Hublot ambassador Maxime Plescia-Büchi. © Hublot SA

Hublot is celebrated for being the most pioneering and original brand in the world of haute horlogerie. The first watch brand to sponsor international football, the first watch company to make an all-black watch with black dial, numbers and hands, the company famously mixes precious and base metals and materials in its timepieces, and counts sports stars and athletes on its roster of fans. Its partnership with London-based Swiss tattoo haute artiste Maxime Plescia-Büchi takes luxury to a different dimension, as Millie Walton discovers through a conversation with CEO Ricardo Guadalupe

Next year Hublot will celebrate its fortieth anniversary. In the world of Swiss watches, that roughly equates to early adolescence, but, as Hublot’s chief executive Ricardo Guadalupe assures me, “You can be young and have success”. This, in fact, neatly sums up the brand’s aspirational ethos and hugely successful marketing strategy. Through select partnerships with the likes of Usain Bolt, Richard Orlinski, DJ Snake and Maria Höfl-Riesch, the brand has developed its own culture encompassing everything from music, sport, cars and contemporary art to luxury destinations such as Courchevel, Zermatt, Saint-Tropez and Mykonos. The idea is, as Guadalupe puts it, “to create a universe of Hublot”.

Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine

Today, the brand has 4.8 million followers on Instagram, which is not only reflective of their young consumer base – 60 per cent of Hublot’s customers are aged between 20 and 40 years old – but also the changing nature of luxury itself. “The young generation don’t have in mind which are the standard brands of [the luxury] industry. When you’re older, you’re less likely to move to another brand, your choices are already made,” explains Guadalupe. “That’s why we speak to very young consumers, as young as fifteen. We want them to one day dream of getting a Hublot watch.”

The Big Bang Sang Bleu II in titanium pavé

This forward-thinking approach is most clearly demonstrated in Hublot’s choice of collaborations and specifically, the brand’s decision to associate with the art world and notable figures from contemporary urban culture such as renowned tattoo artist and designer Maxime Plescia-Büchi who has now been collaborating with the brand for just over four years. “I think they really took a chance on me at every level,” says Plescia-Büchi, but as a Swiss national, watches were already an integral part of the designer’s identity well before Hublot came along. He recalls flicking through adverts for early luxury sports watches in his collection of vintage National Geographic magazines and even once interviewed Jean-Claude Biver (the former president of LVMH Watches and chairman of Hublot) for an issue of a magazine that he was then running. Nevertheless, receiving an invitation to design the iconic Big Bang must have been exciting.

Plescia-Büchi at work on the Big Bang Sang Bleu

“I prepared some quite radical designs alongside some more conservative options,” says Plescia-Büchi, reflecting on the design process of his first timepiece, the Big Bang Sang Bleu. ‘To [Hublot’s] credit, it was 100 per cent their decision to go with the weirder one.” With a few adjustments – “we had a lot to do in terms of translating how to make [the 2D design] into a watch” – the timepiece launched in 2016 with an initial run of 200 pieces. Crafted largely from glass and titanium, the Big Bang Sang Bleu was a celebration of pure form and geometry, taking influences from architecture, philosophy and Plescia-Büchi’s own tattoo designs. The original idea was to feature the geometric pattern printed onto the watch face with the hands on top, but the designer envisioned more depth and suggested using the shapes as the hands themselves. Given the delicate art of watchmaking, the final version, which features three octagonal discs instead of hands to indicate the hours and minutes, is a huge achievement. “Seeing the watch finished,” Plescia-Büchi admits, “was the closest thing to having a child.”

Read more: Princess Yachts CEO Antony Sheriff on a new generation of yachting

Hublot’s collaborators, unlike with a lot of brands, work with the watchmaker on an ongoing basis, thus becoming an integral part of the brand’s identity. For the Big Bang Sang Bleu II, which was released at the end of 2019, for example, Plescia-Büchi refined the original design to create a more three-dimensional case and inverted the facets to restore Hublot’s iconic porthole shape. “It’s about combining my DNA and Hublot’s DNA to create something new that is also true and faithful to both of the origins,” says Plescia-Büchi. “Something that I find extremely pleasant is that when you’re designing watches you work over many years on slow incremental changes, which is actually quite akin to designing tattoos. You get time to continue improving the design, which is different from designing fashion, for example, because you have a quicker turnover. You can come up with something crazy and the next season, people will have already forgotten.”

The Big Bang Sang Bleu II in gold

The designer was, in fact, approached by another watch brand before Hublot but declined the opportunity: “It wasn’t the level of prestige where I thought I could be”. Though fifteen years ago, Hublot might not have made the cut. Success truly came from the brand when they started “to connect tradition and innovation,” explains Guadalupe, a concept that is at the heart of Hublot’s universe and rooted in a deep understanding of their consumers’ expectations and lifestyles. “The young generation in particular are looking for something iconic with a strong personality and identity,” says Guadalupe. “For men, especially, a watch is the main way to really differentiate yourself, it expresses who you are.” Part of the appeal of buying a Hublot watch is gaining access to the ‘family’ and all the perks that come with it. Football-loving collectors, for example, are invited to all of the games at Chelsea FC with whom Hublot has an ongoing partnership. Indeed, Hublot was the first luxury watch brand to ever support football, again demonstrating a deep understanding of consumer culture as well as a highly innovative marketing strategy. Since 2008, the brand has been the official timekeeper of all of the UEFA men’s European Championships as well as the FIFA World Cup since 2010, and this year, marks the beginning of the brand’s relationship with UEFA’s women’s football.

When it comes to women’s watches, Hublot is still developing – the brand sells only 25 per cent to women – but their approach is unique in the sense that their designs differ very little for the female audience. With the Sang Bleu timepieces, for example, the ladies’ versions are embellished with diamonds, but otherwise remain the same. Look for a women’s collection on the Hublot website and you won’t find it; the watches are listed only by their collection. “It’s no longer men who buy watches for women as gifts. Women decide to buy whatever they want,” says Guadalupe.

Hublot x Women’s Football

Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA President & Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot’s CEO

Over the past few years, women’s football has increased significantly in popularity with US-based data company Nielsen revealing that approximately 314 million people are now interested in the game. It is perhaps no surprise then, that Hublot recently announced its support, becoming the Official Partner of the Women’s EURO 2021. “In the end [football] talks to the consumer. It doesn’t matter that not everyone can afford to buy a luxury watch, if they know Hublot is a watch that’s positive,” says Ricardo Guadalupe. But the partnership works both ways. As Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director of UEFA Events SA, puts it, Hublot’s presence as a world-famous brand is “proof women’s football can be supported on its own merits”.

Find out more: hublot.com

This article was originally published in the Summer 2020 Issue.

The Big Bang Unico Teak Italia Independent, only 100 of which were made

Hublot is fusing smart technology with sleek design to enthral a new generation of customers. Jason Barlow reports

Hublot is enjoying a renaissance. A renaissance that began with four weeks in the global spotlight this June, its prominence during the most compelling football World Cup in a generation exposing this most quixotic of watch brands to a huge new audience.

Inspiring an allegiance between a brand and a client is way more complicated than simply (expensively) forging a partnership with the world’s biggest football tournament, Formula One, or any number of individual ambassadors. Clearly, it helps. But it also helps when the brand in question has something genuinely interesting to say. There are lodestar names in the world of haute horology – Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet – and there are arrivistes, upstarts. Too many to name, in fact, and each freighted with a different set of promises. But certain attributes rise above the rest. Innovation. An engineered aestheticism. Authenticity. This last one is a cornerstone of the entire luxury edifice, and takes time to establish.

Follow LUX on Instagram: the.official.lux.magazine

Some get there with incredible rapidity: to take an example from a parallel world, Bugatti began making cars in 1909, artisanal Italian supercar maker Pagani only in 1992. The latter’s cars are the Fabergé eggs of the automotive sphere, precious beyond belief, Pagani’s connection with its clients the ne plus ultra of the car world. Or think of the Marchesi Antinori winery, whose classic Chianti production spans an incredible 26 generations, all the way back to 1385. An astonishing HQ in Bargino, Tuscany, acts as a temple to Antinori’s status and relentless ambition.

Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe and Jean- Claude Biver, head of watchmaking at LVMH

Hublot made its debut in 1980, but has navigated its way to a position of formidable brand power. In 2017, it enjoyed a record year, with a growth in sales of 12 percent, against an industry-wide backdrop of reduced revenues. How has it achieved this? CEO Ricardo Guadalupe’s approach is a fascinating one to dissect. “At Hublot, we strive to have technology at the service of the aesthetics,” he explains. “For us, it is not a battle but a right mix to find.”

I ask Guadalupe to delineate the brand’s ambassador strategy.

“Firstly, we go where our clients are! We continuously focus on our customers, we elaborate our partnerships in accordance with the interests of our clients, to better suit their needs and their expectations. Football, cars, art and music are such areas where our customers are.

Read more: Moynat unveils new collection of bags in London

“We are partnered with FIFA and UEFA, which are the two most important organisations in the football universe. And with Ferrari, which is certainly the most famous car brand in the world. We do things
according to our motto: ‘First, unique, different.’ When entering a new partnership, we always research to fuse our world with that of the ambassadors. What is important is that the potential ambassador is already a Hublot client and that he/she loves the brand. This really matters for us.”

Brand ambassador Usain Bolt

It’s sometimes tempting to think that many high-end brands are 70 percent marketing confections, 30 percent watch. Tuning this approach with the right sensitivity and science is something Guadalupe and his team are acutely aware of.

“We try to have the same strategy for all the countries in order to allow everybody to be part of the Hublot world,” he says. “But of course, we have some differences and some specificities for some markets. In China, we do not do print advertising, only digital. We also stage events around our boutiques or around the department stores where we are present. We have some ambassadors linked to their country: [pianist] Lang Lang is known all around the world but in China he is even more than a superstar.

“Our prices start from about £3,000 and we have a large selection at different prices. It means every person with a budget for a luxury watch can find his or her Hublot timepiece. Besides, we indeed think that we sell a dream, but it is not necessarily the most expensive watch. It is just about the emotion the client shares with their watch.”

The Big Bang Referee watch, to coincide with the 2018 World Cup

Entry points are moot. When former CEO of Hublot Jean-Claude Biver (now head of watchmaking at LVMH, to whom he sold the brand in 2008) decided to lower the barriers to TAG Heuer ownership to bring in the next generation of customers, it risked diluting its appeal to older, wealthier, arguably more discerning clients. Here, too, is another link with luxury brands beyond the watch world, and it had to be done. Ask any CEO in the automotive sector to outline the challenges they face, and high on the list will be reaching millennials. They simply don’t have the same relationship with cars that their parents did, partly because connectivity means something very different in 2018 than it did in 1988. The smartphone is the device that conquered the world, not always beneficently. So, how does Hublot tackle this challenge?

“As in the car, your first watch cannot be a Hublot,” Biver says in his typically forthright way. “You need some culture and knowledge, and most importantly you probably need to buy first one or two ‘classic’ or ‘traditional’ watches, before being ready for a disruptif and fusion watch.”

And what of the threat posed by so-called smart watches? Here, surely, is the item craved by millennials, at the expense of traditional watch-making.

“I am fully aligned with Mr Biver’s view,” says Guadalupe. “Smart watches should be considered as an advantage for the Swiss watchmaking industry because they conquer the wrist of people who weren’t wearing any watch. Moreover, one day, those young clients will also be interested in owning a piece of art on their wrist – and this is what we do.”

Hublot watches are still made in Switzerland

The brand collaborated with tattoo artist Maxime Büchi

Guadalupe also believes that Hublot’s very youth permits the disruption desiderated by so many brands, including some heritage names. It also liberates Hublot from the urge to simply reboot past successes. Instead of yet another tribute to something, he’s more interested in using new material, such as ceramic or sapphire. The partnership with Ferrari is emblematic of this approach: Hublot’s Techframe imports Ferrari’s expertise in advanced materials, to thrilling effect – how does titanium, King Gold or PEEK (polyether ether ketone) sound? Working with Italia Independent’s Lapo Elkann also maximises
the opportunity for what the fabulously flamboyant scion of the Agnelli family calls ‘contamination’. Tattoo artist Maxime Büchi has worked wonders there.

Read more: Château Mouton Rothschild supports restoration of Versailles

But back to connectivity, and Hublot’s unique manifestation of the concept.

“We created our first connected watch, the Big Bang Referee 2018 FIFA World Cup, as it was a specific need expressed by FIFA,” says Guadalupe. “Wanting a customised watch for the referees, FIFA asked Hublot to conceive the perfect watch to accompany them on the pitch during matches.

“Moreover, it was not possible to have all the necessary information on a mechanical watch, that is why we did a connected one. Nevertheless, it has all the attributes of the iconic Big Bang. Its emblematic architecture cut out of the lightness of titanium, its bezel decorated with six H-shaped screws, its Kevlar insert. Even the display on its analogue mode dial could pass for the same aesthetic as that of the automatic models. It is certainly a connected watch, but it is first and foremost a Hublot watch.”

Hublot’s ‘digital boutique’ launch in New York

Two other over-arching trends can’t be ignored. Firstly, does the resurgence of interest in ‘analogue’ – more vinyl records were sold in 2017 than any year since 1988 – favour Hublot?

“I think we must combine the two together,” says Guadalupe. “Digital is important and we must be into it if we want to keep in the era of time, but at Hublot, we keep thinking that it is important to merge tradition and innovation. It is not because we created a connected watch that we are forgetting the past. A key of our success is we are able to find the good balance between those elements.”

The other is the rise of ‘experiential luxury’, the realm that exists beyond the mere act of acquisition. This is a major preoccupation in the luxury world.

“Hublot is aware that the key asset of an excellent customer relationship is based on trust, availability and flexibility,” says Guadalupe. “We have innovatively imagined a ‘virtual’ digital boutique that perfectly complements the role and presence of its physical boutiques around the world. By remotely offering its customers 3D-facilitated access to its products, knowledge and knowhow, Hublot is successfully creating a new bespoke customer service, and preserving the essential denominator of any relationship – that is to say the human connection. It is a new customer experience that is beginning in the United States before being rolled out across the entire world.”

Hublot’s moment looks set to continue.

Discover Hublot’s collections: hublot.com

This article originally appeared in the LUX Beauty Issue. Click here to view more content from the issue.