Hublot (English: , French: [yblo]) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1980 by Italian Carlo Crocco. The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH. Hublot has developed its brand through innovations such as the Unico chronograph, Meca-10, Tourbillons, and high-complication movements created for select products.
Contents
History
Hublot is a Swiss luxury watch brand founded in 1980 by Carlo Crocco, a scion of the founding family of Italy's Binda Group. Moving to Switzerland he formed MDM Geneve and set about designing a watch that he named the Hublot after the French word for "porthole". The watch's groundbreaking design, which combined a precious-metal case with a natural rubber strap, set a new standard in the watch industry. Following its debut at the 1980 Basel Watch Fair, the watch quickly gained attention and achieved commercial success, generating more than $US2 million in sales during its first year.
The Jean-Claude Biver era
Crocco, preoccupied by his own design work and many activities for the Hand-in-Hand Foundation, a charity helping children worldwide, set out to look for someone to oversee Hublot. In late 2003, Jean-Claude Biver, then president of Swatch Group's Omega division, met Crocco, and in May 2004, Biver assumed duties as CEO, becoming a board member and minority shareholder in Hublot Watches.
Upon his arrival, Biver set about creating a new flagship collection that was unveiled in Basel in April 2005, with the Hublot "Big Bang" chronograph. It was an immediate success and orders increased threefold in one year. In November, the Big Bang chronograph was awarded internationally, receiving the 2005 Design Prize in the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix, the Sports Watch Prize at the Watch of the Year ceremony in Japan, and the Middle Eastern Prize for the Best Oversized Watch at the Editor's Choice Watch of the Year in Bahrain. Following the arrival of Biver in 2004, the brand's sales were 24 million Swiss francs and by the end of 2006, sales were close to 100 million Swiss francs.
Stores
As of 2019, Hublot had 169 boutiques in several countries. In February 2007, Hublot opened its first mono-brand store in Paris, in the Rue Saint-Honoré. The second was opened in the summer of that year, in the Hôtel Byblos, Saint-Tropez. Today, Hublot has a store on Bond Street, London. United States locations include Bal Harbour, Beverly Hills, Boca Raton, Dallas, Houston, two in Las Vegas, New York, Palm Beach and Scottsdale.
Acquisition by LVMH
In April 2008, luxury goods group LVMH announced it had acquired Hublot from Crocco for an undisclosed fee, adding to its existing portfolio of watch brands including TAG Heuer.
WISeKey
At BaselWorld 2009, Hublot unveiled WISeKey, a new method of detecting counterfeit watches. Using a smart card, the system authenticates watches on Hublot's servers. The system went live in August 2009.
Hublot Manufacture
Hublot's first manufacture opened in 2009 in Nyon, near Geneva, Switzerland and rapidly developed notable manufacturing expertise and capabilities.
Notable models
The Big Bang Collection, featuring a variety of materials including ceramic, sapphire, and Magic Gold.
The Classic Fusion, available in both three-hand and chronograph versions.
Timepieces created in collaboration with world-renowned artists, including Samuel Ross and Takashi Murakami.
Sponsorships
To increase the public profile of their brand Hublot have engaged in a number of sponsorship deals. In 2008, they agreed a sponsorship deal with the football club Manchester United, worth £4 million a year. Later, Hublot started endorsing some top football clubs like FC Bayern Munich, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Ajax Amsterdam.
In 2019, Hublot became the first watch brand to work with ICC when the brand was announced as official time keeper for cricket's flagship event, 2019 ICC cricket world cup co-hosted by England and Wales.
In 2015, the company signed an agreement with San Lorenzo de Almagro of Argentina.
They provided special versions of their Big Bang watches to referees officiating at UEFA Euro 2008. In March 2010, Hublot was appointed the Official Watchmaker of Formula 1. Hublot have released a number of Formula One themed watches, including celebrating the return of the US Grand Prix to Austin, Texas, US in November 2012, with the Hublot F1 King Power Austin Archived 25 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
In April 2010, Hublot became the official time keeper of the 2010 and the 2014 FIFA World Cups. They have also been involved in a tie-up with the Financial Times, sponsoring the newspaper's iPad app.
Hublot and Ferrari announced during the 2011, Ferrari World Finals at Mugello a long-term strategic partnership which will officially start on 1 January 2012, making Hublot Ferrari's "Official Watch" and "Official Timekeeper". Throughout the partnership, the two brands introduced various collaborative timepieces, including the Big Bang Ferrari and the Techframe Ferrari Tourbillon Chronograph. The partnership lasted for approximately ten years.
The company also sponsors the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.
They were also the sponsors of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo.
Ambassadors
Hublot communicates its values of Boldness, Innovation, and Fusion through collaborations with individuals who set new standards in their respective fields. The brand has appointed global leaders from sports, music, film, art, and fashion as ambassadors, building partnerships that go beyond sponsorship to embody and share the brand’s philosophy.
In the world of sports, figures such as Kylian Mbappé, Usain Bolt, and Novak Djokovic have represented Hublot.
In the fields of culture and the arts, Hublot has collaborated with a diverse range of personalities, including adesigner Samuel Ross and artist Takashi Murakami. Through its network of brand friends and partners, Hublot has also built a global community spanning music, art, and fashion, extending the boundaries of what a luxury watch brand can represent.