Hublot’s building is quite literally the shape of a box. Square and black, it feels like a suitable, complimentary look to house the brand’s activity. The Hublot’s black box is surrounded by green. There is very little industrial about farmland. Forget that most of Switzerland feels like farmland. I am reminded by the Robin William’s movie, Toys. If you recall the movie, you’ll know what I mean. JCB grabs his soft briefcase from car and we walk in Replica Hublot Big Bang King. You see “Biverian” phrases on the windows where terms like “passion” and “fusion” pop out at you. He is really proud of the lobby. “Fusion” for Biver Is mantra, not just a marketing gimmick. At the Replica Breitling Navitimer headquarters fusion takes the form of combing the old and the new, as well as the classic and the modern. Half of the lobby is decorated in some type of Louis XIV revival style, while the other half is modern. http://www.buyijoy.com/replica-hublot-big-bang.html branded items are seen in various places, as well as gifts to the brand. A Big Bang coffee table in wood that was so popular on the internet for a while is sitting there. Someone made it specially for JCB, and he loves to show the thing off, it is rather cool looking. The building is decorated with Hublot memorabilia as well as gifts to the brand. There are reminders everywhere of who the brand is associated with, and their appreciation to Mr. Biver. Notable for me is a signed guitar from Depeche Mode (Hublot created a one of a kind limited edition set of Big Bang watches with Depeche Mode album covers on it that were auctioned off for charity), as well as a massive (and I mean massive) Manchester United football (soccer) team book. That book was probably over 2 feet by 2 feet and weight over 50 pounds. JCB is greeted by the Hublot brand staff. They treat him with the reverence a boss deserves, as well as a slight level of intimidation. Not out of fear, but more that JCB has a very assertive and direct personality, which is in contrast to the more tranquil and reserved Swiss personality many people are familiar with. In fact, one of JCB’s most notable characteristics is his habit of “passionate annunciation” as I will call it. The volume of his thoughts is quite well equal his conviction — and manifests itself as a friendly reminder of why JCB often welcomes you with a flushed face. Today is special because Jean-Claude gets to show me the new factory space. He does it himself of course. He does most things himself. JCB is a very hands-on boss, a quality I highly respect. The man is dedicated to his work, the brand, and the people who are there to work with him. Hublot is undergoing a lot of exciting changes, and it tells. That “start-up” company excitement is apparent in a build the brand hasn’t quite grown into. At least not yet. In the fall Hublot will announce officially its manufacture and the full scale production of the UNICO movement to replace the Valjoux 7750 in most of their watches. The UNICO is an in-house movement, and actually better than a 7750. Due diligence forced me to seriously grill the movement designer who invented the UNICO. I got more than I bargained for in response to my questions. A lot of technical data and computer simulations later, I am proud to say that the UNICO is not merely an in-house movement for the sake of having an in-house movement, but an improvement on the very hard to improve upon 7750. Though I’ll save a discussion about the UNICO for another time. JCB illustrates to me with his hands rooms that are to be filled with machinery and watch maker benches. He couldn’t be more excited about the expansion. Even today, there are workers in the building slowly making arrangements and preparing for everything to be installed. Don’t be confused though, Hublot is already a manufacture, it just doesn’t produce as much as it soon will. Hublot already makes and assembles many of its complex tourbillion watches in-house from scratch (just like mom used to make), and assembles, finishes, and tests their entire collection here. Hublot has the budget to buy some of the best machines, and it is exciting to see Hublot watches in various states of assembly. Despite the myth of the brand and its contemporary demeanor, Hublot timepieces share much with other high-end timepieces in how they are produced, finished, and assembled. Like a teenager, JCB loves his iPhone and Facebook. He spends a good deal of his day on his computer answering e-mails and is never apart from his phone. He honestly makes his job look easy and relaxed — sitting in a relatively unpretentious office with his wheat-field view smiling at the computer. While his job isn’t easy, he has it down to a system. He’s polished the art of running a watch brand, and the business as a whole. JCB makes sure Hublot isn’t a bloated company with lots of wastes space, time, and people. Carefully, Jean-Claude adds roles and employees when they are honestly needed, Hublot is a lean company which helps it be so agile, with highly active employees. No wonder boss Biver doesn’t need to babysit. A character in the new Hublot closet is Mathias Buttet, formerly of BNB Concept. If you don’t know, BNB Concept was a very high-end watch movement maker that recently dissolved after filing for bankruptcy. Hublot was one of BNB Concept’s customers, buying from them complex, custom made tourbillion movements. BNB Concept died because it couldn’t collect money from a number of insolvent customers, all victims of the poor economy. Hublot was one of the only regularly paying customers of BNB Concept (but there were others as well). Almost immediately after I announced that BNB Concept was sadly closed, I reported that they were partially saved. While BNB concept no longer exists, Buttet, part of his team, and the Confrerie Horlogere were bought by Hublot. JCB bought much of the assets in a concerted decision to keep the theme of BNB Concept alive. While at Hublot I was excited to see the new Confrerie. Under Hublot, it will still make highly limited, expensive, complex watches Mathias is free to do what he likes best. He is actually much happier now. He remarks his joy for the ability to exercise his passion and get a steady paycheck. An artist through and though, he is also a walking contradiction. Buttet personally speaks his disinterest in wearing watches, but when you see him handle a mechanical wonder that he created, his face lights up in a different way and you see a totally different side of him. Buttet doesn't even pay attention to watch media or what else is out there. He prefers that is work not be at all influenced by what others are doing. I can't say that I would do the same, but I highly respect his desire for creative purity, and the isolation needed to temper his craft. Likely in another post on aBlogtoRead.com, I will share some more of the interesting items that Buttet shared with me. The Confrerie Horlogere will operate totally separately from Hublot design and production - even having their own machines. There is a distinct "home brew" feel in Buttet's quadrant. Things get a bit more modern and industrial on the Hublot side, until you get to the work benches that is. All watch manufactures are split up into two main areas: production and assembly/finishing. Production is where the parts are actually made. This is where the mega bucks machines live and doing their work quietly. Amazing inventions, an assortment of modern wonders are programmed to produce the tiny plates, pinions, and gears (etc...) that go into each watch. Here engineers work, in calm, slightly chemically smelling chambers which are well lit and remarkably peaceful. Go to the other side of things and you'll find watchmakers in white robes sitting at high desks which operate similar to those from hundreds of years ago. A white environment is kept extremely clean. JCB points out how clean the manufacture is - clean enough to eat off of. It probably is. Watch manufactures are quite operations, and the workers peacefully go about the delicate process of making watches. I stroll by with camera in hand. Some appreciate the opportunity to be immortalized in watch related media with a loupe over their eye. Others shy away from the ordeal - as though they chose watch making to be introverted. The characters at Hublot (like most modern manufactures) are young and upbeat. Despite the slowness of making little machines, there is an energetic feeling in the halls.