Feature: Why Footballers Are Hooked On Hublot

Look on the wrist of an elite footballer when they’re in their civvies and there’s a good chance they’re wearing a Hublot. It’s become as much of a footballing cliché as living in a mock Tudor mansion and commenting that it was a “game of two halves.”

Some luxury watches have sport embedded in their DNA. The polo field origins of Jaeger-LeCoultre's Reverso, for example, or the racing-inspired TAG Heuer Formula 1. Hublot are left wanting in that department, having only been around since 1980. But what they did have was the marketing genius of their larger-than-life former CEO Jean-Claude Biver, a man whose speech is punctuated with exuberant table-thumping and the wild gesticulations of an Italian air-traffic controller.

The Big Cheese

Former Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver

An iconoclast whose hobby is making cheese – you know he likes you when he gives you a wheel of his fine gruyere – Biver joined Hublot in 2004 having previously revived a dormant Blancpain and sprinkled his magic dust on Omega, TAG Heuer and Zenith.

Now retired but still an Hublot shareholder, he’s a man who knows how to drum up publicity.

Among other things, he’s the reason why James Bond now wears an Omega Seamaster, despite the character’s previous associations with Rolex (and to a certain extent, Seiko). And he enhanced his God-like aura in the industry by conjuring up the name ‘Big Bang’, Hublot’s flagship series.

In The Spotlight

Biver knew how to get Hublot, a relatively young brand, into the spotlight. Along with founder Carlo Crocco he ripped up the watch etiquette book, dispensing with the unwritten rule that gold watches could never be paired with rubber straps, and combining materials such as denim and diamonds, which had until then seemed not only incompatible but borderline scandalous.

Football and exclusivity were viewed by the luxury watch industry as equally incompatible, but Biver saw the vast sums of money coming into the sport and the growing influence of the modern player. He helped blow away the cobwebs of snobbery.

Footballers can't get enough of Hublot's outlandish designs

For the preening modern footballer, then – the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, who push sartorial boundaries – Hublot was a brand that spoke to them directly. They loved the whole ‘Fusion’ concept, the fun skeletonised dials and the oversized cases made from unconventional alloys.

Since Biver joined the company, Hublot has aggressively courted football’s heavyweights, partnering with clubs including Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester United and Paris St Germain, while signing up some of the biggest names in the game as brand ambassadors.

Legends

Jose Mourinho is rarely seen without an Hublot on his wrist, and the late Diego Maradona was honoured with his own model, the King Power Maradona Limited Edition – although Hublot might have missed a trick by not calling it ‘The Hands of God’. Brazilian legend Pele is another Hublot ambassador, as is rising French star Kylian Mbappe.

The legendary Pele and Paris St. Germain's Kylian Mbappe

Footballers are a superstitious bunch. No doubt a few of them were hoping a little Maradona and Pele magic would rub off on them via these timepieces. They’re also highly impressionable and when one player gets a fancy watch, his or her teammates naturally follow suit.

With Hublot also a sponsor at the last three FIFA World Cups – even producing a smart watch for referees – it’s fair to say that the brand has football all tied up.

Football aside, it’s also snagged sporting superstars including sprinter Usain Bolt and boxer Floyd Mayweather. And when Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 supremo, got mugged for his Hublot, the brand saw an advertising opportunity, running a campaign featuring a picture of a badly bruised Ecclestone over the quote “See what people will do for a Hublot.”

Controversial, opportunist, unafraid to cause a stir and throwing subtlety to the wind – that’s the raison d'etre of Hublot. And love it or hate it, the brand is here to stay, at least in the sporting universe.

Looking for a Hublot watch? Click here to shop now