HUBLOT SPIRIT OF BIG BANG DEPECHE MODE
MARCH 10, 2024
Designed in collaboration with Depeche Mode, the new Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode pays tribute to the British band’s latest album and world tour, Memento Mori, vouching to live fully in the present and reflect on the value of time. This concept is symbolised on the watch by a skull motif embellished with an hourglass.
Fourteen years have already passed since Hublot and Depeche Mode announced their first collaboration, dedicated to raising public awareness and funds for several environmental and humanitarian causes. Since then, this partnership has been renewed with each of the British band’s subsequent tours and has raised over USD $2.3 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust and charity:water.
In March 2023, Depeche Mode announced its big comeback with the release of Memento Mori, its 15th studio album, along with a worldwide concert tour. Still in collaboration with the band, which has sold over 100 million albums, Hublot is helping to raise funds and awareness for Conservation Collective, a global charity that unites a network of regional philanthropic foundations working to protect, conserve and restore natural environments. Thanks to Depeche Mode & Hublot funding, the first round of projects tackling plastic pollution at the grassroots in 2023 supported seven impactful initiatives across seven countries, with three more rounds of funding set to empower even more positive change. The projects aim to turn the tide on plastic by driving locally led waste management, plastic-free and clean-up initiatives.
It was against this backdrop that Hublot and Depeche Mode teamed up again in Berlin, 11 years after their first joint event in the German capital, to release a new limited-edition watch: The Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode. The Spirit of Big Bang’s signature tonneau shape is designed with Hublot’s iconic All Black aesthetic. Created in collaboration with Depeche Mode, the design combines the skull motif—an emblem seen in the video announcing the band’s return—with an hourglass to symbolise the passage of time. The centre of the dial is filled with small black ceramic spheres that symbolically flow back and forth as the wrist moves, conveying the concept of Memento Mori. This Latin phrase, meaning ‘remember you must die’, is intended to prompt reflection on the transience of life. Alongside the dial, the initials DM, the British band’s logo, appear at 6 o’clock. The indices take the form of pyramid-shaped studs, a motif echoed on the black ceramic bezel.
Measuring 42 mm, the barrel-shaped case is made of sand-blasted and polished black ceramic. It houses a self-winding HUB1710_SD calibre movement with a 50-hour power reserve. Each of the Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode comes with two straps, which are easily interchangeable thanks to the patented One Click system. The first is made from recycled materials and Velcro, in line with Conservation Collective’s plastic pollution initiatives. The second, in black rubber, closes with a black titanium folding clasp. It includes the pyramid-shaped studs already featured on the bezel and dial, creating an exceptionally ‘rock’ vibe.
Each of the 100 pieces in this limited edition will come in a special box containing a wonderful surprise: a 10” vinyl single of Depeche Mode’s Wagging Tongue, only available as part of this package, and produced using green energy and recycled PVC!
“Memento Mori encourages us to be more mindful of just how fragile our existence is. This is why joining forces once again with our trusted friends at Hublot makes so much sense. Together, we can raise public awareness of environmental issues and support Conservation Collective in their efforts to protect our planet and life in all its forms.”
MARTIN GORE
MEMBER OF DEPECHE MODE
“For almost 14 years now, Hublot has been working alongside Depeche Mode to protect Humankind and our environment. Memento Mori makes us conscious of the passing of time. This is something that we, as watchmakers, are naturally aware of. This is a serious issue, but one that we approach with joy and energy inspired by the music of Depeche Mode.”
RICARDO GUADALUPE
HUBLOT CEO
“We are delighted and hugely grateful to have the support of Hublot and Depeche Mode as we work to turbocharge environmental restoration efforts in a growing list of places around the world. Conservation Collective now comprises twenty locally focused environment foundations, and each one of them is providing support to grassroots organisations which are creating cascading positive change in each of those places. This new funding from Hublot and Depeche Mode is a gamechanger for these efforts.”
BEN GOLDSMITH
CONVERSATION COLLECTIVE
CONVERSATION COLLECTIVE
Ben Goldsmith founded Conservation Collective in 2020 to open new channels of philanthropic funding to boost and amplify the impact of local environmental initiatives.
Environmental philanthropy faces two key challenges: persuading people to direct money to the biggest issue of our time and getting that money to the most effective environmental initiatives.
Conservation Collective has a proven and winning formula for both.
We build clubs of donors linked to places they care passionately about, to open new channels of funding for nature restoration. We have seen that people are instinctively ‘place-based’, and that when it comes to conservation and philanthropy, we are all more likely to want to protect the places we know and love.
We set up, incubate, and support local environmental foundations. All over the world, people are working tirelessly to protect the places they love from the impacts of climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Those most affected by environmental problems are often best placed to tackle them, and grassroots action is our most powerful weapon.
Our member foundations unlock new funding for the best and most effective grassroots projects dedicated to preserving, protecting, and regenerating biodiverse ecosystems on land and below water and to slowing down and adapting to climate change.
We’re encouraging more and more effective environmental philanthropy. Our growing network of foundations has already raised millions of pounds for impactful initiatives, and we’re only just getting started…
HUBLOT
Hublot is a Swiss watch manufacturer founded in 1980 and based in Nyon. For its first ever timepiece, this fundamentally disruptive company combined gold with a rubber strap in a case with a design inspired by a ship’s porthole (hublot in French). Thus, the Art of Fusion was born, blending tradition, innovation, craftsmanship, worlds and talents. It became the brand’s aesthetic and technical signature.
This identity was strengthened in 2005 with the Big Bang, which attested to an unrivalled know-how in terms of complications, manufacture movements and state-of-the-art materials. Carbon, titanium, ceramic and sapphire have been developed on this model to technical extremes.
This ground-breaking, high-quality approach to watchmaking is summed up in its philosophy ‘Be First, Unique and Different.’ It gradually led to other collections with innovative designs: Classic Fusion, Spirit of Big Bang, Square Bang and Manufacture Pieces. These draw on high levels of craftsmanship, both in terms of the materials so dear to Hublot (such as Magic Gold, brightly-coloured ceramics and sapphires) and its manufacture movements (Unico chronograph, Meca-10 and large complications such as the Tourbillon, the Cathedral Minute Repeater and the specific Manufacture Pieces movements).
Hublot’s world extends to powerful partnerships including football. ‘Hublot Loves Football’ has become the slogan at the world’s biggest sporting events (such as the FIFA World Cup™, Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA EURO™) and through its ambassadors. This love of football continues in art, design, music, sport, fine dining and sailing. Lastly, Hublot’s implication in joint environmental projects with SORAI and Polar Pod reflects its concern for the issues of the day.
Over 130 boutiques around the world share Hublot’s fervour and values, alongside the Hublot.com e-commerce site.