Football Fever: Hublot Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
By The Time Place Magazine
As official timekeeper of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Hublot keeps track of every minute with its Gen 3 connected watch
An estimate of five billion people were glued to their TV screens for the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ on November 20, 2022. The distinguished sporting event got off to a great start, with Morgan Freeman inviting everyone to celebrate and come together to support the 32 teams set to take part in the world’s largest football tournament, while BTS’ Jungkook delivered a fantastic performance of his new song, “Dreamers”, featuring Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi.
As the first of the matches kick-off, another superstar comes into play: Hublot, the official timekeeper for all the 64 games of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, including the final which will be held in the Lusail Stadium in Doha on December 18. In line with its official timekeeping duties, the leading Fine Watchmaking brand introduces the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ connected watch.
Hublot Loves Football!
It’s no secret that Hublot definitely has an affinity for the sport of football, as evidenced by its multiple partnerships in the field, particularly its fourth consecutive time serving as the Official Timekeeper of the World Cup. Tracing its affiliation with the world sporting event, Hublot’s ties with the World Cup began in 2010 with its designation as Official Timekeeper of the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010, followed up by editions in Brazil, Russia, and now, Qatar.
However, the brand’s participation in these tournaments did not stop at timing the matches, it also unveiled special watches to mark these special occasions. In 2010, Hublot presented the FIFA World Cup Winner’s watch, the official timepiece of the FIFA World Cup 2010 champions, Spain. Featuring the Spanish national colours, the model was a Big Bang 44 mm Gold Ceramic Automatic Chronograph and highlighted the gold of the legendary FIFA World Cup trophy.
This was followed up four years later, with the official watch of the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™: the Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Chrono. Reflecting the bright national colours of Brazil, particularly green and yellow, the timepiece was offered in two distinguished versions: 18-carat King Gold with a carbon fibre bezel limited to 100 pieces and black ceramic with a carbon fibre bezel limited to 200 pieces.
For Hublot’s third undertaking with the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018™, the Fine Watchmaking manufacture unveiled the Big Bang Referee 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, a smart watch especially created for the special event. With a limited offering of 2,018 pieces, the timepiece was created according to the specific request by FIFA for a custom watch to be provided to the tournament’s referees. Hublot was up to the challenge and connected the timepiece to goal-line technology, a video assistance system that reviews goals.
This year, the storied brand once again ups the ante with the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, a connected watch with a timeline function that gives football fans access to the action on the pitch. This will surely be a much-appreciated feature for the millions – even billions – of football devotees the world over. “For this year’s tournament, we wanted to do something that expresses our belief in a free, diverse and unified world in a new and memorable way. Football is the world’s game and has a unique power to carry a message of hope to every corner of the Earth, connecting us and showcasing everything that brings us together,” conveyed Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO of Hublot. “We’re also thrilled to be the Official Timekeeper of the FIFA World Cup™ for a fourth time, going back to the South Africa tournament of 2010. We are so excited for this year’s festival of football to begin and wish every participating team the very best of luck. Hublot Loves Football!” he added.
As a manifestation of the brand’s love for the game, Hublot guarantees that Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ is its highest performing and exciting Big Bang e to date. With a larger and improved high-definition screen – the better to view information about each game – it is equipped with a newly designed football app.
Days before the start of the tournament, the watch was in countdown mode, leading up to the kick-off game last November 20 between Qatar and Ecuador. Every wearer of the watch will be spoiled with information, including team line-ups and player profiles which will be delivered minutes before each match. As each game begins, the timepiece will automatically enter “match mode” and activate “timeline” which will provide the game’s highlights directly to football fans.
Furthermore, the dial display on this model has an outer edge divided into five equal sections: for the first and second halves, additional time allowed in each half, and half time. Each goal made is accounted for and the timepiece will show a match event animation with the player’s name, as well as a football symbol which will appear at the appropriate minute mark on the scale. This also happens for a yellow card, a red card or a penalty.
A wonderful blend of fine watchmaking and high-end electronics, the model boasts the Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear™ 4100 processor powered with the latest version of Wear OS by Google™ (Wear OS 3). A dedicated, tailor-made app affords wearers with a seamless experience. Packed with impressive hardware, including an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a microphone a speaker, GPS and a heart-rate monitor, the watch also has a full suite of preloaded apps that enables the wearer to stay connected and keep track of activity, health, and more. Other apps are also discoverable on Google Play.
Truly a priceless companion throughout the World Cup, the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ allows the wearer to replay the events of the game by scrolling around the dial using the watch’s crown. After checking on the stats of your favourite team, after five minutes of inactivity, the watch automatically switches to low consumption mode to save battery life.
Sturdy and powerful, the timepiece derives inspiration from the iconic Big Bang watch, with its exquisitely engineered 44 mm case in micro-blasted and polished black ceramic and black titanium. Featuring a burgundy dial and a black and burgundy lined rubber strap that alludes to the flag colours of the state of Qatar, it promises an all-day battery life and is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 which will connect it to a wide range of devices and accessories. Limited to 1,000 pieces, the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ can also be personalised, with a wide variety of dial options available through the accompanying smartphone app. In addition, you can show your support to your favourite team as dial and strap designs in the colours of each of the 32 participating countries are also available.
Hublot not only showcases its love for football with this unique watch, it also expresses this sentiment through its ambassadors, including French football player, Kylian Mbappé. Just one year shy of 25, the young athlete is already considered one of the best players in the world. He made his World Cup debut four years ago in Russia, where he managed to score four goals and bagged the best young player award. For this year’s tournament, much can be expected from the forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, who is sure to deliver a great performance on the pitch. Leading up to FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Mbappé joined 14 other football icons for the “Hublot Loves Football” campaign, as a show of solidarity for the love of the game.
Like Mbappé, and the 129 official referees who will be timing the game with the new Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ on their wrists, you can also express the same love for football by supporting FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and getting your hands on the limited edition timepiece. Game on!
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