The Business of Watches [0311] Hublot Chief Executive Officer Julien Tornare On Partnering With Jeff Koons And Re-Connecting With The Brand's Founder¶
Published on Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +0000
Watch industry veteran Julien Tornare outlines his plans to, once again, make Hublot a top brand, including a novel partnership with art-world superstar Jeff Koons, and a reconnection with Hublot founder Carlo Crocco.
Synopsis¶
In this episode of Hodinkee's "Business of Watches" podcast, host Andy interviews Julian Tournaire, CEO of Hublot, at the brand's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Tournaire, who joined Hublot two years ago after stints at Tag Heuer and Zenith, discusses his efforts to elevate the brand's watchmaking credentials while maintaining its reputation for innovation in materials and marketing. He addresses criticisms that Hublot is merely a marketing brand, emphasizing the company's serious watchmaking capabilities including proprietary movements like the Unico chronograph and Meca-10.
Tournaire reveals several strategic initiatives, including reconnecting with founder Carlo Crocco to explore Hublot's Italian heritage through the Classic Fusion line, and launching a new manufacturing facility (H3) set to open in 2027. He discusses the brand's balanced global distribution, celebrity ambassadors like Mbappé and Djokovic who embody Hublot's "disruptive" spirit, and even addresses critic Nico Leonard directly, extending an open invitation to visit. Major announcements include an upcoming collaboration with artist Jeff Koons featuring watches inspired by his balloon dog sculptures, new innovative materials launching in September, and Hublot's industry-leading ten-year warranty. Tournaire positions Hublot as a brand for independent thinkers who reject conformity, focusing on long-term heritage building while navigating current market challenges in China, the Middle East, and broader luxury consumption patterns.
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Transcript¶
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| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Welcome to the business of watches, the Ho Dinky podcast, where we go behind the scenes to talk to the executives of the industry that are making things tick. Today I am in Nyon at the headquarters of Hublo, the LVMH brand. Been around since the 1980s, and I am fortunate to be joined by one of the first watch executives that I ever met covering this business uh six or seven years ago. Julian Tournaire is now the CEO of Hublo. Julian, welcome to the business of watches. |
| Julian Tournaire | Thank you very much, Andy. Always a pleasure to see you and to spend some time with you. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Excellent. Well, it's my pleasure, and you're one of my favorite executives, so I'm super happy that you are finally on the business of watches. So, Julian, it's been about two years since you've been uh at HUBO. You joined from Tag Hoyer where you had a very brief stint there. And obviously before that you were at Zenith and then had a long career elsewhere before. Um so it's been about two years. Tell me, you know, from your perspective um, what are some of the you know major achievements that um you've had here at Hublow and then what do you think still has to be done? |
| Julian Tournaire | Well you know it's been two years and it went so fast because Hubelow is a very fast-paced brand and there's so many things going on. And when I joined a brand that I knew already quite well, my first um job was to really understand what were the strength and the weaknesses of the brand? Because Hublot was founded only in nineteen eighty, so it's still a very young brand. It had a huge growth under the leadership of Mr. Croco and then it went a little bit down end of the nineties, early two thousand, then it was relaunched by Jean-Claude Bivert, that we know very well, thanks to the big bang and its success. And it had been two decades of incredible growth. So when you grow very fast like that, you also need sometimes to digest a bit and to think about okay, what are the next growth that I will experience in the future and how I'm gonna do it. This within a very turbulent environment, because two years ago we're talking 2024. We're just feeling that the super um dynamic years, post-COVID years of a revenge buying 21, 22, and part of 23 are kind of behind and we have a correction of the market. So we have two ways to analyze it. And my job was to say, okay, with Dublot, what made Dublin so successful over the last 20 years and how can I boost these? And on the other side, what are the potential weaknesses or the things that are still missing with the brand to be even stronger in the next years. And that's what I've been working on over the last two years. Aaron Powell |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | I mean, from the outside perspective, and when you were coming in, you know, is the biggest challenge for Hublo is, that a an image issue? Is it you know some people you know have taken negative views of the brand. It's well known to be a target of some uh in the watch influencer space. Ye |
| Julian Tournaire | Sure. You know, Iblow is a Iblow is a turbulent kid, you know? Turbulent kids. We all maybe we were some or we remember some at school but they are noticed, they're loud, they make a lot of noise and sometimes they can be irritating. And Nuble over the last two decades had been such a newcomer with new dynamic pushing the limits, whether in marketing, in design, in new materials, that basically um many brands were a bit, you know, feeling a bit, I wouldn't say jealous, but a bit nervous about Hublow being uh becoming so strong in such a short time. And uh so we had a lot of critics, but that's fine because we are different from the other ones. There are some brands. If you say I don't like this brand, you have to dislike 20 brands. But you is so unique. And I would say one thing that I disagree with strongly is that Iblow is only a marketing brand and a new material brand. Yes, these are two amazing strength, creativity, innovation. Think about Mr Coco launching rubber for the first time in the 80s. Now all the brands are using rubber straps. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Yes. Think about Jean-Claude Bivert |
| Julian Tournaire | launching the Sapphire and the ceramic and now so many brands are using those materials. So Hublot is always ahead of the other ones in terms of new materials. And of course, marketing wise, I don't need to mention football and all other initiatives, also ahead of the other ones. But the watchmaking aspect has never been recognized to its right level. And you know myself, I worked seventeen years for Vacheron, six and a half years for Zenith that are very purest in the world of watchmaking. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Indeed. And when I joined Nublow, I wasn't really |
| Julian Tournaire | sure what to expect. And I've been so positively surprised to see the level of knowledge, the level of watchmaking, the finishing. Yes, of course we can always improve and I'm here for that. But now my job is to not only elevate the watchmaking aspect, the manufacturing aspect, but also to let people know about it because people think Hubleau is too much of a marketing and new materials. And that's not everything. Aaron Powell |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Indeed. Well let's talk about that watchmaking side of things. Expensive materials and and the forward design um package with run-of-the-mill movements. You know, talk about um what kind of watchmaking is going on here at Hublow in terms of your proprietary movements and and those kind of things. |
| Julian Tournaire | Yeah, Hubleau, you know, as I said, Hubleau is only forty-six years old. And uh twenty years ago when it was relaunched by Jean-Claude Bivert, of course at the beginning, you don't have time to produce all your in-house movement. You don't have time to have sophisticated movement. So you basically buy movement outside and you use them like 99% of the brands did in the past. Even 20 years ago, some of the biggest names in the high watchmaking industry today, they were also using external movements. So it's not a big crime. But people got used to the claims of I have my own manufacturer, I make my own movement. And if you want to be in the high end, you have to play in that league. So that's why basically Hubleau also started after a few years to introduce new calibers, um like the uh Unico chronograph, which is definitely one of the best and one of the most precise in the world, as well as the Mecca 10, which is an incredible mechanical hand winding 10 days power reserve, and of course, all the high complications. So it was really developed a lot of amazing skills, and now I have to keep on going and finish the job, you know, to let people know that again, Ublot is also an incredible watchmaker. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Indeed. Indeed. And you're embarking on a sort of expansion here at the new manufacturer. We're in the old building, but there there is a new building that is now um opening up. Can you t you know give us some details in terms of what that expansion means in terms of criteria and numbers you can? |
| Julian Tournaire | Sure. We are here in the the original building called the H one. That was few eight, nine years ago I think um increased by the construction of the H two building. And now of course we are just moving into the H three, which is a great increase of our uh capacity. Uh capacity of production, but also to improve all the know-how, all the the the attention to details that we are giving to every craft when we make a watch. And obviously it's gonna be an incredible tool of hospitality because that's going to be in the heart of the strategy. So this is a normal evolution. We are moving into this new building. It's a big deal for us. Uh, you will hear a lot about it in 2027 because that will be the grand opening of that facility. But it's a way to show that we want to continue to move on and uh despite the |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Can you talk a little bit about you know your actual geographical position here? It's kind of interesting because you're not in the Jura Mountains. I mean you're beside them here. You're only maybe twenty minutes on the highway from uh from Geneva. Yeah, here in Neon, you know, we can see the lake here and La Common, but um it's a it's it's not where everybody in the watch industry is. |
| Julian Tournaire | No, and that's probably another example of Iblow being different from the other brands uh um I think you know it's it's originally I think it wanted to look for convenience. And this place is quite convenient at different um levels. First of all, we didn't have for historical reasons to be in the Valley de Jou or in the Jura Mountains and neither in the center of Geneva where traffic is very heavy at the moment. So we could locate ourselves here in Nyon, which is as you said, twenty minutes from Geneva, fifteen minutes from the airport, door to door, which is so good for people that are traveling. And also already next to the highway that goes to the watchmaking regions where uh we work with our suppliers, where we have uh a lot of uh watchmaking um contact as well. So it's geographically we might be the only one in the region here in Nyon, but it's probably one of the best spots. And uh that's the reason why our sister brand Tagoya uh joined us uh uh across the highway. Yes, and uh and uh yeah it's it's it's a good place to be, to be honest. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Very good. Now, you know, let's talk about some of the new models that you've um introduced um in the past couple years under your um under your leadership. You know, we've seen uh the big bang reloaded. Yes. Uh we've seen the classic fusion come back, which is a watch that I quite like a lot. I mean, um, you know, when I think about your time at Zenith, I think you found this really interesting balance between, you know, vintage retro inspired and and new models and tech. I mean is is that what we're doing here at Hublow? Are we leaning more into the heritage, into the vintage? |
| Julian Tournaire | Hublow is lucky to have two uh I would say iconic watches between the uh classic fusion, that's the heritage of Mr. Croco, let's say from nineteen eighty till the early two thousand, and then of course we have the big bang, the heritage of Jean-Claude Bivert from two thousand five until uh these days. There are some shape watches, there are different things, but basically these two are the icons. So we can play with those a lot. And um in terms of big bang, what I was looking for is to give an evolution to the original design of Mr. Bivare, keeping its a its DNA, its identity, but bringing some punch, some more dynamism, even more if we can. And that's what we came with the reloaded at the beginning of the year. It's been great, very well uh welcome by the market, so it's very positive and it's only the beginning of the evolution of big bang. We can do many things on this watch. It's a great playground. we can play with materials, with complications, with the sizes, and that's fantastic. I mean for the years to come. And yes, you're right. Classic fusion was always in the shade a bit of the big bang that took so much space. But I think today classic fusion is also the heritage. And when you are 46 years old, you don't think about retirement, right? As a person. When you are 55, 60, you start to think about it. and you blow being 46, they never really looked at the heritage. And I believe myself now, because I'm older than the brand maybe, that I should start looking at the roots, at the origins. So um as I did with the maker of the uh El Primero when I was at Zenit, as I did meeting Jacoya when I was at Tagoya, I literally the second month I went to see Carlo Crocco in Milan and we sit together and I ask him to talk to me about the brand and where it started, how it started. And it was great. Such a learning. So now I'm going to inspire myself to relaunch or to create a new development on the classic fusion starting in a few weeks. Bringing Mr. Carlo Coco back into the brand because we're lucky to have the man behind the brand. So he will be helping us on a few things, surprises, you'll see, but it's going to be exciting. And we are working on finding back this elegance, this Italian touch that we had. Few people know that the brand was actually f created in Milan. And then he moved to Switzerland obviously for convenience, for making watches. But the idea came from Italy. So there is a lot of Italian blood in this Swiss brand, and I think it's important to talk about it. So expect a lot, and for the first time, we'll talk about heritage, we'll talk about history of the brand. And I think as always, when you you know your past very well, you are even stronger to build a future. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Indeed. and you know, tell me in in your interactions with Mr. Crocos so far, I mean, yeah, what have you learned? What have you heard? It is interesting to to sort of reconsider and think about um Hublow as as indeed a a brand with Italian roots and and and yeah, what can you tell us so far? |
| Julian Tournaire | Oh he went from the the name Yublot, you know, it's not what we think of. It's just an ID that he had and he loved boats so he decided but it's not it's not um a watch that was made for yachting or stuff like Exactly. The window on the boat basically. For us it's a window on the world. It's a huble on the world. But uh uh the brand was, as I said, created in Italy, that information nobody really talked about and I didn't know about it. The fact that from day one, this classic fusion, very thin, very elegant, was equipped with a rubber strap, which back in the days, believe me, it was a crime. In the Holy Spirit of the watch industry, never touch uh a strap uh that was back in the days mostly in an alligator or leather strap at least. So it it was was something quite disruptive at the time. and Mr. Crocot dared to do that. That so many celebrities were wearing Hublow back in the 80s, 90s, you know. Today most brands are looking for celebrities here and there, it's part of the business. But back in the days, it wasn't really an objective in itself. But the Hublow watch was the cool watch to wear uh when you you were, know, enjoying life and having some means and and and that's that's an interesting aspect. Um I remember looking at the uh Andy Warle collection, |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | out of his six first watches, there was a new |
| Julian Tournaire | blow back in the days, you know? So and we have quite a few examples of those kind of people. So bringing Mr. Crocot back in the brand will enable me also with the new manufacturer to create exhibition, to explain exactly what's behind the brand, where we come from, and that's gonna be a fantastic uh thing. He's got articles, he's got drawings of watches that he never launched. I mean we have quantity of of raw material that will be priceless. And I have to build the brand also for the next generations, you know. And that that is a heritage that I have the responsibility now to preserve and and make sure people will know about it. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Excellent. Yeah, no, that is really interesting. I think we definitely look forward to that. Speaking of celebrities and ambassadors, Hubel has long had a an association with football, uh soccer, as we would call it in the U.S. You elected not to be the sponsor |
| Julian Tournaire | Yes, I'm happy. It was um a decision that we took uh taking into consideration the markets in which the World Cup was happening, uh taking into consideration that we had already a lot of engagement in different things and we have to be careful to concentrate our efforts. And today we have been investing a lot with the Champions League. And this year we made the decision to not be fully present. We were present because we've been there. I was there at the final. I got to meet the FIFA people. I got to meet a lot of people there. We were sponsoring the uh Mexican team, uh the Argentinian team. We have been inviting guests in some of the Mexican uh matches, you know, because watch uh f football, sorry, is very strong in terms of culture in Mexico. So that's the reason why we decided decided to concentrate our efforts. It's nothing against World Cup, it's nothing against uh our partnership. We are still in very good relationship and we will see what we do in the future. But uh that that stage it was it was a good way to do it. Yeah. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Interesting. and yeah, I mean let's talk about the specific ambassadors that you have Mbappe, uh the French superstar, Patrick Mahones, a uh NFL uh quarterback, and then of course the legendary Usain Bolt, Novak Djokovic as well uh in the tennis world. I mean what makes a Hublow ambassador and and should we expect sort of any changes on that front? |
| Julian Tournaire | You know, Hubelot is not a brand for followers, literally. That you wear when you assume who you are, you know, when you want to show your your personality. You don't want to board on a plane and have half of the plane wearing the same watch. That's not Hublot at all. So when we go for ambassadors, we also look for people that are different, that are daring, that are strong characters. And whether you take Djokovic, you know, he's been not always in an easy situation with the public and everything because he's got strong opinions. He knows what he wants. He's got his own behavior, his own objectives. And that's what we like. The strong personality. And I think Kylian Mbappé also, he's expressing himself often in the press. He's defending his values, he has got a strong personality, he's an incredible player, sometimes um facing huge pressure from the press, from the public. If you don't perform one, two matches, you get in the spotlight for bad reasons and he's still there, he's still fighting and he proved it recently at the World Cup being the best at uh marking goals. So he is he's been incredible and and that's what we go for at Hublow. I don't want to take a guy, um an ambassador who's the uh how can I say who's the perfect uh son in law, you know? That's not Iblow. We are the terrible kids of the watch industry. We do things differently, and we are proud of it. And that's why some people love us. And I agree that some people don't like us. That's fine. But at least when you buy a Nuble, you show that you're not you're not a follower. You're not you're not buying something just to look like everyone. You want to look like your like your own self. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Indeed. and speaking of people um who who may not like you or may not be your biggest fans, let's briefly talk about Nico Leonard. |
| Julian Tournaire | Oh, my friend Nico, of course. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | And so n you know, Nico's kind of built his career around slamming your brand. |
| Julian Tournaire | Yeah, I know. Um you know what I |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | mean, what what if anything, you know, would you want to say to him or have you tried? I mean, I've written about it before in the past. You've extended invitations for him to come I mean, yeah, what can you do about something like that? And is it something that you're spending much time thinking about? Aaron Ross Powell |
| Julian Tournaire | No, not at all. You know, I sleep very well and uh I think it was quite fun at some point uh because when I joined the brand, I read about his comments and things. And it's more about fairness, you know, it's more about knowing what you talk about. That's probably an issue for me. Because I fully, as I said, I fully understand you like X, Y, Z brand and you don't like other ones. That's perfectly fine. But when you say things that are not true or when you systematically critique without really knowing the reality, I think it's not right. And uh I think there are a lot of problems in the world because of people not knowing what they talk about. And that's why I wanted to kindly to invite him to join and to visit and have a friendly lunch together and show him a blow. Then he makes up his mind. He can like it, not like it. And actually when he when he made a survey, I mean eighty-seven percent if I remember well of his audience uh told him to go because it was a nice invitation. And they also want to hear the truth about Hublot, you know, so I think they were interested interested to know what he thinks coming out of Iblow. So that that was the deal. Then after it went in all directions, I don't want to comment everything, but the the fact is that our door is always open, you know, we are a great brand, and I'm so proud to be here. And it's also a mark of respect for people that are working for IBLO. You know, we have more than 1,000 employees that are working very well. Some are coming from the biggest brand of the watch industry, the most prestigious one. They work very hard for the brand. And that's why I don't really like, you know, to read this. And I think it's unfair. That's it. But again again, the brand is doing well. He talks about it. So in a way it's publicity for the brand. But publicity is publicity. So I'm perfectly fine with it. And again, my door will always be open because I'm a fair player and I'm here to uh to make people discover this beautiful brand, including Nico, the day he wants to show up. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Very good. Well I'm sure you know Nico is a listener of the podcast, so um he'll get the message, no doubt. Let's talk about um you know Hublo's place within the LVMH watchmaking group. Obviously, there are other brands. Um LVMH is the biggest luxury conglomerate in the world. We have Hublow, Zenith, Taghoyer, Bulgary is part of the brand, and then there is the LVMH watches and Jean Arnaud, and then they've brought back Daniel Roth uh lately and Gerald Genta as well. Where does Hubli fit within that group? Sort of, you know, what is the |
| Julian Tournaire | Yeah, we have around s we have more than seventy brands in the group. Uh and the watch division really took form a few years ago. You know the the To really build themselves and be strong by themselves because of their or thanks, I should say, to their desirability. And that's very healthy because you don't work always as a group, but you also develop your own brand with your own means. And that's that's a great thing. But uh watch division really get stronger and stronger over the last few years. Each brand has its own skill. Uh we've had different bosses and now it's true. Jean Arnaud joined and he's uh he's helping us on uh on the watch press with his knowledge. He's got maybe one of the biggest passions for watchers I've seen. Uh he's twenty eight I guess, I think, and he's he's so knowledgeable and he he loves watches so much that we could uh we speak together about products and design and and R and D for hours. So it's great to have someone like him because also he's got a different generation than I am. So we exchange. He gives me his perspective. He gives me maybe perspectives for the future, for younger clients. And I have to say I've really enjoyed my time uh working with him. It's been a great partnership. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | absolutely. And between the brands to answer your |
| Julian Tournaire | question, we work together sometimes on project, but we never really step on other brands uh territory. We are the experts in material. You know, uh Taguer is expert for other things, uh, Zenit for other things, and the jewelry brands also on their side. we share about market information, we share about uh market dynamics, but we still run by ourselves and I think it's uh super healthy for the group. Yeah. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | And just to be clear, are you sharing movements with um any of the other brands or I mean uh you know, zenith obviously I mean their mandate lately, your former shop has been to um you know use its capacity as a movement maker uh to supply other brands within the group. Are you doing things like that? |
| Julian Tournaire | Yeah, of course. I mean uh we have been using the El Primero movement for example in the spirit of big bank, so the Tono Shape Collection. It's been doing great. It was an asset. It's always been openly talked about because we're very proud about it. I have some plans also in the future to use more of their movements, especially in the three hands. We're working together on developments. If tomorrow they want to make a watch in in ceramic, I'm definitely gonna help them because we have the know-how. We know how to do it. But again, we stick to our territories, but we're still sisters and brothers, and we help each other. I would say that's that's the way it works. And I think it's very smart because each brand keeps its own identity, its own design. Sometimes the finishing is gonna make the different look or the different perception, but we help each other on on some topics, yes. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | And you know, speaking of you know being within the group, obviously um you've gotta answer to your bosses and and and with the numbers and uh and show some growth. How has the brand been doing? I mean, it's been a tough market for a lot of brands in the past few years. You know, what's the um sort of trajectory here? Are you growing |
| Julian Tournaire | So I think th there is no secret to say that um after the COVID that, was a brutal stop of the business. There were a few years with the revenge buying and the overconsumption in everything basically, not watches specifically. it twenty three, twenty four we could feel that it was too much and that we needed to digest this over consumption. And Hublot is not an exception. It's like all the other brands experienced that. And of course after that we had other external factors, I mean conflict and difficulties in the world and stuff like that. Yeah. So we had to adapt to this new world. And now the difficulty is to anticipate how the world will be in two years, in five years, in ten years, and especially luxury. Luxury, you don't need luxury. You enjoy it, but you don't really need it. It's not a necessity good. So you have to anticipate how people and what kind of appetite they will have for luxury goods. And that's the most difficult. But luxury means definitely desirability and to have desirability, it's clear that you need to have scarcity. So my feeling is there have been too many watches and too many luxury goods on the market at some point and now everybody is readjusting to get back to this desirability. And that's the key thing. And Nublow is no exception. So we are also working on how do we do better and very strategically, how do we keep the tension between the demand and the offer? And that that's important. So we have to adapt to the world and that's what Hublot has been doing. So yes, the years might have been a little bit more challenging, of course, the recent years, but we look at the long term. And my objective and my goal as a CEO today is to make sure that Hublow uh remains strong uh in the future, going through uh storms, uh economic crisis, difficulties, whatever you want, wars, Ublow will remain there, will remain strong and that will grow. I mean we have to be reasonable within the context of today, but we have to think about the future. And that's why today I also bring all these heritage, brand equity, new movements, uh new materials, because that's part of the desirability. That's why people are buying the blow. So I think I I look more at the mid to long term than the short term. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Absolutely. and can you be at all specific? I mean the US and obviously the you know everyone's been dealing with tariffs for the past couple of years and that's a big deal. Obviously we have conflict in the Middle East. And then China, you know, it's remains a challenging market. I think that um recovery that everyone's been hoping for, it still doesn't seem to be there yet. |
| Julian Tournaire | yeah. I mean Hublot has a very good uh strength and also I found out when I joined the brand that Iblow is very well balanced all over the regions historically. That means that we're not a Chinese oriented brand, we're not a brand that sells only in uh in uh former uh commonwealth countries, uh including the US and all the other ones, but it's been it's been very well balanced and that's super healthy. Obviously it's clear that when you have a conflict like you have in Middle East or uh today in Russia, in Ukraine, definitely you don't do much business there at the moment. That's totally normal. So this we have to find a way to compensate or accept that we have to wait for better days to come. Then you have China that took a bit more time than the other markets to recover from post COVID and and their luxury consumption. But we have very encouraging signs there recently. Over the last few months, we've seen very good things happening in China. So I'm positive. I know Chinese well. I used to live in Hong Kong for seven years and I know they love luxury goods, they love uh craftsmanship. So if we talk to them the right way, it's definitely going to happen. It's just a question of time. And then you have more mature markets like Europe that sometimes tend to be a bit too different on tourism. And again, Hublot here did a great job because Hublot worked very well at the local clientele. And uh you you come with me to France, to Italy, to Spain, to Greece, I you can enjoy our collector's dinner and our clients uh gathering and they're all local people. So this is a very strong base. Then you have clients coming from all over the world during vacation, it's just cherry on the cake, but you have to have uh a strong base of local clients. Aaron Ross |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Powell And remind me, I mean how much of your retail is with you know v via third parties and and partners and then how much of your your retail do you |
| Julian Tournaire | know we have around uh one hundred thirty-five boutiques as of today, more or less half and half. Half are directly operated, half uh with partners. We are probably one of the brand that has a lot of boutique with partners because they know they can do very well with Hublot and they know we treat them as if they were ours, because we think about the client's perception. So we have been doing very well with those boutiques, and we still have multi-brand because I'm someone believing strongly in the multi-brand experience as well. We should never be arrogant or we should never believe that the brand knows better than the retailers. This is wrong. And I think as a brand, we have to consider that some clients they are willing to buy in a multi-brand environment. They have to be advised from a sort of a neutral point of view. You know, when you have 25 brands, you explain what watchmaking is all about and maybe you show five watches on the tray. When you go to a monobrand boutique, obviously people are paid to tell you that this brand or that brand are the best ones in the world. And I think you can you have you have to have both. It's a question of balance. So we are working on our distribution, Hublot, clearly, to focus on the key partners, probably to reduce distribution, as well as maybe sometimes markets, where we have opened and now we think we should concentrate on key markets for the years to come. But that's more about the distribution. But overall, uh the balance between retail, wholesale, and still e-commerce, because e-commerce was kind of born during the COVID uh situation for many brands. But uh we are still doing really well in e commerce. So mm I see it more as a a way to buy |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Exactly. Which is so small that you always have a |
| Julian Tournaire | a store in a not far from you.. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Indeed Hopefully you have a watchdoor uh somewhere near you if you're here in Switzerland. So you know, we talked about athletes and and and some of those um associations that you have. But Hugo also has a long association with the art world and collaborations with artists. You've got a very interesting um collaboration coming with one of the um best known modern artists in the world. |
| Julian Tournaire | I'm so excited about that. It's probably uh the project that um excites me the most for this last four months of 2026. As you know, I believe has a long-standing tradition of collaborating with artists. There have been many, but just to mention a few, of course, Orlansky has been a very big one for us. We had uh Takashimu Akami, super strong, amazing person, Daniel Arsham, etcetera. and and of course now we are super happy to announce a new collaboration with Jeff Koons, uh the father of the balloon dogs that uh people know, amazing art piece, amazing man also. I've got to meet him now probably seven or eight times. We get along very well uh since the beginning of the project and in a few weeks now uh we will launch uh a very special collection with him in New York on September 16th, where we will show watches that are really literally coming out of our manufacturer but also out of his um creativity and and and and innovative spirit because you can feel the balloon dog's influence, the color, different things, and that's gonna be a big hit, you know, because we have a lot of um clients that are looking for art piece made by watchmaker or by watches made in collaboration with an artist. And that's what we offering now. But it's it's it's an incredible collaboration. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Interesting. And can you give us any details? Is that going to be under existing lines? Is it the big band It's gonna be |
| Julian Tournaire | it's gonna be under the um the classic fusion, original design, uh with a manufacture movement with a look that's not only different from what anything we have done at Hublot, but different from any watch in the world. Meaning you put this watch, any of the three colors by the way, on your wrist, you walk in the street, you step in a plane, you go in a restaurant, you can't miss it. I mean it's gonna be absolutely amazing. You know, you enter a living room, you go to some friends and you see a balloon dog, you can't miss it either. So it's gonna be a watch that will be so unique. Again, at the at the frontier of art and watches in a way that we have probably uh never done. And why artists love to work with Dublot? Because we leave them a very open playground, you know, we leave them a lot of freedom. And the worst thing for an artist is to tell him or her, you have to do it this way, don't do it too big, don't do it too thin. No, artists they need to be left in peace to create and innovate the best they can. And it was no exception with Jeff. He was able to work on that in such a way with our engineers, our watchmaker, and the result is amazing. And there is another little surprise, but you will see later in the year, about a super high complication also made with Jeff. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Okay. That's beyond the balloon dog. |
| Julian Tournaire | It's more about his interpretation of the space. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Interesting. I mean, you know, we we we all know Jeff Coons as a um as an artist. What did you learn and did he tell you about his relationship with watches? Um is it something he'd thought about much before? Is he a watch person? Yeah, |
| Julian Tournaire | he talked about he had some proposals in the past by by big names as well, but he never did it. And uh when I approached him again I tried to be listening to him a lot, what he considers about uh watches but also time and and the the importance of time for him in his life and all that and the fact that Hublow was a young brand but super dynamic, the fact that we already had great experiences in collaborating with artists, and the fact is I was giving him my promise that he would be totally free |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | to make proposals, I think he liked it |
| Julian Tournaire | a lot. And that's where everything started. I still remember we had breakfast uh in uh Switzerland, then I flew the month after to New York. we met again uh in his uh in his workshop and and we we we s basically agreed with uh shaking hand only, you know. No contract, no complication, uh super simple, he's a gentleman. We shook hand, we said, let's do it together. And that was the beginning of everything, a bit more than almost two years ago, yeah. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Wow. Interesting. Yeah. No, I think um we all look forward to um seeing what comes out of that. And so last thing, yeah, as you say, I mean, you know, Hublow is known for innovation, its use of innovative materials, ceramics, carbon obviously, other materials, the first to really, you know, put a um a luxury watch on a on a rubber strap. What what's the brand doing in terms of innovation with materials and those kinds of things. I mean what do we see? You know, where are you trying to push the bounds and how are you trying to stay at the leading edge of that? Aaron Powell |
| Julian Tournaire | Yeah, but we have to come with new ideas, new materials. So very soon, very soon in September, a bit before actually the Jeff Koons collection launch, we are going also to talk about new materials that's probably gonna be the softest watch in the world. Not that you can bend the case for sure, but when you touch it with your hand, the feeling will be absolutely amazing. Like silk, but not silk, but something amazing. So you will you will grab it on your bed table, to put it on your wrist you will feel the softest watch ever made, thanks to a new development of material that we have made. So that's that's a little animation we have. But it's clearly in Iblow's uh plan, I mean uh more than a plan because it's coming in a in a in a few weeks. Then you will have a bit later a special edition made for our boutiques only that will refer to a watch we made twenty years ago, 15 years ago. Super cool with a new material as well that we love to use that you use every day, we use every day, but not on the watch and that we you'll be happy to see. That's a little surprise. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Fantastic. Just to tease you and our |
| Julian Tournaire | listeners. Amazing. Yeah. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | I mean we I think we all love to see innovation and new materials used in watches. So um you've certainly given us a lot to think about and a lot to look forward to. |
| Julian Tournaire | And twenty twenty-seven, by the way, will not be missing uh new things and new um new innovations both in materials and movement so you can expect a big, big year to come as well for Iblow. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Very good. Very good. And you're looking forward to the um fiftieth near tomorrow. Twenty, |
| Julian Tournaire | thirty years after tomorrow.. Exactly Exactly we have big plans as well. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | Excellent. I can also add one thing |
| Julian Tournaire | which is important. Uh you know, Hublot, again, working so much on the level of finishing, on the quality of our watches, having now this manufacture, which will give us even more uh possibilities in terms of movement, in terms of materials, and really focusing on the high end. Um we were happy last year to uh announce um not last year, actually this year, at Watches and Wonders, we announced a ten year warranty, five plus five, which is absolutely amazing. It's the longest in the watch industry. It's great. Why do we do it? Because we have been homologating our watches produced at Hublot already for a few years, for 10 years. So I think now it's time to pass to the uh warranty uh aspect, which is so important because we trust our watchers so much and we know we're doing the very top quality. So now you buy a niblow, you get 10 years' warranty. that's the fact. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | That is um uh quite a warranty, and indeed it is certainly the longest that uh that I know of in the industry, so um well done and that is certainly of note. Well Julien Tonneo, the CEO of Hublow. Thank you so much for joining us on the business of watches. |
| Julian Tournaire | Thank you very much, Andy. Always a pleasure to see you. Thank you. |
| Andy (Host/Interviewer) | And that's the business of watches for this episode. We hope you enjoyed. Please head on over to Hodinkee.com where you can join the discussion and leave any comments or questions about this episode or the business of watches in general. Who knows? We might even answer your question on a future episode. Thanks for listening and see you next time. Kiitos. |