Expedition Hublot

A peek into the manufacture at Hublot reveals the amount of intricacies and technology behind the often quirky watches

- DANIEL GOH

In an industry where tradition often takes precedence over experimentation, Hublot is an outlier. The brand is proud that its claim to fame began when it started 'fusing' unorthodox materials together. Over the decades, Hublot went from combining gold cases with rubber straps to fusing materials at a molecular level, resulting in some neverbefore-seen watches within the industry. Today Hublot is the only brand that can offer a watch case made with nigh unscratchable gold, and ceramic and sapphire ones with colours that no other brand has managed to achieve. Hublot is more science lab than watch manufacture so when Hublot invited me behind the scenes to tour its facilities, how could I refuse?

ART OF FUSION REDUX

The last time I was at the doors of the Hublot manufacture in Nyon, Switzerland was in 2016. I remember it because it was the first manufacture I visited as a fresh-faced journalist, and the building I was standing in front of had just been inaugurated in late 2015. At the time, this was a major indicator of the brand’s success. Because, consider this, it was in 2008 that the LVMH group acquired Hublot and in 2009 it opened the first building which was around 6,000sqm. To then need a new 8,000sqm building, not six years later, more than doubling the size of their facilities...if that is not a sign of success, I do not know what is.

At the time, all of this flew over my head, but now, with a little more experience, I realise that the reason for this expansion was the Unico movement. In 2010, they made the manufacture movement, Unico, and with ‘in-house’ being the buzzword it still currently is, it was no wonder that Jean-Claude Biver wanted this expansion to focus on making these movements. I mean, the former Hublot supremo's foresight is practically the reason behind Hublot’s Art of Fusion, not to mention why Blancpain is still around today and why James Bond only wears Omega.