Black Mamba

Kobe Bryant/Nubeo Venture

When two major forces come together, something wonderful is bound to happen. The emergenceof the Black Mamba stems from the collaboration between Kobe and Nubeo, a partnership driven by the mutual respect and admiration that exists between one of the world’s greatest athletes and one of the most exclusive luxury watchmakers. The collective objective is to create a timepiece that unites sports superstardom with extraordinary design and creativity. Kobe is a sporting icon with a widely-respected drive for excellence; Nubeo is known for distinct and innovative design. Together, they are creating a 21st century sports watch like no other.

Partnering with Kobe has been “a dream come true” for Nubeo. After all, who hasn’t imagined embarking on an exciting adventure with their hero?

Working as a team, Kobe and Nubeo are leveraging their common attributes, such as readily facing multi-faceted and complex challenges with unsurpassed vigour and optimism that generates results. Ultimately, the keys to Kobe’s triumphs as an athlete closely resemble those of Nubeo’s success as a luxury watch maker: innate abilities, intuition and creativity.

We at Nubeo recognize the Black Mamba as a symbol of a true superhero: a mythical, ever surviving image of ancient Greece. Kobe is our modern day version of that classical hero.

In early 2009, Nubeo staged a spectacular Kobe photo shoot in Los Angeles with celebrated Hollywood photographer Sheryl Nields, necessitating more than 40 respected artists and professionals to manage design and production. A documentary produced and directed by D.J. O’Neil from Hub Strategy – the “making of” the Sheryl Nields’ photo shoot – has since been produced, a story that also contains footage on the creation and development of the BlackMamba line of watches. The film will be distributed to major media concerns and multi-mediaplatforms so viewers may experience first-hand a behind-the-scenes look of this extraordinary project.

A MASTERPIECE IN WATCHMAKING ARCHITECTURE

INTELLIGENT MUTATION

As in nature, creative brands are in constant evolution, Nubeo’s Jellyfish, a watch symbolizing the image of medusa, has transformed into a reflection of the Black Mamba, a formidable predator that is both attractive and dangerous. The Black Mamba mutation is a direct result of the luxury watchmaker’s partnership with Kobe, widely respected as the best basketball player on the planet, who inspired Nubeo to reach new heights in the fine art of uniting imaginative design with magnificent craftsmanship. And only because of Nubeo’s recent advancements in technical and aesthetic capability has this project been made possible.
Kobe is honoured with the nickname Black Mamba for his unmatched ability to conquer the opponent with a quick and deadly precision that is beautiful to behold. Nubeo’s meticulous timepiece is also a reflection of this fascinating creature: an innovative construction that redefines the sports watch in both style and complexity.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

Advanced technology at the service of the most innovative materials, the Black Mamba project is the largest and most complex of Nubeo’s endeavours to date.
Along with the skills of Nubeo’s in-house team and its external collaborators, the implementation of new technologies has proven essential to bring this watch to fruition.
The first step in creating the different parts and components to be assembled is 3-D computer software. The experience acquired by 4D – Nubeo’s concept and design department – has allowed the Swiss firm to combine two different modelling systems. First is the mechanical module process geared towards the design of parts and components on the basis of a traditional approach. However, the sheer complexity of the Black Mamba case has required modelling of more complex surfaces with non-parametric values. Combining these two modelling systems is a Nubeo hallmark which is rarely present in the traditional methods of Swiss luxury watchmaking. As to the materials used, the Black Mamba draws out the full aesthetic potential of the most innovative materials. Rubber, Grade 5 Titanium, and Ceramic are the primary materials used in manufacturing the Black Mamba. They are all notable for their light weight, high resistance and ergonomic features. But they are not easy to handle, especially in a watch as complex as the Black Mamba, and this has lengthened the process of component design and manufacturing.
Among the most striking features of the Black Mamba is the matt finish of its surfaces, along with DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) treatments which confer added strength to the components while providing the Black Mamba with a sophisticated and fascinating black finish.

BLACK MAMBA CASE

131 COMPONTENTS

In watchmaking it is fairly common to equate the complexity of a watch with its mechanical interior. True to its transgressing nature, Nubeo has turned this concept around by conferring the greatest technical difficulty to the case in the design of this new watch. The case of the Black Mamba is probably the most complicated in watchmaking history. One-hundred and thirty-one components were used to manufacture the case, excluding movement, dial and bracelet.
Below is the list of components used in manufacturing the Black Mamba.

• Ceramic Case - 2 Components
• The Bezel - 37 Components
• Titanium Inner case - 38 Components
• Crown - 14 Components
• Push Buttons - 24 Components
• Bracelet Fixation - 16 Components 

OUTER CERAMIC CASE

2 COMPONENTS

Unlike the vast majority of watches on the market, the Black Mamba case is made up of two distinct parts – the outer case, made of ceramic, and the inner case, made of Grade 5 Titanium.The outer case works like a protective shell for the watch’s parts, while the inner titanium case acts like a chassis housing the watch’s functional components.


The ceramic case has been subject to significant design efforts in order to ensure mutation of the “medusse” concept to the “snake” image that so defines the Black Mamba. Its lines clearly evoke the influence of the Jellyfish series, which was up till now the flagship of the Basel firm. A more aerodynamic design leads the way towards the serpent forms that make this watch such an original and inimitable work of art. In conceiving and designing the outer ceramic case, Nubeo has used a nonparametric surface modelling system similar to that used for the bodywork of the most modern sports cars and luxury yachts. There are obvious differences in size, but the design process of the Black Mamba case is as complex as that of the bodywork of the ultimate high-tech car: over 200 instructions go into the modelling programme of the case to achieve the final result. The complexity of the Black Mamba’s outer case is enhanced by using ceramic in the manufacturing process. The difficulty of the process is due to two factors: the size of the outer case and the many angles used in the design to achieve perfect union with the remaining components – the inner case, bezel, case back, crown, push buttons and bracelet turbines.
The outer ceramic case is produced in three stages. Firstly, the ceramic component is injected into the mould. In the second stage (heating) the part is placed in a furnace at very high temperatures to achieve the strength and resistance required. During the heating process, it is normal to see a 25%-26% reduction in the volume of the part. In other industries, a one-point difference in the final result might be acceptable, but not for Nubeo which uses tolerance levels of up to 0.05 millimeters. Such high demands of accuracy explain that 40% of the parts are rejected by Nubeo because they exceed tolerance levels. Once the injection process is completed the part is then machined. This third stage is known as grinding, during which the parts are drilled and shaped for subsequent assembly with the remaining parts of the watch. Given the strength of the material and the requirement of accuracy, grinding of the case can only be performed using an advanced diamond tool. Finally, the outer case surface is treated with a microbead blasted process to ensure a matt finish.

THE BEZEL

37 COMPONENTS

The sheer number of parts used in manufacturing indicates that this is one of the most complex bezels ever made. The total number includes the following:

• 1 ceramic chassis.
• 24 titanium numbers.
• 1 rubber ring.
• 1 titanium ring.
• 6 screws for assembly of the rubber ring.
• 1 positioning axis.
• 1 gasket to fixe the bezel to the case.
• 1 Flat sapphire crystal. Six layers of anti-glare treatment. 

The bezel of the Black Mamba was manufactured thanks to the experience gained by Nubeo in producing the Black Jellyfish. Both share a similar bezel structure. The 24 titanium numbers are cut using an electro-erosion device with a copper wire less than 0,05 millimeters in diameter. They are later welded individually using a technology employed before only in the production of medical devices. The watch’s final appearance is also complex in terms of the numbers; their surface is in line with the spherical shape of the entire bezel. In terms of arrangement, the numbers have to be placed slightly lower than the outer rim of the bezel. With this type of adjustment, the numbers are protected against scratches and knocks. To ensure seamless assembly of the titanium numbers in the rubber ring, modelling of the parts includes the checking of 352 independent surfaces with a tolerance range of +/- 0.03 millimeters. Given the use of a ceramic chassis, when assembling the bezel it is important to take into account the 1% deviation due to the injection process. Nothing can be left to chance because fitting the ceramic disc with the rubber ring involves controlling up to 74 independent surfaces, all with a tolerance level of +/- 0.03 millimeters.

TITANIUM INNER CASE AND CASE BACK

38 COMPONENTS

The Grade 5 Titanium inner case is without a doubt the most crucial part in the watch since it is where the remaining components are assembled. It holds the outer ceramic case, the bezel, movement, push buttons, bracelet fixation turbines and rubber bracelet. The perfect union of all the parts with the inner case is essential to guarantee that the watch is airtight and reliable.

Again, total coordination in manufacturing the parts is imperative to ensure that the case back – also made of Grade 5 Titanium – has the same curvature as the outer ceramic case. In both cases a curved profile has been applied to ensure adequate fitting of the watch to the user’s wrist. Along with the ergonomic complexity of the case back, there is an added difficulty, namely the mechanical process using a 5-axis tool to carve the 72 scales. The case back is fixed with six titanium pins, with special heads, treated with DLC (Diamond Like Carbon).

MORE VALUABLE THAN MONEY

A watch like the Black Mamba would be impossible to manufacture without state-of-the-art tools. The most advanced procedures are applied throughout the entire process – from the initial design right up to the presentation of the finished product. All the watch’s components are studied in detail to achieve top-notch performance, both technically and aesthetically. For instance, the case back is decorated with a pattern that resembles the motifs found on current coins. But while the relief on coins ranges between 0.05 and 0.1 millimeters, the engravings on the Black Mamba’s back case reach 0.6 millimeterss.

THE CROWN

14 COMPONENTS

The fact that such a small component as the crown includes no less than fourteen parts clearly highlights the complexity in manufacturing the Black Mamba’s case. In current watchmaking, the crown is normally made up of two parts.

The Black Mamba’s crown is also made in Grade 5 Titanium, with a multi-layer manufacturing approach. The first layer corresponds to the outer surface. It has a matt finish – thanks to surface treatment with a microbead blasted process – and is completed with the Nubeo logo. Two parts in DLC treated titanium are located at an intermediate level. Their structure, with 16 bionic scales, is reminiscent of the shapes found in nature, a feature that is ever present in Nubeo’s creations. The body of the crown is located at a third level. It is assembled with an anodized orange aluminium disc whose function is essential – when the user sees the orange disc he or she knows the crown is open. It must be closed in the event of submerging the watch.

THE PUSH BUTTONS

24 COMPONENTS

Push buttons that activate the chronograph are as complex as the crown. A total of twenty-four components are used to put it together – twelve for each of the push buttons. These parts are also made in Grade 5 Titanium, and they include a screw-in system that ensures that the case is water resistant.

The head of the push button is also DLC treated, while the second and fourth rings stand out as a result of theirsurface’s circular graining. The same finish is applied to the protective cylinder assembled in the case whichholds the complete set of pushers. Finally, a third rubber ring is used to ensure that the case is airtight.

THE TURBINES

16 COMPONENTS

The bracelet fixation turbines are one of the key features of the Black Mamba. Its design clearly reflects Nubeo’s intent to reinforce the watch’s image as a single element and this requires total union between the case and the bracelet.

The fixation method used by Nubeo consists of a set of turbines, two on each side of the case. The solution devised by the Basel firm ensures much safer attachment of the bracelet than the usual system based on the sliding pin. Another sophisticated five-axis carving tool is used in manufacturing the fixation turbines. The small size of the parts require this tool to work with a cutting bur as small as 0.15 millimeters in diameter. The angle changes and the inertia borne by the engraving device are such that drilling/cutting times are lengthened as well as the surface treatments applied to each of the parts.
From the aesthetic point of view, the fixation turbines share the same bionic shapes as the crown and push buttons. They are also manufactured in titanium, with DLC treatment and circular graining. The symmetry of the various components that surround the case of the Black Mamba once again highlights the influence of the shapes found in nature that Nubeo is so keen to bring into its creations.

THE DIAL

SOBRIETY & LEGIBILITY

Stealthy and efficient like the Black Mamba, the dial of this watch is a technical wonder that fully meets the standards set for the case. All its elements are in line with the black monochromatic notion that characterises the Black Mamba. The contrast achieved in the surfaces, with markings in white, not only underlines the personality of the watch, but it also provides outstanding legibility.

 

 

 

 

 

As a result of the dial’s multi-layered design, the manufacturing process is as complex as that of the case. The transition between bezel and dial is achieved with an inner raised chapter titanium ring indicating seconds, fractions and hours. At an intermediate level is the Nubeo logo and an independent second hand, along with three orifices for chronograph counters and date screen which are all finished with metallic rings and bionic scales. The innermost layer, housing the chronograph counters, completes the dial. All in all, five pieces are used in its manufacture.

BIONIC HANDS

True to its philosophy of utmost attention to detail, Nubeo designers have brought the spirit of the Black Mamba even to the minute hands of the dial. Made in titanium, their bionic and futuristic appearance calls to mind the scales of the deadly snake. In the central part, the scales are coated in white Superluminova for ease of vision in poorly lit areas.