amfAR’s 25th Anniversary
Hublot, the luxury Swiss brand which brings the ”Art of Fusion” to watchmaking, was proud to present the amfAR New York Gala on February 9, 2011, honoring President Bill Clinton, Diane von Furstenberg, and amfAR Founding International Chairman Dame Elizabeth Taylor for their leadership in the global struggle against HIV/AIDS.
The black-tie benefit marked amfAR?s 25 years in the vanguard of AIDS research, and featured a special reunion performance of “That?s What Friends Are For” by the original recording artists: Sir Elton John, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, and Stevie Wonder, coming together for the first time in 26 years.
The Gala kicked off New York Fashion Week at Cipriani Wall Street, where Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver was a Chair of the event along side amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole and others. “We feel honored to be joining amfAR?s efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS”, said Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver. “The vision truly resonates with our top principle of „sharing? and we hope that through our partnership we are able to bring greater light to this important issue”.
Mr. Biver spoke of Hublot?s vision for sharing and caring and his words were longly applauded by his “table mates” former President Bill Clinton, Dr. Mathilde Krim and the over 800 guests, which filled Cipriani Wall Street to capacity. Later on, President Bill Clinton was particularly touched by the fact that his daughter Chelsea presented him with the amfAR Honoring award.
In honor of amfAR?s 25th anniversary, Hublot has created a special limited edition collection of timepieces for men featuring the foundation?s colors and logo. The men?s watch, a special design limited to 100 pieces only of the Big Bang Black Magic, features a 44 mm black ceramic case and bezel and houses a self-winding chronograph movement and rubber-alligator strap.
The evening featured a gala dinner, live auction, performance by David Garrett, and honoree tributes, culminating in the special reunion performance of “That?s What Friends are For”. For this special occasion, Jean-Claude Biver was pleased to announce the auction of the first timepiece of the Hublot amfAR collection, numbered 001/100 of the Big Bang Black Magic limited edition timepiece celebrating amfAR 25th anniversary. The winner and a guest are invited to travel to Geneva courtesy of Delta Air Lines, with a 3 night stay at the Mandarin Oriental, Geneva, to receive a private tour of the Hublot Factory near Geneva to pick up the timepiece. Mr. Biver will also personally bring the winner and his/her guest to his estate for an evening that will include Château d?Yquem wine and Mr. Biver?s own famous Swiss cheese. This amazing package was won after a very competitive bidding for $75,000.
About HUBLOT
Hublot made its name 30 years ago when it became the first Swiss watch luxury brand to fuse precious metals with functional rubber, sparking a revolution for material innovation and aesthetics. In 2004, Mr. Jean-Claude Biver gave Hublot a great new boost and revolutionized watchmaking with the creation of the “Big Bang”, which marked the start of the spectacular success of the brand. In just five years Hublot has become one of the most sought-out high-end watch brands with some of its timepieces making watch history, such as the One Million Dollar Big Bang, All Black Big Bang and Mag Bang watches. In 2008 Hublot was bought by the LVMH group with Jean-Claude Biver as CEO and leading the
company’s guiding philosophy of ”Art of Fusion,” which combines unusual materials such zirconium, tantalum, magnesium and titanium with diamonds, precious gems, gold, platinum, ceramic, steel and rubber.
About amfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world?s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since its founding, amfAR has invested nearly $325 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide. Since 1998, amfAR?s New York Gala has been one of New York City?s most successful and high profile AIDS benefits. The gala has raised more than $10 million in support of amfAR?s programs with previous honorees including Sir Elton John and David Furnish, Richard Gere, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Donna Karan, Liza Minnelli, Sharon Stone, Robin Williams, and Anna Wintour.
