Hublot’s New Aspen Boutique Opens With the Spirit of Big Bang Rocky Mountain Limited Edition

It’s just past the stroke of nine, I was bundled into the Silver Queen, a sleek black gondola, and flown up Aspen Mountain into the “white room”. Inside are a half-dozen other hopefuls, all keenly anticipating making the first tracks in last night’s freshly fallen snow,which casts a dreamy contrast against the sharp blue skies of another bright Colorado morning. Skiers call this beautiful type of day “bluebird”,and it’s probably best, except for chest deep with an early spring blower.
It has been more than a year since Hublot became the official timekeeper at Aspen Snowmass. Aspen Snowfield is one of the longest-running and most prestigious ski destinations in North America. But this year, Hublot has gone one step further with the historic mountain, which traces its mid-century roots to the Army’s legendary 10th Mountain Division, opening its first seasonal monobrand boutique in the resort’s town center. This move is a unique, consider these types of retail space is usually urban centers in the United States on the coast, but Aspen is a truly international ski destination, unlike Courchevel 1850 in the French Alps or Zermatt in Switzerland (both constant treasure house a mountainside Hublot boutique), and some of the Swiss replica watch brand operation in the crisp high alpine air feels right. Emphasizing this opening, Hublot also introduced a 25-piece limited Spirit of Big Bang watch to see the help of Olympic gold medalist and world champion ski racer Bode Miller, who kept his home on these steep slopes as brand friends for most of the last decade. 
Using the standard titanium Spirit of Big Bang as a blueprints, the Rockies edition is set in a bright white ceramic case contrasting blue sub-dials and a blue integrated rubber watchband, giving it a winter feel despite being a cheerful one — a clear bluebird day on the mountains, a sharp contrast between snow and sky. Usually, white ceramic watches feel too smooth or glossy, with a “flat” aesthetic, which does not make it a high-end luxury. But this one is different — if you’re not familiar with the tonneau shaped Spirit of Big Bang, it’s one of Hublot’s signature collections; Unquestionably bold and erect with interesting lines, facets, and contrasting blasted and polished finishes. Thankfully, all of these texture changes break up the surface of the watch, lending it an extremely dynamic and, ahem, “cool” presence on the wrist.
Even better, the new Rockies version is only 42mm across, making it perfectly wearable for all sizes of wrist, although it’s obviously not for everyone (though that’s hardly the point). On the Bode Miller’s giant ski racer wrist, the flared strap is completely on the wrist with the clasp fixed at its maximum extension. But on the wrist of my skinny 6.5-inch bike racer, with shoulder patches sticking out and tiny gaps left in the skin on both sides, the box was where it was supposed to be. I think it will make Hublot’s leather strap more comfortable. Like most other Spirit of Big Bang replica watches, the whole package is highly technical, yet sporty and playful, even a bit defiant, feeling a counter-cultural expression, a friendly jab at traditional skiing establishment and an about-face on what a Swiss watch “should be.”
It is this spirit also defines Miller in career of ski racing legend, an obsession with process, details, and precision timing – he thinks that his early interest in fake watch a Casio calculator use time running downhill mountain, and the only way to express a strong understanding of the hearing, and eventually become the best in their field, for training and competition to define his peers and competitors. Interestingly, Miller’s introduction to Hublot also happened by chance, as early as the early 1900s, his main ski event sponsor, Kjus(pronounced “shoos”), was also a Swiss-based clothing brand. He quickly hit it off with Hublot’s then-CEO Jean-Claude Biver, who liked a similar disregard for tradition, and the rest is more or less history.
Like the rest of the Spirit of Big Bang chronographs, this reference is equipped with HUB4700 caliber, a high frequency (5Hz) automatic timing movement produced by Hublot that is the brand’s main product and used in more of its first products. Notably, although Miller did not play a role in the aspen design version, he has had his own signature model: a black ceramic Big Bang design collaboration back in 2011, a portion of the revenue benefit from the Miller’s Turtle Ridge Foundation, a nonprofit that supports adaptive and youth sports programs.
Miller is one of the most decorated skiers (33 world cups, six Olympic medals, four World Championship gold medals, and six World Cup globes, but who counting?). So he palmarés district in keeping with Hublot’s deep pool ambassadors, often using thought leaders in sports, culture, art and fashion to create a very interesting and diverse list. They include soccer legend Pelé, sprinter Usain Bolt, artists Shepard Fairley and SAN Bleu, and the late Kobe Bryant.