Hublot plays the field
Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO of Hublot, talks to “Day & Night” magazine on the marque’s partnerships in sports, new watches inspired by sports and arts, as well as where the future of the brand lies…
How did Hublot’s partnership with FIFA, which is such a big scoop in the watch industry, begin?
Hublot’s relationship with football started in 2006, when we partnered with the Swiss National Team, after that it was with the UEFA in 2008 for the Euro Cup when Michel Platini was the UEFA President. He introduced us to Mr Blatter, who was then president of FIFA, after which, in 2008, we negotiated our sponsorship of the 2010 edition of FIFA.
What can we expect from Hublot in connection with your third sponsorship of FIFA this year?
We kicked off our FIFA events with the recent Match of Friendship at Basel. We had an interesting group of football legends – such as Maradona, José Mourinho, and Usain Bolt who loves football – over for the event. We are also unveiling a smartwatch that we have conceived for the referees. In fact, the request for this watch came from FIFA two years ago. They said that they would like to have a watch for the referees, and being the official timekeeper of FIFA, we agreed to work with them. As we have TAG Heuer, with its Connected, and LVMH in our group, we decided to use the existing basic module technology and add applications that we needed, such as the Referee application, and the World Cup app that has all the information on the event in Russia. We then added the Big Bang Unico case bracelet to this; we are making a limited edition of 2018 pieces only of this watch – the Connected Big Bang Referee watch.
How did the idea of making such a completely different smartwatch as the Referee 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia with the unique strap come up?
At Hublot, our aim is to be first, unique, or different. In this case, there were other brands that have launched connected watches, so we had to think of how we could be different. We came up with the idea of using the one-click system for changing the strap and to create the case, bracelet, and buckle up to the usual Hublot standards, while also positioning the price. It is probably the most expensive smartwatch as we have given value to the watch. We are not in the business of making smartwatches, but sometimes we do projects that make people talk about the brand. That watch is creating a huge buzz on the internet, so it is good for the brand.
Do you think the fact that a lot of brand aficionados may not be able to get a watch would make them angry?
This is the same as limited editions of watches; the idea of making 200 or 500 watches is that not everybody can get it. It is always important to keep the supply less than the demand; this of course frustrates people, but that is part of the game.
How has the feedback been for the Magic Red as I have noticed that while some people love it, others do not like it at all?
It is always good when we get both reactions – people either loving it or not at all, you are not in the middle. The colour red does segment a little bit as you cannot wear red all the time. We know that other brands have been trying to achieve this deep red hue; we have done this after four years of research and development. We were able to get the right formula for manufacturing the red ceramic so that even when we heat the ceramic, the pigments don’t get burnt and we are able to get this vibrant red. After many years of intense research, we found a solution between heat and pressure that we have patented. This may even open new horizons in ceramic work, which is very important. After this, we can bring a Touch of Red or Big Bang Red Magic – some people are going to love it; it may not be our bestseller but it will be successful, and a talking piece.
As Hublot has now brought out sapphire watches that are fully transparent – including the base – where do you see sapphire watches going in the future?
Yes, it would be difficult to do more in sapphire; we are the first and, right now, the only brand that has industrialised the production of sapphire watches. In the process, we have made sapphire watches slightly more affordable; it is still very expensive at CHF60,000 or CHF70,000. Also, the look of the watch is unbelievable. Now we are working on coloured sapphires – we already have watches in blue and red sapphire, as well as pink sapphire for the ladies. We are now working on green sapphire; this is even more difficult to produce as there is some problem with the pigment. There are possibilities to explore colour in sapphires, and I believe that sapphire will be a trend for a few more years.
How has the feedback been for the sapphire watches for ladies?
It has been less successful than the men’s watches; when we unveiled the pink watch, we decided to also bring out a sapphire edition for the ladies, which would be a limited edition. Our best watch for ladies is the Sang Bleu ladies’ version that we released recently; it has been a huge success. Of course, the sapphire watch is more exclusive because of the price positioning.
Were you surprised by the success of the Sang Bleu when it came out?
I was incredibly surprised; I was questioning myself as to whether it would work, but the response has been great and we are still coming out with new versions because of the high demand. Now we are experiencing a similar success with our Orlinski watch, which is like putting a piece of art on your wrist. This shows the path that the watch industry should take – our future is to realise pieces of art that you can wear.
What is the criteria by which Hublot chooses its ambassadors from the various fields?
They should be iconic personalities in the field that they are performing in – Usain Bolt dominates athletics, Maradona is a football legend as is Pele. They should also have a good chemistry with people and our brand – similar philosophies and ideas. There is no scientific approach; it matters that when we meet our ambassadors, we vibe well with them. In the case of Usain Bolt, I met his manager and realised our visions matched and so we should work together. I met Orlinski in Paris at a party and we started talking, so it is all a part of life. If I have to study someone to see if it would work, then that person is not for Hublot. For us, it is instinct and empathy that matters.
How do you improve upon the very visible presence at all the major events that Hublot now enjoys? Is there any scope?
Our two pillars of partnership are football and Ferrari. After that, we are trying to bring in other sports, such as golf. We will explore more of golf worldwide, with a focus on certain consumers such as the Americans and the Chinese. We are exploring the world of art with Orlinski and Sang Bleu; the world of music with Depeche Mode and Lang Lang, the pianist. We try to explore different worlds because the world today is very global and our consumers are active in numerous fields – they may go from a Formula 1 to buy a Ferrari or watch a game of football or golf, and everywhere they go, they see Hublot. For them, Hublot is part of their world, so it would be normal for them to have a Hublot watch on their wrist because they want to be a part of this world.
How does it feel when you come out with a perfect watch, such as the Big Bang Unico Golf?
Of course, you feel great; it is not just the Big Bang Unico Golf watch, but anytime I see anyone wearing a Hublot watch, I feel honoured. I feel proud that we have created something that is so good that this person went to a boutique and purchased that watch. In case of partnerships in the world of golf, when we wanted to enter the golf world in 2005, it was very competitive and we couldn’t. After 10 years, we realised that we are a big brand now and could do it, but we wanted to have a different approach. That is why we came up with the idea of creating a mechanical golf watch – something that no one had attempted before – a watch dedicated to that sport. It was a great idea to have something that counts the strokes; we also had to work on the lightness and the aesthetics of the watch. Now, we are building a team of ambassadors in the field, such as Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Patrick Reed, Alex Noreen, etc. We are building a team of legends and good players that will be part of the Hublot family.
Is the Art of Fusion going to bring out the steel that will not scratch anytime soon?
Not yet; we are working on different projects, mostly on ceramics. There is a lot more that can be done in ceramics – new materials and aesthetics – at this point. We do have a project on steel, but nothing yet.
