We all know Kobe Bryant as a basketball legend — after 20 years with the Los Angeles Lakers, he won 18 all-star titles, 15 All-Nba selections, and five championships in his career. Although his talent made him a household name, his star status soon extended beyond the stadium — he appeared on countless magazine covers and received exclusive sponsorship.
As we see it, the replica Hublot doesn’t get enough credit for expanding the scope of watch sponsorships. The popular brand was one of the first to brand out beyond the tennis stars over the years, race car drivers, and occasional polo players and sailors. Hublot began by sponsoring soccer teams and later expanded into basketball — scoring some of the world’s best players like Bryant himself.
Bryant previously worked with luxury boutique brand Nubeo, the Swiss watchmaker that went bankrupt during the recession. Nubia and Bryant actually collaborated to create their own black mamba watch, but it never left the ground. What we’ve heard is that Bryant is very excited about the partnership because the brand is very detail-oriented. Soon after, when the fake Hublot began to appear, it seemed like the perfect next step — especially for a company with such a strong and innovative reputation.
The first Black Mamba watch released by Hublot and Bryant was back in 2013. The replica watch is outfitted with the HUB 4248 self-winding, 28 jewels, mechanical chronograph Movement, housed within an oversized 48mm black ceramic case. But it’s the face of these replica watches that draws you right in — black, gold, and purple were used as a homage to the Lakers, the stunning mechanics of the watch peeking through the face.
Bryant took part in the fake Hublot team for their uniqueness in the luxury watch brand market, and that shines through in their 2015 Big Bang Unico Retrograde Chronograph Kobe “Vino” Bryant. Like the first watch created in his honor, ‘Vino’ is off of another one of the basketball player’s nicknames.
The most attractive part of the fake watch is the Bordeaux red face, and the raised, 47mm, 18k gold, and black ceramic bezel. Under the face is a Hublot Unico caliber HUB1261 automatic movement, comprised of 385 parts, which you can peer at through a green-tinted sapphire crystal on the back. The watch’s dial looks like a basketball, with a bumpy surface that adds size. Actually, the fake watch itself is a beautiful juxtaposes of this feeling, with the black ceramic frame contrasting with the glossy dial.