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This story has been republished from our friends at Hodinkee Australia.

What We Know

Today, a luxury sports watch with a rubber strap is nothing revolutionary, but in 1980 it was scandalous. Italian watchmaker and entrepreneur Carlo Crocco fired the starting gun on a casual-luxury sports watch revolution when he combined a gold case with a rubber strap to build his ultimate Mediterranean summer watch: the MDM ‘La Hublot.’ Turns out his idea caught on and was quickly embraced by royalty in Monaco, Spain and Sweden, to name just a few.

It’s hard to imagine that Hublot is almost 50 years old. We as collectors tend to think of it as a young brand – and in many senses, it still is – but a half-century ain’t nothing to sniff at. 46 years after its inaugural release, Hublot is going all the way back to its Carlo Crocco roots with the Hublot Classic Fusion Tributo, a standard-production watch that pays tribute to where the maverick brand started, made with the input of Mr Crocco himself (who officially exited Hublot in 2008).

This release encompasses two models in 38mm, one in yellow gold and one in white gold, both housing a Zenith-sourced movement. In a departure from the standard Classic Fusion, the Tributo returns to the original MDM Hublot’s 12-screw bezel design inspired by ship’s portholes. As we’ve come to expect with modern reissues, the case has been slightly beefed up and has grown by two millimetres from the original’s dimensions, and the thickness has increased to 9.5mm over the original’s 6.5mm (although it’s worth remembering that the MDM Hublot was originally quartz).

The Classic Fusion Tributo is not an exact recreation, as Hublot’s stated aim was to realize Carlo Crocco’s original vision for the watch with the benefit of 46 years of watchmaking and material innovation. This extends to the case design, which has some significant changes such as thickened lugs and hands, a white-on-black date wheel, improved H-shaped screw construction, a Hublot logo-shaped seconds hand counterbalance, an exhibition caseback, a larger crown (which screws down) and improved finishing overall. The changes are far from egregious, and the resulting watch certainly still resembles the original MDM Hublot, just with slight tweaks that bring it in line with modern fit-and-finish expectations.

The dial is sparsely populated with no hour or minute markers (though the 12 porthole bezel screws double as hour markers), and features the original MDM signature at 6 that was seen on the first Hublot. It’s also a stone dial, made of polished black onyx rather than black lacquer as found on the original MDM Hublot or standard Classic Fusions. The Classic Fusion Tributo is fitted to an integrated black rubber strap featuring vertical corrugations, another small tweak over the original’s unpatterned strap, with matching gold hardware and a black-plated titanium foldover clasp.

Under the hood, it’s powered by the Hublot calibre HUB1711, which is based on the Zenith Elite 670 movement. This is a new variant that boasts a 60-hour power reserve: a boost of 10 hours compared to its closest sibling, the HUB1710, thanks to an optimized gear train. It’s finished with a Hublot ‘H’-shaped open rotor visible through a sapphire caseback, with rotor materials differing between the two models: a yellow gold rotor on the gold version, and a black tungsten rotor on the white gold version.

Both Hublot Classic Fusion Tributos are standard production additions to the brand’s catalogue, are available from select Hublot retailers and online at hublot.com and are both priced at A$44,600 (USD $33,900). Additionally, Hublot will donate CHF 100,000 from the sales of the Classic Fusion Tributo to the Main Dans la Main (MDM) Foundation, a charity founded by Carlo Crocco in 1998 that supports humanitarian and educational projects aimed at improving the lives of vulnerable children and communities in need.

What We Think

This isn’t the first time Hublot has paid homage to the original MDM Hublot, which the brand looked to for inspiration with the Classic Fusion 40 Years Anniversary back in 2020. That edition landed pretty far from the mark at 45mm (which was the style at the time), halved the number of bezel screws from 12 to 6, and was made in gold, titanium or black ceramic – the latter two materials not being used on the original MDM. Hublot had another crack in 2023 with the Classic Fusion Original and got a little closer, offering a more approachably sized 38mm (alongside a 42mm and 33mm), but it also featured just 6 bezel screws and again used the same case materials as the 2020 edition.

The Classic Fusion Tributo has finally hit the nail on the head – close enough to the original to capture its energy, but with just the right amount of contemporary quality-of-life upgrades to bring the MDM Hublot into the 21st century. In short, it passes the pub test. There’s clear attention to detail here, like the slightly raised convex screw heads on the bezel seen on the original: a departure from the flat, flush H-shaped screw heads on the standard Classic Fusion.

Would a 36mm case, true to the original form, have been my preference? Absolutely, but understanding the space Hublot occupies in the market and what its customers desire, a 38mm case makes sense and still captures the intent of the original while contemporising it for modern tastes.

The ‘MDM’ dial signature is a very nice nod to Hublot’s past and something they haven’t done with previous revival attempts. (As a side note, I’m glad to see Hublot involve Carlo Crocco in this release, as well as its planned donation to his charity). Whilst some Hublot specialist collectors may be disappointed that it’s simply signed ‘MDM’ and not ‘MDM Genève’ like the original, with Hublot no longer manufacturing in Geneva (they’re now in Nyon, around a half-hour drive north of Geneva), I can understand the reasoning.

While I’m a fan of the Hublot Classic Fusion Tributo in yellow gold, I’m less enamored by the white gold model. I’m not a fan of its black-plated titanium bezel screws, simply because it’s not a design feature of the original MDM Hublot. I can hypothesise why the brand made this decision, likely because the original was never made in white gold, giving Hublot more licence to experiment… But they did make the MDM Hublot in steel, which, at first glance, white gold can sometimes resemble, but then they’ve added these darkened screws that never appeared on the original. I don’t dislike the screw colour, yet conceptually it doesn’t align, and for a watch designed to closely resemble an older design, I value conceptual purity more than ahistorical experimentation.

The Basics

Brand: Hublot
Models: Classic Fusion Tributo
Reference Number: 262.VX.1130.RX.MDM (yellow gold), 262.WX.6870.RX.MDM (white gold)

Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 9.5mm
Case Material: 18ct yellow or white gold
Dial Colour: Black onyx
Lume: No
Water Resistance: 100 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Integrated black rubber with case-matching gold buckle and black-plated titanium foldover clasp

The Movement

Calibre: HUB1711, Zenith Elite 670 base
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 VpH (4 Hz)
Chronometer Certified: No

Pricing & Availability

Price: A$44,600 (USD $33,900)
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: No

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