships signed with Kylian Mbappé, FIFA, UEFA or the English Premier League) as well as in the tennis world, having dressed the forearms of Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Borna Coric and Elina Svitolina.
Composite material and lightness
After the Hublot Big Bang Meca-10 Ceramic Blue watch (which observers were able to observe on the player's wrist at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros), Hublot has imagined a brand new timepiece for its ambassador, fruit of the fusion between watchmaking excellence and innovation, two key components of the house. His goal? Producing a light and durable reference, capable of withstanding shocks on a tennis court.
To do this, watchmakers competed in ingenuity by designing a material that is new to the industry but above all very personal. Indeed, Hublot has developed a material made from around twenty Head rackets and around thirty Lacoste polo shirts used by Novak Djokovic during the 2023 season (the year of his 24 Grand Slam titles). This composite based on biosourced epoxy resin, fused with recycled rackets and jerseys, shapes here the 42 mm case as well as the bezel of the Big Bang Unico Novak Djokovic. These two elements are adorned with a matte blue color taking on the appearance of a subtle camouflage pattern obtained thanks to a speckling of blue, white and gray textile fragments.
Another challenge? That of lightness. In order to reduce the weight of the watch as much as possible, Hublot replaced the traditional sapphire glass with tempered Gorilla glass, a resource used in high-end electronics and twice as light as sapphire. In addition, the box also contains Peek Carbon, ensuring the timepiece is extremely robust and weighs only 49.5 grams, in other words less than a tennis ball.
To discover
Kangaroo of the day
Answer
Inside, we find a Unico automatic chronograph movement, the first 100% “in-house” Hublot caliber, which ensures a 72-hour power reserve. Here again, this engine has been redesigned to make it lighter. Thus, instead of brass, Hublot opted for aluminum, here anodized in blue-gray, reducing the weight of the movement by 27%. A technical and mechanical feat limited to 100 pieces and delivered with two straps: one in elastic sponge which attaches to the watch head using the One Click system and the other in light blue Velcro equipped with a sports buckle in polished blue aluminum.
