Big Bang Unico Titanium 44mm

1. Business Context & Objective

An emblematic model of the Nyon manufacture, the Big Bang Unico Titanium 44mm embodies Hublot's watchmaking architecture: a multilayer grade 5 titanium case construction and a fully openworked dial revealing the in-house HUB1280 flyback chronograph movement and its column wheel.

These visuals were produced within a very specific framework: a competitive pitch executed for Hublot on a tight 2-week deadline. The objective was to deliver 3 high-definition print visuals to the manufacture — 1 full view of the watch and 2 close-ups (one of the front dial and one of the caseback) — demonstrating our mastery of watchmaking lookdev starting from their industrial engineering files. All 3 visuals were produced and delivered to the client at the end of the two weeks.

2. Art Direction & Technical Challenge

For a head of production or watchmaking art director, delivering 3 benchmark print visuals of a skeleton chronograph in just 2 weeks poses three concrete technical and methodological challenges:

1. Turning a CNC machining STEP file into a desirable object without blowing up the schedule: a CAD file coming out of a manufacture's engineering department is built for CNC machines, not for photography (parts touch with zero assembly clearance, edges sit at dead-sharp 90° angles that catch no specular highlight, and surface normals are often broken). In 2 weeks, remodeling all 350 components by hand is unrealistic: the craft lies in auditing the STEP file on day one and focusing re-meshing and micro-beveling strictly on the parts and edges that drive perceived quality on screen.
2. Solving the “gray-on-gray” readability trap of a titanium skeleton movement: on the Big Bang Unico Titanium, the absence of a solid dial stacks dozens of components (bridges, openworked date discs, gears, hands, case) that all share shades of gray metal and steel. The main risk is ending up with a flat, cluttered image where the eye gets lost. Rather than cheating with artificial colored lights, our art direction and shading created depth through surface finish contrast: playing the matte grain of a microblasted bridge against the stretched reflection of linear satin brushing and the crisp flash of a polished bevel so each mechanical layer separates naturally.
3. Building a single 3D asset capable of holding up from full catalog view to extreme macro (front and back): on a 2-week sprint, maintaining three separate models is out of the question. The resolution of the textures, engravings, and bevels had to be calibrated from the start to withstand both the full-watch view and the two macro plunges into the front and back of the movement.

3. Deployed Pipeline (3D CGI / Motion / Hybrid AI)

To hit this goal in 2 weeks, our Digital Atelier deployed a streamlined watchmaking pipeline:

1. CAD Audit & Targeted Beveling: importing and cleaning the STEP files for the 44 mm case and Unico caliber (front and back), prioritizing the parts visible across the 3 camera angles, and creating the micro-bevels required to catch close-up specular highlights.
2. Watchmaking Shaders & Anisotropy Maps: developing shaders and brushing maps that faithfully reproduce grade 5 titanium (linear satin, matte microblasting, polished anglage), the structured rubber strap, and the anti-reflective sapphire crystal.
3. Multi-Layer Studio Lighting & 16-Bit Compositing: placing virtual reflectors to independently control hand legibility, depth inside the movement cage, and case curvature, followed by precise multipass compositing for print finishing.

4. Production Cadence & Methodology

On a 2-week pitch sprint, every single day is optimized:

• Week 1 (CAD Cleanup, Framing of the 3 Views & Titanium Lookdev): geometric preparation of the model, immediate locking of the 3 cameras (full view, front close-up, caseback close-up) so every hour of work serves the final pixels, and approval of the metallic shaders.
• Week 2 (Per-View Studio Lighting, High-Definition Rendering & Finishing): fine-tuning contrast across the stacked layers of the skeleton movement, rendering the 3 plates at very high resolution, and final color grading.

5. Delivered Formats & Adaptations

At the end of the 2 weeks, we delivered all 3 pitch visuals to the client:

• 1 High-Definition Print — Full Watch View presenting the overall balance of the Big Bang Unico Titanium 44mm.
• 1 High-Definition Print — Front Close-Up demonstrating the readability of the stacked layers across the openworked dial.
• 1 High-Definition Print — Caseback Close-Up highlighting the rear mechanical finishes of the Unico caliber through the sapphire caseback.