"Celebrity Watch Hunting" focuses on the watches worn by celebrities from various genres. This time, we focus on the Hublot watch worn by basketball player Yuta Watanabe, who will be competing in the Paris Olympics starting in July this year.
Text by Yukaco Numamoto
[Article published on January 19, 2024]
Yuta Watanabe, the second Japanese player to play in the NBA, has decided to play in Japan from next season.
Yuta Watanabe is from Kagawa Prefecture (he was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture). He started playing basketball in elementary school with a youth sports club, and in junior high school he participated in the Kagawa Prefecture Junior Basketball Tournament as a member of the Kagawa Prefecture selected team. He continued to perform well in high school, being selected as one of the top five in the tournament, and after graduating from high school he decided to study abroad in the United States.
Although he initially faced opposition from those around him, with the encouragement of NBA veteran Yuta Tabuse, he decided to attend prep school before enrolling at George Washington University. The university is a Division I NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) team, and Yuta Watanabe made his debut on November 14, 2014. He played 20 minutes, recording 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 block. He also contributed to the team's victory at the Diamond Head Classic at the end of the year, including a game-winning three-pointer. Watanabe's performance drew feature articles in media outlets such as the Washington Post and the New York Times, garnering him increasing attention. Despite standing over 2 meters tall, he is a versatile, all-around player who excels at playing outside.
After graduating from college, he participated in the NBA Summer League (a tournament held during the NBA's off-season) as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, and in July 2018, he signed a two-way contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. A two-way contract allows a player to play for both the NBA's top team (with a limited number of days registered) and the Grizzlies' affiliated G League team. After the start of the 2018-2019 season, he was registered as an NBA player for the first time in October, coming off the bench in the fourth quarter and recording two points and two rebounds, becoming the second Japanese player in 14 years to do so after Yuta Tabuse.
He continued his career with stints with the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Phoenix Suns, and Grizzlies. While with the Grizzlies in 2024, he missed games due to injury and revealed he was also struggling mentally. He is set to play in Japan starting next season. He also contributed as the ace of the Japanese national team, helping them qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 48 years. He declared he would retire from the national team if they failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but overcame injuries and other mishaps to secure the top spot in Asia. We look forward to seeing him perform well at the Olympics.
Yuta Watanabe's favorite watch is the Hublot Big Bang Unico Yellow Gold.
At a press conference held on April 21, 2024, Yuta Watanabe was seen wearing Hublot's Big Bang Unico Yellow Gold.
A close-up of Yuta Watanabe's wrist, revealing he is wearing a Big Bang Unico in yellow gold.
Automatic movement (Cal. HUB1280). 43 jewels. 28,800 vph. Power reserve approximately 72 hours. 18K yellow gold case (42mm diameter). Water resistant to 10 bar. Price: 572 million yen (tax included).
The Big Bang Unico Yellow Gold features a unique structure with the column wheel moved to the dial side, and is equipped with the in-house chronograph movement, Cal. HUB1280, with a flyback function, housed in a polished and satin-finished 18K yellow gold case. Hublot is renowned for its innovative use of materials, and has developed watches that combine gold with high-tech ceramics, rubber, and carbon. Hublot has also used colored ceramics and sapphire crystal to create new fusions between the movement and the case.
The model worn by Yuta Watanabe features a large case size and six H-shaped titanium screws. The Caliber HUB1280 movement is made up of 354 parts, and its structure can be seen through the openwork. The power reserve is approximately 72 hours, and the skeleton dial can be enjoyed at hand through the anti-reflective sapphire crystal case.
The strap is a black structured (lined) rubber strap with a sporty and urban feel. It is thought to be one of Watanabe Yuta's favorites, chosen for the press conference marking an important milestone in his life, when he announced that he would be "moving his base of operations to Japan."
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