Hublot has brought back its gold-and-rubber original of 1980 as the Classic Fusion Tributo. Hublot, which is based at Nyon on Lake Geneva, announced the watch in Milan on 15 October, in yellow or white gold, in a 38 mm case, at CHF 25,000 for each version. The original is the watch with which Carlo Crocco, in the house’s words, “shook up the watchmaking industry with a single fusion: gold and rubber”. Forty-six years on, the Tributo keeps its lines and changes what is inside, where the quartz movement of 1980 gives way to an automatic manufacture calibre. “Forty-six years later, Hublot pays tribute to the watch that built Hublot,” the house writes. It will also give CHF 100,000 to Crocco’s foundation.
1980 and 2026, side by side
Hublot has kept the parts of the watch that made it recognisable and changed the rest. Set against the original, the Tributo looks like this.
| The 1980 original | Classic Fusion Tributo | |
|---|---|---|
| Case | 36 mm, gold | 38 mm, 18-carat yellow or white gold |
| Bezel | Twelve screws | Twelve slightly domed screws, same function |
| Movement | Quartz | Automatic manufacture calibre HUB1711 |
| Strap | Rubber | Black lined rubber |
From 36 to 38 mm, with the twelve screws
The changes are measured in millimetres. The case grows from 36 to 38 mm “without compromising proportion”, in Hublot’s words, and the twelve slightly domed screws on the bezel keep their original function. Hublot says they are tactile to the touch. They are the porthole detail behind the brand’s name, hublot being the French for a ship’s porthole. A screwed crown gives 100 metres of water resistance. The case is polished and satin-finished 18-carat gold, and the strap is black lined rubber, as in 1980, when gold on rubber was the provocation.
Yellow gold with charcoal, white gold with onyx
The two versions differ in their dials. The yellow gold has a black lacquered dial “finished with a subtle charcoal effect” and a yellow-gold oscillating mass; its reference is 262.VX.1130.RX.MDM. The white gold has a polished black onyx dial with black screws, and an oscillating mass in black tungsten. Both dials are black, matched to the strap. On both, a gold MDM pad-print sits at 6 o’clock. The open-worked “H” of the rotor shows through the sapphire caseback.
An automatic manufacture calibre in place of the quartz
Inside, the watch moves on from 1980. “What was originally a quartz watch in 1980 became a Manufacture automatic movement,” Hublot writes. The calibre is the HUB1711, with a power reserve of about 50 hours, and the watch carries Hublot’s 5+5 warranty, which extends cover to ten years. Hublot does not present the Tributo as a limited edition. There are two references, one per gold, and no other dial options.
“Witnessing Hublot’s evolution, I realize it was the best decision I ever made.” Carlo Crocco, founder of Hublot
CHF 25,000, and CHF 100,000 for Main Dans la Main
Each version is priced at CHF 25,000 on Hublot’s Swiss site, so the two golds cost the same. “As a tribute to Carlo Crocco’s vision and values, CHF 100,000 will be donated to his Main Dans la Main (MDM) Foundation,” the house says. The foundation was created in 1998. “When I created MDM Genève, it was a deeply personal endeavor,” Crocco says in the same announcement. Julien Tornare, Hublot’s chief executive, puts the idea in one line: “To respect Hublot is to honor its origins, not by freezing it in time, but by keeping it in motion.” The Tributo follows the MP-14 Origin by Jeff Koons, which Hublot presented in New York in September, and it arrives as LVMH, Hublot’s parent group, opens its houses to the public for the Journées Particulières of 16 to 18 October.
The Luxury.it perspective
Hublot’s story starts with this watch, and the Tributo treats it with restraint. The case stays close to the 1980 design, the screws keep their job and the strap is still rubber; only the size and the movement move on. That is the right order of priorities for a reissue. At 38 mm in solid gold, with 100 metres of water resistance, it is a dress watch that can go in the sea, which was the idea in the first place. The choice between the two is a matter of taste: the charcoal-black dial in yellow gold is the warmer, the onyx in white gold the more graphic. Neither is limited, so there is no reason to rush. Still, the Tributo is the most direct way to own the start of the Hublot story, and at CHF 25,000 in solid gold it is priced as a watch to wear, not to keep in a safe. For a first Hublot, it is also the easiest one to explain: gold, rubber and the porthole, as in 1980.
Related guides
Omega’s Seamaster Spectre edition · Patek Philippe’s seven Milan editions · Ebel, F.P. Journe and the Villa Turque · LVMH Journées Particulières 2026
