Hublot Watches
1980, Carlo Crocco founds his own company and creates the Hublot watch in gold. It is fitted with the first natural black rubber strap in the history of watchmaking.
In the mid-90s, rubber became the focus of interest for the top watchmaking brands. Hublot remains one of the last independent family-run watchmaking businesses with a unique mono-product concept. Around this material, Hublot extends its range to include a vast array of collections, some featuring sports complications.
Late 2003, Carlo Crocco, preoccupied by his own design work and many activities for the Hand-in-Hand Foundation, a charity helping deprived children all around the world, is looking for his successor. He meets Jean-Claude Biver.
May 2004, Jean-Claude Biver assumes his duties as CEO. He reinvents the DNA of Hublot by going back to its roots. Jean-Claude Biver relaunches the "Fusion" concept, the Fusion of sometimes unlikely materials such as gold and ceramic, tantalum and pink gold, and even magnesium and titanium, and the Fusion between the Swiss Watchmaking Tradition and the Watchmaker Art in the 21st century, all the while preserving the unique, timeless design of Hublot watches.
In April 2005, Jean-Claude Biver sets up a new collection that is presented in Basel with the Hublot "Big Bang" chronograph, an illustration of the Fusion concept. It scoops the "2005 Design Prize", the "Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix", the "Sports Watch Prize" at the "Watch of the Year" ceremony in Japan, and the Middle Eastern Prize for the "Best Oversized Watch" at the Editor Choice "Watch of the Year" in Bahrain.