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Hublot is one of the younger watches to have muscled its way to the top of the watch world. The credit of developing the Hublot watch goes to Carlo Crocco, a watchmaker born with watch making genes.
This young man wanted to shake the world with a design that was revolutionary, sporty and elegant, a design that would make the world sit up and take notice. He wanted to make a watch that could be worn both in elegant and informal situations. Amazingly, he chose a porthole, which in French is Hublot, to model his watch. His choice of materials was no less revolutionary. They ranged from finely brushed steel to gold.
Each part of the watch was unique, and Crocco spent hours designing it. The case was molded into shape over 160 hours; and specially made titanium screws were used to anchor the bezel to the case.
The story of the strap was no less fascinating. Crocco did not want to use leather as he felt it was too fragile. Instead, he spent three years trying to fashion a strap from rubber. Most watchmakers were astounded at Crocco's choice of material, but Crocco was not deterred. He spent money and time on research to come up with a rubber strap that was supple, light and durable. Invisible steel inserts were used to give it extra toughness. The watch was showcased at the Basel Fair in 1980 amidst whispers and doubts. But it went on to be a sensation. Soon Crocco was flooded by orders from royalty and celebrities. The watch, and the watchmaker, had arrived. After that there was no looking back for Hublot watches. One watch after another was rolled out by the company during the nineties. Its most celebrated collections include the "Big Bang" line of watches which were made by the fusion of materials such as gold, ceramic rose gold, tantalum and rubber. The Elegant line that the company launched in 1995 was distinguished by its softer and rounded design while its Sports line of watches was inspired by a monoproduct concept that is unique to Hublot. Hublot also came up with an exquisite jewellery line of watches that were studded with diamonds and precious stones. Equally stunning was Hublot's art collection which was made of exquisite dials, splendid bas relief works and superb engravings. Hublot's latest innovation is the Bigger Bang Watch. It is the world's first tourbillon column-wheel chronograph. The watch has 262 components and the tourbillon is fitted with 33 rubies and a right bottom plate decorated in black gold. Given Crocco's penchant for the unusual we can expect several more revolutionary watches from Hublot.
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