Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot has unveiled the Big Bang Soldier All Black, an exclusive 50-piece chronograph created in collaboration with London-based artist Leonard Iheagwam, known as Soldier. Combining black ceramic craftsmanship with contemporary artistic expression, the limited-edition timepiece offers a distinctive new interpretation of Hublot’s iconic Big Bang collection.
Announced in London on 9 November 2026, the collaboration marks Soldier’s first venture into watch design, following a two-year creative partnership with the Swiss manufacturer. The 42mm timepiece brings together Hublot’s signature All Black aesthetic and the artist’s recognisable toy-soldier motifs, exploring the relationship between familiar imagery, cultural symbolism and luxury watchmaking.
Beneath its monochromatic exterior lies Hublot’s in-house Unico chronograph movement, while contrasting finishes and subtle design details create an intricate composition that rewards closer inspection. Limited to just 50 individually numbered pieces, the Big Bang Soldier All Black demonstrates how contemporary art can transform an established watch design into something entirely personal.
At a Glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Watch | Hublot Big Bang Soldier All Black |
| Launch Date | 9 November 2026 |
| Manufacturer | Hublot |
| Collaborating Artist | Leonard Iheagwam, known as Soldier |
| Case Diameter | 42mm |
| Case Material | Microblasted and polished black ceramic |
| Additional Materials | Black-plated titanium and sapphire |
| Movement | HUB1280 Unico Manufacture |
| Movement Type | Self-winding flyback chronograph |
| Power Reserve | Approximately 72 hours |
| Movement Components | 354 |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Straps | Black fabric, plus two rubber alternatives |
| Limited Edition | 50 individually numbered pieces |
| UK Price | £22,900 (reported retail price) |
| Availability | Selected Hublot boutiques and online |
Hublot and Soldier: Where Contemporary Art Meets Watchmaking
The Big Bang Soldier All Black brings together two creative approaches that place a strong emphasis on challenging convention. For Hublot, this has long involved experimenting with unexpected material combinations and unconventional watch designs, while Soldier’s artistic practice explores the meanings attached to familiar cultural symbols.
Born in Lagos and now based in London, Leonard Iheagwam is a self-taught visual artist, designer and skateboarder whose work spans painting, sculpture and mixed media. He co-founded the Lagos creative collective Motherlan and has exhibited at institutions including London’s Saatchi Gallery, developing a distinctive visual language influenced by his Nigerian heritage, identity and contemporary culture.
The relationship between Hublot and Soldier began in 2024, when the watchmaker hosted an exhibition of his work at its New Bond Street boutique during Frieze. What began as an artistic collaboration subsequently evolved into a two-year design project, culminating in the creation of his first luxury timepiece.
Rather than approaching the Big Bang as a blank canvas, Soldier sought to engage with the watch’s existing identity. The resulting design retains the recognisable architecture of Hublot’s chronograph while introducing visual elements that carry meaning beyond their decorative appearance.
The Meaning Behind the Toy-Soldier Design
At the centre of the collaboration is one of Soldier’s most recognisable artistic motifs: the miniature toy soldier. Although familiar as a childhood object, the figure takes on a different significance within his work, raising questions about conflict, authority and the way society represents power through everyday objects.
The artist has previously incorporated miniature soldiers into paintings and sculptural installations, using their repetition to create compositions that become increasingly complex upon closer examination. The Big Bang Soldier All Black translates that approach onto the surfaces of a mechanical watch, with miniature figures appearing across the bezel and transparent sapphire dial.
Soldier explains the thinking behind his interpretation:
“With this watch, I explore what happens when symbols of power are moved somewhere they don’t traditionally belong.”
LEONARD IHEAGWAM (SOLDIER)
Artist and Designer
The result is a watch that operates on two levels. From a distance, it presents an almost entirely black silhouette, but closer inspection reveals the repeated figures, contrasting finishes and intricate movement beneath the dial.
For Hublot, the collaboration demonstrates how an established watch design can provide a platform for artistic expression without losing its underlying technical identity.
All Black: A Different Approach to Luxury Watch Design
Hublot introduced its All Black concept in 2006, challenging traditional expectations of watch design by removing the usual emphasis on contrasting colours. Instead, the concept relies on variations in surface texture, material and the interaction of light to define the watch’s appearance.
The Big Bang Soldier All Black continues that philosophy through a 42mm case and bezel crafted from black ceramic, combining microblasted surfaces with polished details. The subtle differences between matte and glossy finishes create depth across the case, while black-plated titanium components maintain the monochromatic appearance.
The sapphire dial adds another layer of visual complexity. Soldier’s miniature figures appear against the exposed mechanical architecture, creating a composition in which the artwork and movement occupy the same visual space.
This approach gives the watch a distinctive character without changing the familiar proportions of Hublot’s Big Bang design. The angular case, exposed bezel screws and prominent chronograph controls remain recognisable, but the artistic treatment brings a different emphasis to their appearance.
Even the caseback carries a personal detail. Hublot has incorporated the geographical coordinates of its London boutique, commemorating the location where the collaboration first began.
“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.”
JULIEN TORNARE
CEO, Hublot
Inside the HUB1280 Unico Manufacture Movement
Beneath the artistic exterior, the Big Bang Soldier All Black houses Hublot’s HUB1280 Unico Manufacture movement, an automatic chronograph calibre developed and assembled at the company’s manufacture in Nyon, Switzerland.
Comprising 354 components, the movement provides approximately 72 hours of power reserve and incorporates a flyback chronograph function. This allows the wearer to reset and restart a running chronograph through a single operation, rather than completing separate stopping, resetting and restarting actions.
The movement’s architecture forms an important part of the watch’s visual identity. Through the transparent sapphire dial, elements of the mechanism remain visible beneath Soldier’s artwork, bringing together mechanical engineering and graphic design.
Hublot has retained the familiar technical foundations of its Unico chronograph rather than introducing an entirely new movement for this edition. The innovation lies primarily in the way the artist has reinterpreted the watch’s materials, surfaces and visual presentation.
Red and Green: Subtle Colours with Personal Meaning
Although the case and dial follow Hublot’s monochromatic All Black aesthetic, the accompanying straps introduce two carefully chosen colours.
The watch comes fitted with a black fabric strap and includes two additional black rubber straps with contrasting red and green linings. These colours connect directly with Soldier’s earlier artistic work, rather than serving purely as decorative alternatives.
In a book published in 2024, bringing together works and conversations from the preceding years, Soldier associated red with the present and green with the past. The interchangeable straps carry that symbolism into the watch, offering different expressions of the same underlying design.
Their inclusion provides an interesting contrast to the otherwise restrained palette. While the ceramic case remains almost entirely black, the coloured linings introduce a personal narrative that reflects the artist’s identity and creative development.
Price, Exclusivity and Availability
Hublot has limited production of the Big Bang Soldier All Black to just 50 individually numbered examples, making it a particularly exclusive addition to the manufacturer’s growing portfolio of artist collaborations.
The watch carries a reported UK retail price of £22,900, with availability through selected Hublot boutiques, authorised points of sale and the manufacturer’s official website. Its reference number is 441.CI.1140.NR.HBL26.
Hublot also includes the timepiece within its 5+5 warranty programme. Eligible watches purchased from January 2026 benefit from a five-year international warranty, with the possibility of extending coverage by a further five years through Hublotista registration, subject to the relevant terms.
For collectors, the limited production run adds a further dimension to the collaboration. However, its significance lies as much in the relationship between the artist and the manufacturer as in the number of watches available.
The Love Lux Life View
The most compelling aspect of the Hublot Big Bang Soldier All Black is the way it challenges the traditional separation between artistic expression and mechanical watchmaking. Rather than simply applying an artist’s name or signature to an existing model, the collaboration explores how a recognisable design can take on a different meaning through imagery, materials and symbolism.
Soldier’s repeated figures give the watch an identity that extends beyond its technical specifications, while the black ceramic construction and exposed Unico movement retain the characteristics associated with Hublot’s contemporary approach to haute horlogerie. The contrast between playful imagery and serious mechanical craftsmanship creates a particularly interesting visual tension.
With only 50 pieces available, the Big Bang Soldier All Black will appeal to a select audience. Yet the broader significance of the release lies in its demonstration of how luxury watchmaking can continue to evolve through collaborations with artists whose influences extend beyond the traditional world of horology.
