Nyon, Switzerland

Hublot

Partially verified

Swiss luxury watches using rubber straps and precious metals

History

The company was founded in 1980 by Italian Carlo Crocco, who named the business Hublot after the French word for porthole.

Crocco established MDM Geneve and revolutionized the industry by combining a precious-metal watch case with a natural rubber strap. Jean-Claude Biver joined the firm in 2004 as CEO and minority shareholder, steering the brand toward rapid international expansion and flagship product success. In April 2008, the luxury group LVMH acquired the company from its founder and management team to incorporate it into their portfolio.

The brand established its own manufacture in Nyon in 2009 and has since continued to expand its production facilities.

The extended history summarises the open references listed under Sources; each statement was checked against the cited passage. Confirm key dates in period documents before relying on them.

Current watchmaking & later fate

As of 2024, the company operates under the leadership of Julien Tornare within the LVMH luxury conglomerate.
Their product catalog includes notable collections such as the Big Bang and Classic Fusion lines.

As stated in the references listed under Sources, retrieved 2026-11-03. Ownership and collections change; check the maker's own announcements for the latest position.

Key models

Big Bang: Introduced in 2005, this flagship chronograph became a successful collection for the brand.
Classic Fusion: This collection is produced in both three-hand and chronograph versions.
Oceanographic 4000: Released in 2012, this diver's watch is certified water resistant to 4,000 metres.

Major innovations

The brand pioneered the use of natural rubber straps in luxury timepieces to complement precious metal cases.
Hublot developed proprietary movements including the Unico chronograph and Meca-10 calibres for their timepieces.
In 2009, the brand introduced the WISeKey system to authenticate watches and detect counterfeits using smart cards.

Known markings

The company name Hublot is prominently used as the primary trademark.

Serial numbers

No serial-number system for this maker is recorded in the cited references.

Collecting significance

The catalogued pieces listed on this page show the kinds of objects auction houses, dealers and museums attribute to this maker; each attribution is the source's own.

In the object catalogue

5 catalogued objects are recorded under Hublot. Attributions are as given by each source and are not independent authentication.

Hublot 'Not For Sale' Service WatchQuartz wristwatch
Hublot Big Bang Ayrton Senna Split-Second ChronographSplit-second chronograph · 2008
Hublot Big Bang Limited Edition ChronographChronograph wristwatch · circa 2010
Hublot Big Bang Unico Bi-Retrograde Guangzhou Evergrande FCBi-retrograde chronograph · circa 2015
Hublot Big Bang, Reference 341.SX.130.RX.114 Chronograph WristwatchChronograph

Diagram

Schematic: plate and bridge layout. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

Hublot, Wikipedia (English), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
Hublot, Wikipedia (German), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
Jean-Claude Biver, Wikipedia (German), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)
Hublot (entreprise), Wikipedia (French), retrieved 2026-11-03 (text CC BY-SA 4.0)

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.