Biver bought into niche Hublot in 2004, launched the Big Bang, and sold it to LVMH in 2008

Hublot, founded by Carlo Crocco in 1980, had one genuinely original idea: a gold luxury watch on a natural rubber strap, mixing precious and cheap materials. For two decades the brand ticked along as a niche curiosity. In 2004 Crocco brought in Jean-Claude Biver, already famous for reviving Blancpain and taking Omega past one billion Swiss francs in turnover.

Biver saw that the fusion idea didn't need replacing, it needed amplifying. 'I was impressed by the fusion in Hublot watches... So, I bought some shares and took over the management,' he recalled. At Baselworld 2005 he unveiled the Big Bang — a multilayered chronograph sandwiching steel, Kevlar, ceramic and rubber — and coined the phrase 'the Art of Fusion' to give the concept 'a meaning, a sense, an identity'. Within hours it was the watch everyone at the fair was talking about.

The launch landed exactly as YouTube and Facebook were reshaping culture, and Hublot embraced celebrity ambassadors and headline sponsorships while rivals hesitated. The revived brand grew so fast that in 2008 luxury giant LVMH bought Hublot — 'in 2008, we sold for half a billion,' as Biver put it.

From a niche curiosity to the watch everyone at Baselworld 2005 talked about; Biver says the brand was sold to LVMH in 2008 'for half a billion'.

Biver kept the founder's distinctive fusion DNA and amplified it rather than redesigning the brand from scratch.

The Big Bang's radical sandwich construction created a new visual category between dress watch and tool watch.

Naming it 'Big Bang' and coining 'the Art of Fusion' turned a product into a story the media could retell.

Hublot rode early social media and celebrity marketing while traditional maisons hesitated.

Amplify the founder's one distinctive idea instead of replacing it — Biver kept Crocco's gold-and-rubber 'fusion' and made it louder, bigger and famous.

Under LVMH, the Big Bang became one of contemporary watchmaking's defining designs, spawning twenty years of anniversary editions and turning Hublot into a powerhouse brand of the group. Biver went on to lead TAG Heuer; Hublot marked the Big Bang's 20th anniversary in 2025 with a full commemorative collection.