Interviewed by Irina Malkova
Marco, just recently, at the official opening of the Hublot boutique in The Dubai Mall, you presented the Big Bang 10-th Anniversary diamond watch for $ 1 million, you first showed it to the world at an exhibition in Basel. Is this collection still one of your most successful?
Marco: This year we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of Big Bang. In 2005, we made the first watch in the style of high jewelery - One Million Dollar Big Bang - they were incredibly successful. Then we repeated, and so year after year we released new models from this line, each time trying to do something special.
In this model there is a caliber that we developed at our manufactory, and it is combined, as you see, with excellent diamonds. In the very first days of the exhibition in Basel, we sold all the models. Today, the global world is united by information channels, everyone uses Instagram and other social networks. Therefore, those who were interested very quickly learned about the new products and made their choice.
This year, if I'm not mistaken, you made only 10 of these models, and they are all already sold out?
Marco: This is not a problem, they can be ordered. The base remains unchanged, but we can, if the customer wishes, play with stones, with their shape and cut. The watch will be ready within three months - it takes about 400 hours to cut and set stones at our factory.
By the way, tell us about your famous manufactory in the city of Nyon in Switzerland.
Marco: Now our factory covers an area of about 6,000 square meters, but we are expanding production and increasing the number of jobs. Soon the second building will be opened, now we are finalizing all the documents - we will transfer some of our departments there during the summer period. Thus, we will have about 12,000 square meters.
Is it true that one of the watch models was inspired just by the design of your manufactory?
Marco: I wonder what you asked about it. Rather, the opposite happened. The design of our manufactory was inspired by the design of one of our watches. But the funny thing is that the model came out after the opening of the manufactory.
It's no secret that Hublot has pioneered the use of rubber for watchbands. The company spent a million dollars on the development of this technology, today you are selling a diamond watch for 1 million dollars!Marco: (Laughs.) In fact, rubber is still present even in our diamond watches. The strap is made of alligator leather and a rubber coating at the bottom. Today it is present in all of our models.
And how did the company even decide to use it? After all, before him, they mainly produced quartz watches with silicone bracelets.
Marco: Hublot founder Carlo Crocco decided on this in the 80s. He wanted to make a gold watch with a rubber strap. Everyone said that he was crazy, because gold is a noble material, and rubber is what? So, today you are unlikely to find a watch brand that does not use it.
And how did this idea come to him?
Marco: Mr. Crocco was a big fan of yachts and everything related to navigation. During one of his travels, he looked out the window of the porthole, round as the dial of a watch, and he came up with the idea to use rubber in the same way as it was used to tighten the porthole. By the way, in French "Hublot" is a porthole. Subsequently, Carlo spent a lot of money on various research and development of safe production - after all, the material had to be hypoallergenic due to constant contact with the skin.
Today, Hublot is firmly associated with the world of football and Formula 1 racing. What is more interesting for you personally?
Marco: Both. We became the first watch brand to become the official sponsor of the European Football Championship in 2008. In addition, special models of watches were created for the referees, which measured the duration of the match. Mr. Beaver said: football is a sport that millions watch, we should be everywhere - on TV, on streamers, in the photo. He was told that this is not our audience, we are a luxury brand, and football is a sport for the masses and not everyone can afford our watches. But Beaver was adamant. He replied: our customers also love football. Yes, they love luxury, but they also watch football. And this has become one of our most successful marketing strategies. Banners were constantly displayed on all channels of the world, which led to a significant increase in sales. Just imagine - within one hour, while the match lasts, 4 billion people see the inscription Hublot. To this day, we continue to support FIFA, and we will sponsor the World Cup in Russia in 2018 and in Qatar in 2022. We also support UEFA and will be attending the European Football Championship in France next year.
And your collaboration with Ferrari?
Marco: Hublot and Ferrari share exactly the same values - innovative technology and perfect design, so this is one of the most important partnerships for us. We are the official Ferrari watch house and cooperate with him around the world, we are present at all F1 races. We hold events together, for example, if the presentation of a new Ferrari model takes place, we are there, and if we launch a new watch, they come to us. There is a lot of synergy between us - for example, we can organize Ferrari test drives for our customers or invite them to the manufactory and give them a chance to try their hand at a professional racing simulator.
You will begin to sponsor the first commercial flights into space.
Marco: What a good idea! We are always open for cooperation related to technology. At the same time, we are also closely connected with the world of music. For example, at the Baselworld exhibition this year, we invited rock musicians, our old friends, to perform. To do this, a rock band was formed, a kind of fusion-band - Eric Carr, drummer from Kiss, Teddy "Zig Zag" from Guns'n'Roses, Sebastian Bach from Skid Row. By the way, they are not brand ambassadors, but simply our good friends who came to support us. But we have an official partnership with the Depech Mode group through a fundraising company for the Charity: water fund. And also a collaboration with Jay-Z, whose real name is Sean Carter, he decided to create his own brand of watches and for this he collaborated with every brand that he liked. Our last project is a collaboration with the Chinese pianist Lang Lang, one of the most brilliant pianists of our time.
Tell us how you work with Mr. Jean-Claude Beaver, chairman of Hublot and president of the watch division LVMH.
Marco: One day with Mr. Beaver is equal to three years of study at the university. He constantly shares his ideas with people, and everything he did in his life was a success. It is incredibly interesting to work with him. If you ask how to succeed in a particular field, he will teach you. This is the most valuable thing in the leader.
He also produces one of the best Swiss cheeses.
Marco: Every year he produces about 400 kilograms of cheese, which he does not sell. He simply distributes it to his friends and treats everyone who comes to visit him. He also opened his own TV channel - Hublot TB - about the life of the brand. We have more events than days of the year. This is a good way to show how the company lives.
And what are you most proud of this year?
Marco: Probably the highlight was the opening of our boutique at The Dubai Mall. We are also going to open boutiques in other countries of the region, and we have already appointed 5 new ambassadors in the Middle East, which we will announce in the near future. So this year we are waiting for a lot of interesting things.
