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Paris, France—On Friday December 3, Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot, flicked the switch to illuminate the Vendôme Column in lavish celebration of its bicentenary, and to mark the opening of the new Hublot boutique in the tony Place Vendôme in Paris.

Attendees included Béatrice de Plinval, president of the Comité Vendôme, Isabelle Lemesle, president of the French Centre for National Monuments, Danièle Pourtoud, deputy mayor of Paris with responsibility for cultural heritage, and Jean-François Legaret, mayor of the First Arrondissement [district] in Paris, all of whom gathered around the Hublot clock that provided the countdown to the event.

This is the first time the Vendôme Column has been lit. It will be illuminated every day from 5 pm until midnight. The lights were added to mark the 200th anniversary of the column, erected in 1810 by Napoleon I in honor of the French Grande Armée (Great Army). The lighting uses innovative LED technology and very little energy (1.8kW). 

Said Biver, “I did not hesitate for a moment in making this illumination a reality. It is a historic moment—the first time the column has been artistically lit—and in the most beautiful square in the world, an international symbol of luxury. For Hublot, it is also an elegant way of celebrating our integration into the Comité Vendôme, and on the same day the opening of our 30th boutique located at 10, Place Vendôme.”