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| Type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1980 |
| Headquarters | Nyon Switzerland |
| Key people | Carlo Crocco (founder) Jean-Claude Biver (CEO and minority shareholder since 2004) |
| Industry | Watchmaking |
| Products | Wristwatches |
| Revenue | $133.8 million (2008) |
| Website | www.hublot.ch |
Hublot is a Swiss enterprise creating luxury watches and founded in 1980 by Carlo Crocco.
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History
In 1980, Carlo Crocco created the Hublot watch in gold fitted with the first natural black rubber strap in the history of watchmaking. It took 3 years of research to create the strap. The watch proved to be a market success and laid the basis for the watch manufacture.
In the mid-90s, rubber became the focus of interest for watchmaking brands. Hublot remains one of the last independent family-run watchmaking businesses with a unique mono-product concept. Hublot was able to preserve its personality and extend its range to include an array of collections, some featuring sports complications and limited editions. In 2008, Hublot agreed a sponsorship deal with the football club Manchester United, worth £4 million a year.
The Jean-Claude Biver era
Carlo 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 the man who could oversee his watchmaking business. In late 2003, Jean-Claude Biver met Carlo Crocco, and in May 2004, Jean-Claude Biver assumed his duties as CEO, becoming a board member and minority shareholder in Hublot watches.
Subsidiaries
Hublot owns two subsidiaries, one in the United States and the other in Japan. It continues to produce "Classic" watches in parallel to the "Big Bang" collection. The number of pieces produced stood at 24,000 in 2007 and is estimated to reach 30,000 in 2008.
With the arrival of Jean-Claude Biver in 2004, the brand's sales hit 24 million Swiss francs. By the end of 2006, sales were bordering on the 100 million Swiss franc mark.
The brand has grown since the arrival of Jean-Claude Biver and forecasts show sales of 150 million for the end of 2007 and 220 million for 2008. A new manufacture is planned for the beginning of 2009.
Hublot stores
In February 2007, Hublot opened its first mono-brand store in Paris, in the Rue Saint-Honoré. The second was opened in the summer, in the Hôtel Byblos, Saint-Tropez.
Hublot WiseKey
At BaselWorld 2009, Hublot released a new way to detect counterfeit watches. Using a WiseKey smart card the system authenticates watches on Hublot's servers. It will appear in August of 2009.
Head models
In less than a year, Jean-Claude Biver set up a new collection that was presented in Basel in April 2005, with the Hublot "Big Bang" chronograph. It was an immediate success and the 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.
References
External links
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