The History of Hublot Geneve

Hublot is constantly praised as an incredibly innovative watchmaker. In 1980 Carlo Crocco created the Hublot watch featuring a gold case and natural rubber strap. For the first time in the history of watchmaking, a precious material – gold – was combined with rubber. It became an inspiration to many manufacturers worldwide. Up to now, major Swiss companies and other renowned watchmakers around the world are still manufacturing the design.

In the mid-90s, rubber became the focus of interest of the leading watchmaking brands, thus validating the choices that led to the creation of Hublot watches. As far as the brand is concerned, rubber is not a fashion phenomenon, but rather the embodiment of its philosophy and brand image from the beginning. Thus, in May 2004, Jean-Claude Biver took up his position as CEO, becoming board member and minority shareholder in Hublot watches. He had many ideas for developing the brand.

Under the leadership of its new CEO, Hublot revisited its founding principles: Jean-Claude Biver relaunched the “The Art of Fusion” concept - this meant the fusion of unusual materials such as gold and ceramic, tantalum and red gold, or even magnesium and titanium. This also applied to the fusion between the Swiss Watchmaking Tradition and 21st century Watchmaking Art.

The Hublot Big Bang and Beyond

As time moved on, various models of the Big Bang have been developed, presenting watchmaking complications: Tourbillon, Big Date, Power Reserve Indicator and Split Seconds. The Fusion concept has been pushed to the limit in the quest for unusual materials and alloys. The model comes in a choice of two sizes: 41 or 44 mm in diameter. In 2007 a new "diver" Big Bang was launched — this was the third version in terms of its size: the Big Bang King was given an oversized case measuring 48 mm, but which adapts remarkably well to slender and large wrists alike!

For Hublot, October 2007 was a time of innovation. The watchmaker launched its first watch entirely manufactured in-house. The Mag Bang was designed and developed in a new light alloy made mainly of aluminum and magnesium (Ag5 alloy). This material was used to manufacture the movement and case of this new model.

Since then Hublot has continued to innovate in the areas of construction and materials but also in marketing. CEO Jean-Claude Biver has been quite a force in promoting Hublot, as he defines it, with "concentration in diversity". In other words, going where potential clients can be found. He invests a lot of energy in sponsoring and partnership activities in various fields. These include sailing and the nautical world, golf, polo, skiing, motor racing, tennis, track and field, basketball and football (or soccer to Americans).