Hublot to focus on their ladies clientele

The brand, which made headlines worldwide with the spectacular launch of its Fifth Avenue boutique in New York City, is very interested in growing its women clientele, according to Marco Tedeschi, Regional Director – Middle East & Africa, Hublot, who in an exclusive interview with “Day & Night” magazine, also talks of its other recent products

Hublot, the Swiss luxury watchmaker founded in 1980, has in recent years worked on its Fusion concept, bringing a whole lot of innovative watches to the market, the latest of which are the Classic Fusion Berluti Collection and the Big Bang MECA-10 and the Big Bang Unico Sapphire All Black. The maison recently took off on a road show in the region with its Baselworld 2016 Novelties, with their first stop at Kuwait. Marco Tedeschi, with local partners Morad Yousuf Behbehani, hosted the two-part event and spoke to us on the role of brand ambassadors and partners in the recent years. 

Can you tell us how the relationship between Hublot and Behbehani Group started?
Behbehani is one of Hublot’s oldest partners dating back to the 1980s. My personal relationship with the family is also really strong. My father has known the family for nearly 40 years. I regard them as one of our best partners in the Middle East, as it is a family business and the owners are very hands-on with the business.

Can you elaborate on how the launch of your New York boutique, considered to be the biggest boutique launch of the year, came about?
The New York boutique is one of the biggest flagship boutiques for Hublot. It is more than a boutique; we call it The Hublot Building. It was designed by the famous architect, Peter Marino. For a brand to have a flagship boutique on the Fifth Avenue within eleven years is a big achievement that brands dream about.

Why did the brand choose two such energetic personalities such as Pele and Usain Bolt for the opening?
We consider them part of the Hublot family. It was very nice of Usain to participate as he is training for the Olympics and is not doing any public appearances but, over the years, he has become a very good friend of Hublot and is of course our brand ambassador. It was a very good opportunity for us to launch the new Big Bang Unico Usain Bolt. We also had Carlos Fuente Jr. and the architect Peter Marino as our guests for the ribbon cutting. We had a lot of American celebrities that came in for the evening party that we hosted in the Guggenheim Museum. Even our choice of a locale for the party was unusual as we had it inside a museum; we almost turned the museum into a nightclub, with performances by Wyclef Jeanand Swizz Beatz. It was a big deal for the brand.

How much was Usain’s input for the Big Bang Unico Usain Bolt?
Actually, he is very involved in our products. He has very good taste and is very trendy. His input was very important to us and helped us create something very different. The Big Bang Bolt is one of my favourites in the Geneva Days Collection.

How and why did the design of the Big Bang Sang Bleu, which is very different from the usual Hublot watch, get approved?
This was a very special project and Maxime Büchi, the tattoo artist, was very involved in the development of this project. As a brand and as a manufacturer, it was extremely challenging, because it is a new and unique way of indicating time. There are no hands on the dial and it is the discs that tell the time. We had to create a new movement for only 200 pieces. We could not use any of our existing movements. We used the UNICO movement, but to use it without a chronograph, we had to modify it completely. We might bring out more versions of this watch using the same movement in the future.

When can we expect a ladies version of the Pele and Usain Bolt?
The next model of the Sapphire will be in the next year’s collection. We are also working on a new colour of Sapphire. Sapphire for us is not a one-shot watch; we are planning an entire collection based on it. The material is quite interesting to work on products for women. We are also working on improving our process and you can expect a Sapphire next year.

Will Hublot continue to concentrate on women’s offerings as it has been doing for a few years now?
We are at present selling 35 per cent of our products to women, but this only the sale of women’s watches, but we also have ladies buying men’s models. Including that, women constitute nearly 40 to 45 per cent of our customers. The ladies clientele is very important for Hublot and by having capsule collections such as the Jeans, the Linen, and the Broderie, we ensure that our women clientele can look different, especially with the Big Bang Linen Tutti Frutti in very bright colours and very good pricing. This is something that works well for the brand.

Can you tell us how the men’s collections are doing in comparison with the ladies’ collections?
Since 2008 when we launched the first Tutti Frutti collection, the sales of our ladies’ collections have become more and more important. It is imperative that we maintain our appeal to women, therefore, most of our ladies’ products are limited editions and this allows us to create something novel and new. This year, in Geneva, we launched the Big Bang One Click 39mm that has the strap change system. We will, in the future, be able to redo some editions within the Big Bang One Click. I think it is more important in women’s watches to change the strap because they like to match their watches with their clothes or accessories.

Will you be using the Big Bang MECA-10, which was made in-house and is so unique, in other watches later?
When we decided to create the MECA-10, we were also thinking of the future evolution of the movement. It was not designed as a one-shot product; the base is very strong and has a ten-day power reserve and, in its conception, we planned to have a complication on it. Like the Unico Collection, we will also have a MECA-10 collection someday and offer different complications to our clients.