In this most difficult of years, the English Premier League will soon conclude and the attention of football fans will turn to the Euro 2020 championship, which is just a month away.
Both competitions are supported by Official Timekeeper Hublot, which this week has unveiled an official Big Bang e smartwatch for the Euros.
This summer’s tournament was planned to take place across 12 countries, but a decision by the Irish FA last month meant that fixtures planned for Dublin have been moved to St Petersburg.
That was inconvenient for Hublot, which had already created a bezel for the official Big Bang e showing flags from the original 12 hosts.
Potentially, the change from 12 to 11 countries could make the watch more desirable since it could be considered a misprint, brought about by the pandemic, which may be highly valued by collectors, particularly as only 1,000 of the smartwatch are being made.
Everything branded with the Euro logo is also a reminder of the pandemic year, since it is still presented as a 2020 event, even though it is taking place in 2021.
The 42mm watch comes in polished black ceramic with a push button and rotary crown or AMOLED high definition touchscreen used to control the smartwatch’s functions.
It operates on WearOS by Google and has an app dedicated to football which enables users to follow the competition in real time with notifications for cards awarded, player substitutions, penalties and goals.
There is also the option to view information on the team line-ups, the players’ rankings and their position on the field.
The Big Bang e is on sale exclusively online at Hublot.com for £4,800.
Hublot Fusion Podcast
Along with the new watch, Hublot has also launched a podcast series dedicated to the Euros.
The Hublot Fusion Podcast, hosted by French sports broadcast journalist Anne-Laure Bonnet will have interviews with footballing legends, as well as with friends and ambassadors of Hublot.
The podcasts will focus on the 12 universal values of victory: solidarity, union, passion, commitment, inclusion, equality, friendship, justice, respect, fair play, tolerance and sharing.
200 customers of the Big Bang e will be given a unique non-fungible token (NFT) containing an excerpt from one of the podcasts.