Hublot’s founding idea was never complicated, but it was genuinely disruptive.
In 1980, Carlo Crocco put a gold watch on a black rubber strap and gave the luxury sports watch a sharper, more sensual language.
The Classic Fusion Tributo returns to that starting point with two 38mm gold references that bring back the 12-screw bezel, the black rubber strap and the MDM signature, this time with an automatic movement inside.
At a glance
- Hublot has introduced the Classic Fusion Tributo in 18k yellow gold and 18k white gold as a close modern tribute to its original 1980 watch.
- The 38mm case restores the 12-screw bezel and pairs gold with an integrated black rubber strap, while replacing the original quartz movement with the automatic HUB1711 calibre.
- The watch is not limited and is priced at CHF 25,000, EUR 30,200, USD 30,900 or GBP 23,600 for either version.
The porthole watch that defined Hublot
Before the Big Bang became Hublot’s best-known modern calling card, the brand’s identity was already built around a much leaner object.
Crocco’s original watch was presented at the Basel Fair under the MDM Genève name, with “Hublot” taken from the French word for porthole.
The name made sense.
The 36mm yellow gold case used a bezel with 12 exposed screws in place of conventional hour markers, framing a minimal black dial with a date window at 3 o’clock.
Its integrated black rubber strap was the provocation.
Rubber was familiar on accessible sports watches, but placing it against gold in a refined Swiss-made luxury watch was a radical move at the time.
Crocco has said the concept shocked the industry and that some professionals thought he was crazy.
The tension between precious metal and utilitarian material became Hublot’s core language, later formalised as the brand’s Art of Fusion.
Two gold versions with a closer link to 1980
The Classic Fusion Tributo is not Hublot’s first return to this early design, but it is one of the closest in spirit.
The case grows from the original 36mm to 38mm, a modest increase that keeps the watch far away from the larger proportions associated with many contemporary Hublot models.
The yellow gold version is the more direct historical reading.
It uses a polished and satin-finished case and bezel, a matte black lacquered dial, a gold pad-printed MDM signature and the date aperture at 3 o’clock.
The white gold version shifts the mood colder and glossier.
It has brighter polished surfaces, 12 black-plated titanium screws on the bezel and a polished black onyx dial with a silver MDM signature at 6 o’clock.
Both watches retain the porthole-like bezel architecture and the integrated black rubber strap that made the original feel so unusual in 1980.
Hublot has also left out its One Click strap-changing system, a choice that keeps the construction closer to Crocco’s founding design rather than turning the watch into a modular modern platform.
A Zenith-built movement replaces the quartz original
The most important mechanical change sits behind the dial.
Where the 1980 watch was powered by quartz, the Classic Fusion Tributo uses Hublot’s automatic HUB1711 calibre, produced by sister brand Zenith and based on the Elite 670.
The movement runs at 4Hz and offers a 60-hour power reserve.
It is visible through a sapphire caseback, with an openworked H-shaped rotor in 22k yellow gold on the yellow gold reference and black tungsten on the white gold model.
There are practical updates too.
The screw-down crown helps the case reach 100 metres of water resistance, giving the watch a more robust everyday specification than its elegant profile might suggest.
The 12 bezel screws still act as hour markers, but they now use Hublot’s signature H-shaped form, echoed by the counterweight on the central seconds hand.
Crocco’s continuing connection
Crocco sold Hublot to LVMH in 2008, but his role in the brand’s origin story remains unusually visible here.
Hublot CEO Julian Tornare reconnected with Crocco as a consultant for the new Tributo models, positioning the watches as more than a surface-level archival exercise.
There is also a philanthropic link.
Hublot will donate CHF 100,000 to Crocco’s Fondazione Main dans la Main, the organisation he established in 1998 to support humanitarian and educational projects for vulnerable children and communities.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Hublot |
|---|---|
| Model | Classic Fusion Tributo |
| Case size | 38mm |
| Case material | 18k yellow gold or 18k white gold |
| Dial | Matte black lacquered dial on the yellow gold model, polished black onyx dial on the white gold model |
| Bezel | 12 exposed screws used as hour markers |
| Movement | Automatic Hublot HUB1711, produced by Zenith and based on the Elite 670 |
| Frequency | 4Hz |
| Power reserve | 60 hours |
| Complication | Date at 3 o’clock |
| Water resistance | 100 metres |
| Strap | Integrated black rubber strap |
| Caseback | Sapphire caseback |
| Price | CHF 25,000, EUR 30,200, USD 30,900 or GBP 23,600 |
| Availability | Selected Hublot points of sale and online, not limited |
The Classic Fusion Tributo works because it doesn’t try to overcomplicate Hublot’s origin story.
It brings the brand back to the sharp contrast that made Crocco’s watch feel new in the first place, then adds enough contemporary mechanics and durability to make the idea feel current rather than nostalgic.
