It’s official: the Hublot manufacture is about to get a whole lot bigger.

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Today at the Hublot manufacture In Nyon, the inimitable chairman Jean-Claude Biver and CEO Ricardo Guadalupe, along with local officials, announced that they’re starting the construction of a second manufacture building just opposite the original one from 2009. Yours truly was there to celebrate this milestone with Hublot.

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Jean-Claude Biver, Ricardo Guadalupe and CFO Christophe Barre symbolically turned the first sod to mark the start of this construction that will more than double Hublot’s manufacturing space.

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The new manufacture building will allow an additional space of 8’000m2 that will accommodate more components manufacturing and assembly departments. This includes micro-mechanical workshops, all the CNC machines, along with the decoration, electroplating, component cleaning workshops.

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Given the growing production numbers, Hublot will also move and upsize the after-sales department to this new building.

Finally, the new manufacture building will also incorporate Hublot’s facility that is currently in the neighboring town of Gland, responsible mainly for the production of carbon fiber components as well as jewel setting.

The new building will allow the expansion of other functions in the original building, such as R&D, metallurgy and high complications.

The new manufacture building should be up and running in August 2015.

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In typical Hublot fashion, the announcement was followed by a Swiss lunch of cold cuts, local wines and cheese fondue. Naturally I paid my lactose intolerance no mind today.

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Guests also got to see some rendered images of the upcoming building, which looks nothing short of colossal.

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So for all the doubters who still think that Hublot is simply a watch brand that outsources everything, this bold but logical move towards increased verticalization proves just the contrary. It’s incredible to think that in less than 10 years, Hublot has grown from a small-time boutique brand to a full-fledged manufacture, which will employ no less than 400 people by next year.