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Hublot

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Hublot SA
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryWatchmaking
Founded1980; 44 years ago (1980)
FounderCarlo Crocco
HeadquartersNyon, Switzerland
Key people
Ricardo Guadalupe (CEO)
ProductsWristwatches
RevenueDecrease CHF 670 million (2023)
Number of employees
800 (2024)
ParentLVMH
Websitewww.hublot.com

Hublot (French pronunciation: [yblo]) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1980 by Italian Carlo Crocco.[1] The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the French luxury conglomerate LVMH.

History

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A scion of the Italian Binda Group dynasty, best known for making Breil watches, Carlo Crocco left the company in 1976, to start a watch company. 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 that he created featured the first natural rubber strap in the history of watchmaking.[2] It took three years of research to create the strap. Despite failing to attract a single potential customer on the first day of its debut at the 1980, Basel Watch Fair, the watch quickly proved to be a commercial success with sales in excess of $US2 million in its first year.[2]

The Jean-Claude Biver era

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Crocco, preoccupied by his own design work and many activities for the Hand-in-Hand Foundation, a charity helping deprived children all around the world, set out to look for someone to who oversee Hublot. In late 2003, Jean-Claude Biver, then president of Swatch Group's Omega division,[3] 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. A few months later, in November 2005, 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 franc.[citation needed]

Hublot stores

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An enormous Hublot wristwatch at Hublot Boutique shop window in Warsaw

As of 2019, Hublot had 169 Boutiques[4] 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 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.[citation needed]

Acquisition by LVMH

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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.[1]

Hublot WISeKey

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At BaselWorld 2009, Hublot unveiled 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.[5]

Notable models

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  • The Hublot Big Bang Sang Bleu II, available in titanium or king gold.[6]
  • The Hublot Big Bang Meca-10, available in titanium, magic gold, or king gold.[7]
  • The Hublot Big Bang Unico GMT, available in titanium or carbon fiber.[8]

Sponsorships

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Hublot, timekeeper of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo

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.[9] 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.[10]

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.[1] In March 2010, Hublot was appointed the Official Watchmaker of Formula 1.[11] 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.[12]

In April 2010, Hublot became the official time keeper of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[13] They have also been involved in a tie-up with the Financial Times, sponsoring the newspaper's iPad app.[14]

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".[15] The partnership has so far been built on two watches: the Hublot Big Bang Ferrari Magic Gold and Big Bang Ferrari Titanium.[16]

The company also the sponsors of 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.

Hublot continued its sponsorship and partnership activities in 2012 with becoming the Official Watch of the UEFA EURO 2012 tournament and Official Timekeeper of the tournament.[17]

In April 2012, Hublot Partnered the Swiss Confederation at the World Expo 2012 in South Korea, a 3-month world event, where countries have the opportunity to promote themselves to the world.[18] and displayed its new Divers Watch the Hublot Oceanographic 4000 King Gold White, which has been tested to a water resistance of 5,000 m and is certified water resistant to 4,000 m.[19]

Hublot also partnered with the Archaeological Museum of Athens in presenting Hublot's "Tribute to the Antikythera Mechanism" movement. The Hublot movement officially joined the National Museum's collection on 5 April 2012, and will now be on display alongside the remains of the original mechanism.[20]

In January 2013, Scuderia Ferrari had Hublot as its official sponsor for 2013, 2014 and 2015 F1 Season.

In November 2015, Hublot was the official timekeeper and a major sponsor of the inaugural WBSC Premier12 international baseball tournament held in Taiwan and Japan, promoting their partnership with the motto, "Hublot Loves Baseball."[21]

In August 2015, Hublot was announced as the new official timekeeper of the UEFA Champions League, starting from the 2015–16 season.

In February 2019, the company signed an agreement with Club Olimpia from Paraguay.

In September 2020, Hublot was announced as the new official timekeeper of the Premier League, starting from the 2020–21 season.

From 2021, Hublot is no longer listed as a sponsor for Scuderia Ferrari, being replaced by Richard Mille.[22]

In 2024, Hublot again became the Official Watch for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament and being appointed as the Official Timekeeper for the event.

Hublot countdown clock for UEFA Euro 2024 in front of Munich Airport

Ambassador

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At the opening ceremony for its first store in Beijing, Biver introduced Jet Li as Hublot's next brand ambassador. Li is the brand's first Asian ambassador as well as the first film star to work as a Hublot ambassador. Other brand ambassadors have included Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna's family and Institute; world's fastest man Usain Bolt;[23] designer Samuel Ross;[24] France and PSG player Kylian Mbappé; football player Pelé; American boxer Floyd Mayweather, Indian cricketer Rohit Sharma and formerly, the Manchester United football team, golfers Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Patrick Reed.[25]

Hublot has also developed a network of Friend of the Brand in the fields football, gastronomy, arts and sports. These include 2018 Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg, football coaches José Mourinho, Gareth Southgate, and Didier Deschamps, tennis players Simona Halep and Elina Svitolina, chefs Yannick Alléno and Paul Pairet. Former footballer Diego Maradona was a Hublot Friend of the Brand until his death in 2020.

Formula One Management President and CEO, Bernie Ecclestone, was attacked by four men and had his Hublot watch stolen. He later worked with Hublot to use his bruised face in an ad campaign with the tag line, "See what people will do for a Hublot."[26]

In August 2021, Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic became a Hublot brand ambassador.[27][28]

On January 7, 2022, Hublot announced Chinese Pop Star Lay Zhang as the new Hublot Brand Ambassador. [29]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "LVMH to Buy Swiss Time". Toronto Star. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Weinstein, Bob (1 July 1996). "Timing is everything – watchmaker Carlo Crocco". Entrepreneur.
  3. ^ "Sofisti to resign as president of Swatch WorldWide". Jewelers' Circular Keystone. 18 October 2004. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  4. ^ "Hublot Arrives In Piazza di Spagna, At The Foot of the Finest Steps in Rome" (Press release). Hublot. 11 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Hublot With WISeKey To Fight Imitations". Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. 8 April 2008. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  6. ^ "Insider: Hublot Big Bang Unico Sang Bleu II. A Horological Multifaceted Wrist Sculpture". Watch Collecting Lifestyle. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Hublot Big Bang MECA-10 18K King Gold. Hands-on with the Newest Addition to the Big Bang MECA-10 Family". Watch Collecting Lifestyle. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Insider: Hublot Big Bang Unico GMT Titanium and Big Bang Unico GMT Carbon Fibre. Hands-on with a Very Practical GMT Watch". Watch Collecting Lifestyle. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Man Utd sponsor deal for Hublot". BBC News. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  10. ^ "Hublot Takes Its Guard For The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019" (Press release). Hublot. 29 May 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  11. ^ "Hublot appointed official F1 watchmaker". Formula 1. 13 March 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  12. ^ "New Watch Alert: Hublot F1 King Power Austin". R.G. Holland. October 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  13. ^ Hublot becomes Official Timekeeper for next two FIFA World Cups Archived 16 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine. 15 April 2010, FIFA. Accessed 14 June 2010.[failed verification]
  14. ^ "FT App Wins Award". News on News. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  15. ^ "Hublot becomes Ferrari's official timekeeper". Toried. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  16. ^ "Hublot-Ferrari Tour Continues To Hong Kong". R.G. Holland. October 2012. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  17. ^ "Hublot Appointed Official Watch of UEFA EURO 2012". The Watch Review Site. March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  18. ^ "Hublot partner The Swiss Confederation". The Watch Review Site. April 2012. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  19. ^ "Hublot Oceanographic 4000 King Gold White". The Watch Review Site. June 2012. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  20. ^ "Hublot forms a connection with the Archaeological Museum of Athens". The Watch Review Site. April 2012. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  21. ^ "Hublot Partners With the World Baseball Softball Confederation" (Press release). Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  22. ^ "Scuderia ferrari official partners". Ferrari. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Hublot and Usain Bolt celebrate opening" (Press release). Hublot. 29 September 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  24. ^ Clark, Imogen. "Samuel Ross announced as new Hublot ambassador". The Glass Magazine. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  25. ^ Kevin (1 December 2010). "Hublot Announces Jet Li as Legendary Brand Ambassador". Watches Trends. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  26. ^ "Bernie Ecclestone mugging image in advert 'insensitive'". BBC News. 8 December 2010.
  27. ^ "Novak Djokovic, A New Hublot Ambassador" (Press release). Hublot. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  28. ^ "Novak Djokovic becomes new Hublot ambassador" (Press release). LVMH. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  29. ^ "Lay Zhang, A New Hublot Ambassador" (Press release). Hublot. 7 January 2022.
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