[ShootOut] Hublot Big Bang Black Magic v1 vs v2 Full Ceramic

[takashi]

Monsieur/Madame, I would like to share this article with you. I hope this will be useful for reference.

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This article wraps up earlier teaser pictures of 2 different Hublot Big Bang Black Magic. Both watches come unmodified from the dealer.

Let's recap what do I mean by v1 and v2. V1 comes with a hefty price tag. As a rule of thumb, v1 can easily cost twice of that v2. It is produced by the first maker which introduced excellent Big Bang reps a few years ago. However, this is not the first maker who makes the Black Magic with full ceramic case. All high end v1 reps comes with high beat Asian 7750 movement.

V2, on the other hand, comes with lower beat Asian 7750. It has similar full ceramic case but I shall say that the shades of black is slightly different than the case of v1. Most importantly, the cost of this v2. It's half as much as v1. Can small differences justify the cost of v1? More on this later...

So without further ado, I list out main differences of each version:

1. Case:

Different shades of black. Darker on v2 than on v1. V1 looks to have a lighter black shade at certain lighting just like the genuine. V1 comes with brushed pair of ceramic lugs (again like the genuine). Hublot logo is engraved on the case lug on v1. On v2 it's "G" logo engraved near the edge of the lug. Writing on the caseback "Hublot Big Bang" and the serial number were (deeply) engraved on v1. They don't look as deep on v2 and the white painting on v2 is not that good. Small engraving like Ceramic and Titanium on the lugs are much sharper on v1 than v2. Both cases have this engraving. Chronograph pushers are not the same on both version. V1 comes with larger rubber surface area than v2. Both comes with push crown (i.e.: non screw down). Correctness to gen, v1 wins.

2. Bezel:

Both are made of brushed ceramic. Thickness is about the same. However, they differ on shade of black again. The side knurled finishing on v1 is much more well defined than the v2. Tested both for scratch resistance. They are OK.

3. Crystal:

Double sided AR coating on v1 and single sided on v2. v2 comes with thicker crystal than v1 just like the genuine! This is the most surprising part of this particular replica. This is my first time to see HBB rep with thick crystal. However, the poor quality of AR coating on v2 doesn't do this watch justice. There exists options to recoat the crystal. They are made of sapphire. Caseback see thru crystals are of different quality too. v1 seems to have thicker crystal than v2. v2 seems to use mineral crystal for the see thru caseback.

4. Dial:

Subdial silver ring colour on v1 is matter silver. Much like the genuine article or Cousteau Divers 2007 subdial. V2 comes with polished silver subdial ring colour. This is incorrect for this model. It should use matte silver. Brushed lines on dial markers, subdial rings are very refined on v1. It seems that v2 doesn't really ace in this department. Pix pointed out that v2 comes with thinner hour marker, it does not. Thicker crystal creates that illusion. Date window cut outs are also different. It is shaped rectangular on v2. This is wrong. The date window cut out should look like v1. I think v1 dial wins in this area.

5. Hands:

Poor lume on v2 and acceptable lume on v1. Chrono second hand counter is painted properly on v1 (red covers the tip of Hublot logo properly). On v2, Hublot logo on the hand is not painted properly (top of the H). They come with the same size (length/width).

6. Movement:

Black background datewheel on v1 (correct), white background DW on v2.

High beat 7750 on v1. Surprisingly, this movement fix the flaw of chrono minute hand transition on usual Asian 7750 hi beat. Now it's corrected. When the second counter almost exactly at 60 seconds position, the minute counter moves. On the contrary, low beat movement which usually has this behaviour, adapts the wrong way. Minute counter moves when second counter is roughly at 58th second position.

However, v1 movement is seriously lacking on decoration. v2 is filled with perlage. The big bonuses of all are the existance of regulator and correct rotor on v2. Screws used differ in terms of shade of black. Also, the perforated rotor black colour shows the difference too. Black shade = v1 wins. Functionality = v1 wins but decoration wise, v2 is the winner.

PS: perlage is not accurate to the gen article but this makes the movement looks much nicer on v2.

7. Rubber strap:

V2 is scented strongly. I don't really like the smell though but the main determinant factor is how comfortable they will be on the wrist. So far I have no problem with v1 rubber strap. It feels just like the gen strap. V2 straps are much softer. They are good but not as good as the v1.

8. Deployant buckle:

This is an area worth looking into. V1 comes with PVD stainless steel. The coating looks very nice and not as dark as v2. Engraving is well defined and has correct brushed and polished finishing. On v2, it's a very close call. There are inside parts that are not as well finished as v1. I still think that v1 has a slight advantage here. Clasp no longer hurts.

Well... From what I can see, the differences are pretty minimum and for many, the difference in cost may not be justifiable. However, if you are looking for that perfect Hublot Big Bang rep. I would suggest getting both version. Or get the more expensive v1 then swap out the parts with cheaper v2 reps (no need to be full ceramic, just get SS edition). You can salvage that thick crystal (need to be recoated) and very nice rotor. You can go to the extreme and buy a genuine ETA7750 and use the parts from v1 and v2 to create that "Ultimate" HBB.

Comments?

Pictures:

v2

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v1

[Chronus]

Lovely write-up and very useful

[gillism]

Totally Awesome shootout - its about time someone did a comparison to help people make the decision! I've always seen V2's as a chance of getting the slight flaws in V1's improved upon, well thats its like in software programming!

Would love to dive in for a Hublot, but they're the new shirt sponsors for Man Utd.

Come on you Gooners!

Cheers

Gill.

[Chronus]

Totally Awesome shootout - its about time someone did a comparison to help people make the decision! I've always seen V2's as a chance of getting the slight flaws in V1's improved upon, well thats its like in software programming!

Would love to dive in for a Hublot, but they're the new shirt sponsors for Man Utd.

Come on you Gooners!

Cheers

Gill.

The way I see it, by getting a rep and flaunting it as a rep is sticking your middle finger up at Man Ure and Hublot for signing a deal with them. If I was rich, I'd still get the rep for that reason alone!