No Leather, No Apologies, Just Hublot

When Hublot debuted in 1980, it didn’t whisper tradition—it challenged it head-on. Carlo Crocco, an Italian watchmaker with little interest in Swiss convention, introduced a luxury gold watch with a rubber strap. It was sleek, nautical, scented subtly with vanilla, and completely out of step with the stitched-leather orthodoxy of the time. At Baselworld, not a single retailer placed an order on the first day. Crocco didn’t flinch. His design wasn’t for the past—it was for the future. That same year, Hublot sold over $2 million in watches. The rules had changed; most people just hadn’t realized it yet.