Hublot and the Artist Soldier Turn the Big Bang Black for a 50-Piece Edition

Hublot and the Lagos-born, London-based artist Leonard Iheagwam—known as Soldier—have unveiled the Big Bang Soldier All Black, a 42mm chronograph limited to 50 pieces. Unveiled in London on November 9, 2026, the watch marks Soldier’s first watch design after roughly two years of work with the Swiss maison.

Soldier works as a visual artist, designer, and skateboarder. Born in Lagos and self-taught, he left home at sixteen, later co-founded the Lagos collective Motherlan, and has exhibited at institutions including London’s Saatchi Gallery. Hublot’s collaboration with him continues a line of artist partnerships the brand has pursued since 2011. The pairing began at the Hublot London boutique; the caseback carries that boutique’s coordinates.

“Hublot managed to create a legacy while remaining contemporary. Its history is built around fusion and contrast, bringing materials and ideas together that traditionally weren’t supposed to coexist, and that idea of fusion feels very relevant to my own practice. You don’t want to simply decorate something that already has its own language and history. You want to understand it, respect what already exists, and then find a way of introducing another story into it. With this watch, I explore what happens when symbols of power are moved somewhere they don’t traditionally belong,” Soldier said.

Ref. 441.CI.1140.NR.HBL26 follows Hublot’s All Black approach, introduced in 2006: one color across the watch, with contrast coming from finish rather than hue. The 42mm case and bezel are microblasted and polished black ceramic, 14.5mm thick, water-resistant to 100 meters. Screws, crown, and pushers are black-plated titanium; the crystal is sapphire with anti-reflective treatment. A sapphire dial shows the architecture of the manufacture chronograph beneath black-plated, satined, and microblasted hands.

Inside is the HUB1280 Unico, Hublot’s in-house self-winding chronograph caliber—354 components, 43 jewels, 4 Hz, and about 72 hours of power reserve—conceived and assembled in Nyon. Julien Tornare, CEO of Hublot, said: “What Soldier has done with the Big Bang is not decoration; it is a reinterpretation of our All Black philosophy through his own language. Our in-house Unico chronograph, ceramic mastered in Nyon, and an artist with something urgent to express: this is the Art of Fusion at its most contemporary.”

The watch ships on a black fabric strap with a Velcro fastener, plus two additional black rubber straps lined in red and in green. In a 2024 book of Soldier’s work, red stood for the present and green for the past; those linings carry the same pairing onto the wrist. A microblasted and polished black ceramic presentation case, Ref. SM.KWBOX.007.HBL26.01, completes the set.

Limited to 50 pieces and numbered XX/50, the Big Bang Soldier All Black joins Hublot’s Big Bang Unico chronograph line and is offered at selected Hublot boutiques and points of sale and online at hublot.com, at GBP 22,900.

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Adrienne Faurote

Editor in Chief · Haute Time

As a former New Yorker, now a “Miamian,” Adrienne Faurote joined Haute Living in August of 2021. She currently serves as the Haute Media Group Editor-in-Chief, overseeing all editorial platforms within the Haute Media Group while also maintaining her role as Fashion, Jewelry & Watch Director. Prior to her position at Haute Living, Faurote was the Market Editor at Marie Claire Magazine US, amassing over ten years in the industry, becoming an authoritative voice in all things fashion, jewelry, and watches.