June 10th, 2026
Hublot’s Weird World of World Cup Watches
by Alex Y
The World Cup is inarguably the world’s biggest sporting event. FIFA reported that the 2022 World Cup Final between Argentina and France had more than 1.4 billion people watching at least 1 minute of the live match. Any company would love that kind of exposure and for the last 4 iterations of the World Cup, that company was Hublot. In other sports, precision timekeeping is a must with track & field being the most obvious example but let’s not forget about buzzer beaters in basketball or power plays in hockey. Soccer, or football for our non-US readers, has a much more lax relationship to time as there are 45 minute halves, stoppage time determined by the referees, and…that’s about it. So how does a watch company show its worth in a sport that treats time more as a suggestion rather than a rule? Hublot’s first soccer related partnership was with the Swiss national team in 2006 followed by deals for the UEFA Euros, Champions League, Europa League, and others but talking about all of those would likely take all day to read. So I'll focus on Hublot’s World Cup watches from its time as the official timekeeper.
Past and present soccer royalty
Image Credit: Hublot - Fast Forward to the Future
- Introduction
- 2010 - Gold on Gold
- 2014 - Modern Soccer Timer
- 2018 - First Smartwatch
- 2022 - Evolved Tournament Companion
Table of Contents
2010 - Hublot Fusion Gold World Cup: Gold on Gold
Hublot Fusion Gold World Cup 2010
Image Credit: La Cote Des Montres - Hublot Classic Fusion Gold FIFA World Cup
The first watch released by Hublot as an officially licensed piece for the World Cup was the Hublot Fusion Gold World Cup 2010. A limited edition of 100 pieces, it features a 45mm 5N red gold case with matching gold dial and gold colored hands. If that isn’t gold enough for you, it proudly displays ‘Gold 750’ on its dial and caseback just in case you forget or are colorblind, I guess. It is powered by their HUB1112 movement which was based on the Sellita SW300-1 and came on a black alligator strap. As for references to soccer or the World Cup, it features an applied relief of the trophy at the 6 o’clock position as well as an engraving of the trophy on the case back. Functionally, there are no additional complications and this gives the impression that the watch is meant to be a trophy piece, hence the trophy iconography and little else. Personally, I appreciate the lack of specific references to the 2010 World Cup as it feels less like the dated merchandise used to ‘encourage’ customers to rebuy for each iteration of an event. There was also a champion’s watch released for Spain after their victory that does reference the specific year and provides a 45 minute soccer timer for each half of the game and the King Power Maradona but this article will focus on releases aimed at the general audience.
2014 - Hublot Unico FIFA World Cup Brazil: Modern Soccer Timer
Hublot Unico 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
Image Credit: GPHG - Hublot Unico 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
Up next is the Hublot Unico 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Bi-Retrograde Chrono, also referred to as the “Soccer Bang”. Another limited edition, this time with 200 pieces in ceramic (ref. 412.CQ.1127.RX) and 100 pieces in gold (ref. 412.OQ.1128.RX, pictured above). The obvious star of the show both in name and photos is the bi-retrograde chronograph mechanism featured prominently at the top and utilizing center mounted hands while normal timekeeping is relegated to a smaller dial at the 6 o’clock position. The in-house HUB1260 movement’s chronograph mechanism is started like most others using the pusher at the 2 o’clock position starting the green seconds hand moving across the top of the watch face until it reaches 60 and snaps back to 0, and then the yellow minute hand advances one minute. The scale allows for timing of the half with the 45 minute mark denoted in red while allowing for added time but also adds a 15 minute marking in the event of extra time for the two overtime periods. The 385 part movement was a first for Hublot and despite the complication, still managed a 72 hour power reserve. The yellow and green colors are a tribute to the host nation of Brazil, but I think they work regardless as clear indicators of the relative time. Once again, there is a lack of explicit reference to the year on the front but this time they, I think smartly, included the 2014 World Cup logo on the caseback. This watch marked a step forward by Hublot since it modernized the soccer timers of the 60s and 70s that only timed the 45 minute halves which Hublot uses on many of their other soccer special editions.
2018 - Hublot Big Bang Referee: First Smartwatch
Hublot Big Bang Referee 2018
Image Credit: Watch Swiss - Hublot on the World’s Biggest Stage
For the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Hublot attempted another big innovation: a smartwatch. Did I scare you off? Still here? Okay, good. It followed the introduction of smartwatches by other LVMH Group brands TAG Heuer and Louis Vuitton but was the first to feature the rebranded Wear OS, previously called Android Wear. Like the previous 2 timepieces, the Big Bang Referee 2018 (ref. 400.NX.1100.RX) was a limited edition but the quantity increased to 2,018 suggesting an appeal to a wider audience. This is reflected in the price which was around $5,000 at the time of release, not cheap but also a far from the $20,000 to $40,000 price of the last two models. Also unlike the previous timepieces, this watch was made to serve a function for the referees. FIFA had requested that the wristwatch be able to connect the referees directly to the goal-line technology, the electronic system that helps determine whether the ball crossed the goal-line entirely or not. It could also track player changes and of course, manage time like the analog watches. For spectators, a specially designed app could alert the wearer to upcoming matches for teams they are interested in, goals, player changes, red/yellow cards, and show statistics for ongoing matches. All of this was contained in a 49mm satin-finished titanium case with the signature Big Bang porthole. Credit where it’s due, this watch was not a smartwatch for the sake of being a smartwatch but provided a function that would not otherwise be possible with an analog watch. At the time of writing this in 2026, they are still going for $3,000 to $5,000 on eBay. Not sure what it means in terms of long term value, but notable as an exception to the smartwatches that usually crater in value as the technology becomes obsolete after a few years.
2022 - Hublot Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar: Evolved Tournament Companion
Hublot Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Image Credit: ablogtowatch - Hands-On: Hublot Big Bang Bang e World Cup Qatar 2022 Watch
The final watch produced by Hublot in partnership with FIFA for the World Cup was another smartwatch, the Big Bang e FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 (ref. 450.CI.1100.RX.FWC22). This was a 1,000 piece limited edition that Hublot called a “Gen3 connected watch” after the Gen1 2018 referee discussed above and the Gen2 2020 Big Bang e. The smartwatch features were expanded and at least according to one ablogtowatch article, “would go beyond what was even available on the big screens at the stadiums”. This was contained in a 44mm ceramic case with the familiar Big Bang silhouette but without the familiar porthole. Since all of the features are locked within the application, it’s difficult to judge how much of an improvement this was and a cursory search only found promises of function but no user reviews or feedback. The Google Play store only shows one 3 star review that states "I somehow can't use it. It says not compatible. Given it 3 stars because the watch face is soo cool." and at least one Reddit user leshiy19xx tried installing the app on a non-Hublot smartwatch and also found it was not supported. This watch, in my opinion, occupies an unusual space where it functions less as a traditional branded keepsake and more of an advanced tournament companion that is impossible to review in retrospect due to its hyper focused functionality.
Conclusion
For the 2026 edition of the World Cup, FIFA is partnering with Axia Time to create a line of officially licensed watches that appear to be a far cry from the Hublot offerings and bringing an end to the Hublot era of World Cup watches. Each of the 4 watches brought something unique to the table and it’s commendable the company appears to have gone back to the drawing board for each iteration. The first was a pure keepsake adorned in gold, the second brought an updated soccer timer complication, and the later smartwatches moved fully into the modern digital age. If you are reading this and are not a Hublot hater, you probably consider only the first two to be watches worth admiring but arguably, a tournament companion is more functional and true to the wristwatches origins as a tool albeit a very expensive one with VERY limited use. That said, the Soccer Bang would be my choice as the most impressive entry and has joined my ever increasing list of watches to look for. Hublot meanwhile will continue their partnership with UEFA for the Euros and other tournaments so we’ll still get soccer related innovations from them but since the most recent edition was yet another smartwatch, it might be a while before another mechanical innovation. Hope everyone enjoys the tournament while I check Hublot prices on eBay.
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