It is interesting that the most down-to-earth chief executive I have ever met is the head of a luxury watch brand. Sitting at Cafe Landmark with his sleeves rolled up to the elbow, Jean-Claude Biver, chief executive of Hublot watches, seemed ready for anything.
Visibly enjoying the touch of different materials Hublot is famous for using, he lifted up the large watches made of ceramic, kevlar, tantalum, steel or gold, with their trademark rubber straps.
'The trend in the next few years will be big watches. Even women are starting to wear big watches. [The deluxe watch industry] used to be very traditional. The new generation watches will be a fusion between tradition, the past and future - fusion, which in architecture is already present, now comes into watches.'
He added that lightness is another direction which is already present in the car, phone and other industries. 'Light is the name of the game, super light,' he said.
The brand, originally created by Carlo Crocco who in 1980 had the idea of modelling the watch in the shape of a porthole (hublot means porthole in French) and using rubber for the strap, was put under the care of Mr Biver in 2004.
He has given 'fusion' a new meaning by combining unusual materials such as magnesium with kevlar or white ceramic with steel to make watch cases.