Nowadays fashion watches with caoutchouc straps are forcing out their classic analogues with leather straps. For the time being watches with caoutchouc are made not just by young fashion brands but by old and esteemed Swiss companies as well.
The history of caoutchouc issue
 Today the Hublot Watch Company is considered to be one of the greatest brands in the world. This year Hublot timepieces attracted a great deal of attention of journalists and buyers during the Basel watch exhibition. But everything was different five years ago…
More than two years ago Jean-Clode Biver became the company's president. He has managed to make a lot of useful things. One of his merits is the rebirth of the oldest Swiss watch manufacture Blancpain he was the head of in the beginning of 1980-es.
Jean-Clode Biver left Blancpain and in summer 2004 became the president of the almost forgotten Hublot. His first product created for Hublot was Big Bang watch that immediately became popular. The watch was immediately called the watch of XXI century.
In November 2005 during Gran Prix d`Horlogerie de Geneve Biver's Big Bang was nominated in two positions - "Best men's watch" and "Best ladies' watch" and won in the last one.
Big Bang is a watch of the postmodern style. It is not a usual watch - it is possible to make it by order from different materials.
The Big Bang case can be made of gold of different color, ceramics, tantalum, platinum or steel. In 2006 a ladies' version of the Big Bang watch appeared - the watch models with diamonds on the case.
The Big Bang dial can be made of precious metals or steel or kevlar as well. But all the Big Bang variations are made only with thick caoutchouc straps and it is relevant to the Hublot traditions - the brand that invented a caoutchouc strap.
Hublot was founded by an Italian Carlo Crocco in 1980. Its first timepiece was a model called Hublot (a French word) - it was a watch with gold case and a strap made of ribbon. The world had never seen such a combination of precious metal and a simple ribbon before.
Many Swiss watchmakers were conservative people who considered such a combination as one of the changeable fashion trends of short duration. And indeed for 15 years till the middle of 1990-s the combination "gold plus caoutchouc" was relevant only for the Hublot brand. Jean-Clode Biver on the one hand followed the main Hublot tradition and on the other hand turned a caoutchouc strap into a very fashionable watch element. And not just fashionable but an element that reflects namely modernity of watches.
Colorful caoutchouc invasion
 In the middle of 1990-es other manufactures started producing watches with caoutchouc straps. First of all it is necessary to mention the Alain Silberstein watch brand.
The watch philosophy of Alain Silberstein is creating watches that look not as a tool for time measuring but first of all as an unusual designer's item. He was the first watchmaker to offer completely colorful watches. For example watches with cases lined in colorful leather, with dials made of colorful enamel, with colorful hands and a winding crown of intricate shape.
And of course Alain Silberstein couldn't stop at old-fashioned leather straps or metallic bracelets for his ultramodern watches. As an alternative, Alain Silberstein chose namely caoutchouc. And the caoutchouc straps were not black as the first Hublot watch straps but colorful ones.
The Alain Silberstein Watch Company attached not just decorative but conceptual significance to its caoutchouc palette.
There were Silberstein watches made in so called pure colors. The palette consisted of red, blue, green and yellow. Later the watchmaker turned his attention to pastel colors and under the Alain Silberstein name there appeared watches of turquoise, blue, pink, violet tints with straps made of caoutchouc.
Today there are 7 lines where caoutchouc is used. But it was not only Alain Silberstein - who has been called a watch reformer - paying his attention to caoutchouc in the middle of 1990-es.
 Chopard - old and famous watch manufacture - also has its "caoutchouc history".
Today there are two direction followed by Chopard - jewelry and watches. And the jewelry direction has become more successful than a watch one.
The leading Chopard jewelry conception is called Happy Diamonds that is also known as "floating diamonds". First of all meant for jewelry pieces creation, the conception was also used for ladies watches. Watches with floating diamonds have immediately become popular.
These timepieces turned out to be not only Chopard's sale success, but opened an entire watch direction of very frivolous but precious watches from the point of view of materials used.
In the beginning Chopard jewelers chose straps made of expensive satin or veal or alligator's skin including colorful variations. But in the middle of 1990-s while creating a special watch line Happy Beach they started making Chopard jewellery watches with colorful caoutchouc straps.
The choice of material used was first of all related to the subject - it was possible to swim having a gold Happy Beach watch with a caoutchouc strap on the wrist.
The Italian jewellery house Bvlgari was also one of the first to use caoutchouc straps for its watches. But Bvlgari watchmakers not just simply changed straps but they created cases from new for watch industry materials, such as light aluminium. Its sport collection Diagono is especially famous - its success lies in ultramodern combination of an aluminum case and a caoutchouc strap.
Oldsters head for caoutchouc
Traditional watch manufactures such as Breguet, Patek Philippe, Blancpain or the jewelry house Cartier had been treating caoutchouc with mixed feelings for a rather long period of time.
But it is possible to understand these old watch manufactures and the matter is not only in famous watch conservatism. From the middle of 1990-s different complications came into fashion and one of the most famous ones was the most complicated of them - a tourbillion.
The tourbillion is probably the most expensive of all complications.
Watches with a tourbillion were considered to be a classic. That is why it was impossible to wear them on a fashionable strap made of caoutchouc. They were worn on straps made of expensive leather.
But five years ago a tourbillion became so popular that not only old manufactures with long-lasting traditions but even young brands have started producing them, including the so-called fashion-brands.
Nowadays there is another tendency in watchmaking - to refresh and restyle classic models. And all the old brands have followed the course.
 For example, the great Breguet brand has a rather old sports collection called "Marina". A classic old "Marina" watch from Breguet is a watch with round case and a metallic bracelet. Breguet watchmakers decided to refresh the model. Now it is possible to find such a watch with a strap made of colorful caoutchouc and even a jewellery version of it the watch made of white gold, diamond-paved and with a white caoutchouc strap.
Patek Philippe has a collection of ladies' watches Aquanaut Luce. They are also made with colorful caoutchouc straps.
The Blancpain manufacture that is considered to be the oldest watch brand in the world - displayed a new collection for ladies in 2006. These are nine great classic watches with different complications; they feature diamonds, white gold and pink sapphires. As for the straps, of course they are made of colorful caoutchouc with the company's logo on them.
There are also watches with caoutchouc strap in the Jaeger LeCoultre Reverso Squadra collection.
 The Jewelry-watch house Cartier replaced the strap on its famous watch model Pasha to a caoutchouc one. As a result, a new "Marine" collection of watches for men appeared under the name of Pasha Seatimer.
The old American house Harry Winston offers a watch from the Premier collection made of white gold, with diamonds and sapphires. Its strap is made of caoutchouc - to be more precise it is not a usual strap but a bracelet made of caoutchouc links of oval shape.
| 
