Hublot's Strategic Shift: Focusing on Watchmaking Fundamentals
Hublot is undergoing a strategic recalibration, shifting its focus from high-impact marketing and collaborations towards a renewed emphasis on watchmaking fundamentals, product development, and internal structure. This move aims to enhance the brand's perception as a serious watchmaker, building upon its past successes while refining its approach to mechanical excellence and finishing.
- Hublot is shifting focus to watchmaking fundamentals.
- The brand aims to improve perception of its mechanical excellence and finishing.
- The Unico movement is being brought to the forefront with increased finishing.
- Hublot is extending its warranty to a five-plus-five year offer.
CEO Julien Tornare describes Hublot's past two decades as one of the biggest successes in the watch industry, characterized by rapid growth, pushing materials, embracing size, and entering cultural spaces.
The previous strategy led to associations with impact over depth, with mechanical excellence often overlooked.
The current phase emphasizes 'fundamentals,' including engineering, finishing, quality control, and after-sales commitment, without abandoning creativity, material experimentation, or collaborations.
The latest generation of the Big Bang collection, specifically the Big Bang Reloaded, is intended to place the Unico movement at the center of the conversation, with significantly increased finishing.
The HUB1280 Unico movement, developed in-house since 2010, is a flyback chronograph featuring a dial-side column wheel, silicon escapement, 354 components, 43 jewels, a frequency of 4Hz, and five patented innovations.
Chief Product Officer Sadry Keiser views the Unico caliber as a strong internal benchmark for product development.
The extended warranty, moving from two-plus-one to five-plus-five years (with an option to extend through the Hublotista community), is seen by Keiser as a visible part of a new operating discipline, reflecting confidence in the watches' longevity.