The Swiss Luxury Wristwatch brand, Hublot, was established in 1980 by an Italian – Carlo Crocco. The brand came into being after its founder defied his family’s expectations and exited his uncle’s company to begin working on his own ambitions.
After he resigned from Binda Group in 1976, Carlo relocated to Switzerland and after a while, he set out to put all he had learned working at his uncle’s company to use. After a season of strategizing, he began to work on a wristwatch that he was going to name the Hublot when it was done. This name was coined after the French word for “porthole.” It took three years of intense research and work, but in 1980, the first certified Hublot watches were ready to be seen by the world.
Brimming with excitement at what he had produced, Carlo took the wristwatch to the Basel watch fair that was held in 1980, and after a long day at the exhibition stands, he was unable to attract the attention of a single potential customer for his dear Hublot. This was arguably because of the unconventional style of the Hublot, or because its straps were made from rubber.
Not one to give up easily, Carlo kept at it, and after tweaking his strategy a bit, the Hublot brand experienced its first major boom in the market of luxury wristwatches. By the end of its first year of operations, the Hublot brand had amassed over $2 million as profits.
This, however, did not come without a fight.
Because Switzerland was known to be home to other bigger and more established luxury watch producers at the time, passion and perseverance were required of the young Hublot brand. Throughout the 1980s, Hublot’s sales team had to do a lot of work in the areas of campaigning and marketing to get people to trust them and invest huge sums in patronizing them.
As sales steadily began to climb in the early 1990s, Carlo and Hublot stuck to what they had produced, with a few adjustments made on occasion. During this boom, notable dignitaries including Elton John and Giorgio Armani patronized the brand.
Unfortunately, this was not to last.
In the early 2000s, Hublot’s sales began to take a downward spiral. After careful examination, Carlo decided that it was time to seek out someone else who was going to be an asset to the company and allow for some fresh ideas and expert insight.
After careful analysis, Jean-Clade Biver came aboard Hublot’s managerial team as the CEO in 2004. Already a sage in the business (as he had formerly been the President at Swatch Group’s Omega Division), Jean’s entrance into the company became an advantage for Hublot.
In 2005, under his careful watch and administration, Hublot launched the “Big Bang” series, and it was a big bang indeed. These exotic and breathtaking wristwatches were a delight to as many as saw them, and once again, sales at Hublot went through the roof.
Since then, Hublot has manufactured many wristwatches and has comfortably positioned itself as one of the leading luxury watch brands in the world today, winning multiple awards, and becoming a delight of celebrities and elites.
Just like expensive Gucci products, Hublot wristwatches aren’t for those with a slim budget.