Last year, Hublot announced its partnership with Chelsea Football Club from the English Premier League. Along with that announcement, they also unveiled the Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph Chelsea FC watch, which was the first watch made in collaboration with Chelsea and also the official watch of the club. Now, a year later, Hublot and Chelsea have teamed up again for another watch, and here it is, the Hublot Big Bang Chelsea FC.

Football (or soccer, if you’re American) is one of the world’s most popular and watched sports. As a result, football has become an important marketing device for Hublot. Besides Chelsea, Hublot also has strong ties with two other major European clubs – Juventus of Italy and Benfica of Portugal. Hublot was also the official timekeeper of the 2014 World Cup and will be the official timekeeper of the 2018 World Cup, which will take place next year in Russia.

The key element for the rise of the brand’s rating was the production of in-house mechanisms. In its new, high-tech manufacture in Nyon, Hublot began making a new UNICO column-wheel chronograph movement. In 2010, it created its first highly complicated mechanism, placed inside the King Power Tourbillon Manufacture limited series that marked the brand’s 30th anniversary.In sequence to enter the area of the haute horology, Hublot opened a Grand Complications section with thirty watchmakers, prototype makers, electroplaters and engineers from Hublot’s old provider BNB. That is the way the brand’s forth, MasterPiece Collection was born. Marking the opening of its own boutique in 10 Place Vend?me, Hublot introduced the Vend?me Collection — summer set Tutti Frutti 2011 along with the Big Bang Vend?me.In association with the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, Hublot established the very first diving timepiece having an unbelievable water-resistance around 4,000 meters (about 13,120 feet). After18 months of research, testing and development, the revolutionary King Power Oceanographic 4000 watch was finally shown, demonstrating that the high-end mastery of Hublot’s watchmakers.At that the Baselworld 2012, Hublot revealed its predominate in the entirely different field of watchmaking. This time, it was a stunning $5 Million Big Bang timepiece that amazed the watch lovers. The most precious watch presented at the watch and jewellery show at Basel features 1,282 diamonds weighing over a hundred carats, including 6 emerald-cut diamonds set on the bracelet weighing over 3 carats each.

The new Hublot Big Bang Chelsea FC is based on the popular 44mm Big Bang and features a generous splash of blue, the official color of Chelsea Football Club. It features a 44mm satin-finished stainless steel case and a bright blue bezel made out of carbon fiber and Texalium. The bezel is held in place by Hublot’s distinct H-shaped screws, which are made out of polished titanium. The crowns and chronograph pushers are all stainless steel and feature black rubber inserts. Lastly, the watch is water resistant to 100m and comes with a rubber-lined blue alligator strap with white stitching.

Like the bezel, the dial is a bright sunray blue but is satin-finished. At 3 o’clock you have the 30-minute counter for the chronograph, and at 12 o’clock you have the 12-hour counter for the chronograph. The subsidiary seconds dial is at 9 o’clock and it features the engraving “SW6” – the postal code where Chelsea’s stadium, Stamford Bridge, is located.

Another nod to the club is the Chelsea lion in gold at 12 o’clock. The applied hour markers are rhodium-plated and filled with white luminescent material. Likewise, the rhodium-plated hour and minute hands are also filled with white luminescent material to aid legibility in dimly-lit environments. Completing the dial is a date window at 4:30.

The movement within is the caliber HUB4100, which is actually based on an ETA 2894 or Sellita equivalent and fitted with a chronograph module. Obviously, an in-house Hublot Watch 093/500 Unico movement would have been preferred and would have made the watch more desirable, but the HUB4100 is a reliable combination and it does help keep the price down, if only a little. The caliber HUB4100 beats at 4Hz and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The movement is visible through the watch’s sapphire display caseback on which a logo of the crest of the club is printed.

Like last year’s Classic Fusion Chronograph Chelsea FC watch, this new Big Bang Chelsea FC watch was designed specifically for Chelsea fanatics. Compared to last year’s model, this new watch comes in a shade of blue that I think is more accurate and faithful to the home colors of the club. The Hublot Big Bang Chelsea FC watch is limited to 200 pieces and is priced at £13,000 (currently around $17,000). hublot.com