Ferrari and watchmaker Hublot ink long-term deal

Saturday under cloudy Florentine skies, Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo and Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot S.A., arrived at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, the practice track for Scuderia Ferrari, to make an announcement bright with promise: For the third time since its founding, Ferrari will enter into a long-term timepiece collaboration, this go-around with Hublot. The freshly inked five-year partnership technically commences in January, but both Montezemolo and Biver were almost giddy of Saturday's announcement and indicated that prototypes were under way.

Officially Hublot will be the “watch and timekeeper of Ferrari,” as well as the “timekeeper of Scuderia Ferrari,” the company's racing arm. In addition to an ongoing series of limited-edition wristwatches, Montezemolo indicated at the press conference that future Ferrari models could be fitted with Hublot dash clocks.

Hublot becomes the fourth luxury watchmaker granted the honor of adorning the iconic Ferrari prancing horse emblem, joining Girard Perregaux (Ferrari Collection 1994 to 2004), Panerai (“Ferrari engineered by Panerai” 2005-10) and Cabestan (2010 Scuderia Ferrari One, a very limited-edition, one-off project).

During a private interview with Biver prior to the press conference, he shed some light on the impetus for the project. He confided that is was neither him nor Montezemolo who came up with the idea for the partnership but rather his friend and Fiat scion Lapo Elkann--who is the manager of brand promotion at Fiat and who has also held positions at Ferrari and Maserati.

When asked to comment on what many in the watch industry (and consumers) perceive as Panerai's conspicuous failure as Ferrari's watch partner, Biver was candid: “I think their collection was too big. Which equates to a big investment, big inventory and ultimately big risk . . Hublot and Ferrari will start out slower.” He continued, that ultimately Panerai's lack of success was really the result of the collaboration's deficiency in “substance.” “It had no Ferrari DNA,” he said. “It was a marketing relationship, it was 100 percent Panerai DNA with a Ferrari logo on the dial.”

Biver and his team will debut their first Hublot Ferrari vision at the BaselWorld watch trade fair in mid-March 2012. Biver did hint during the press conference that the watch might incorporate a proprietary “Ferrari red” ceramic, though Montezemolo playfully reminded him to consider some of Ferrari's other historical colors, such as yellow. Hublot was one of the true innovators of incorporating industrial-grade ceramic in luxury timepieces. Pricing was not made available.

Saturday's announcement firmly establishes Hublot's position as the current automotive-inspired timepiece powerhouse. Less than two years ago, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone named Hublot the official timepiece/timekeeper for Grand Prix racing. The partnership has yielded an astounding eight Hublot F1 timepieces: the F1 King Power Steel, the F1 King Power Zirconium, the F1 King Power Gold, the F1 King Power Ceramic, the King Power F1 Chronograph Tourbillion, the F1 King Power Red Magic Monza, the F1 King Power India and, most recently, the F1 King Power Suzuka, released last month during the activities surrounding Suzuka Grand Prix--no small accomplishment in less than 24 months.

The list of Hublot's automotive-related collaborations also includes British boutique-manufacturer Morgan Motor Co; the two produced the Hublot Aero Bang Morgan, a striking 100-piece limited-edition wristwatch whose skeleton dial incorporates the Morgan logo atop a grillelike piece.

But Hublot didn't stop there. Its collaborations extend to an ongoing series of timepieces produced in conjunction with, and to benefit, the Ayrton Senna Institute (Instituto Ayrton Senna), a charitable foundation created by the family of the late Brazilian F1 star driver Ayrton Senna after his fatal crash. IAS is run by Viviane Senna da Silva Lalli, Senna's sister and mother of F1 racer Bruno Senna Lalli.

When asked what Ferrari brings to Hublot and vice versa, Biver was direct in saying that both companies will be respective brand ambassadors for other. “Ferrari will be an ambassador for Hublot. Giving it [though its endorsement and partnership] exclusivity, performance and prestige.”

In turn he said that Hublot will be a true watch partner for Ferrari, a collaborator that will work with Ferrari's designers, and in keeping with its core philosophy of “the art of fusion," Hublot will incorporate unique Ferrari materials into the timepieces whenever possible.

By Aaron Sigmond