Hublot revives its 1980 original with the gold-and-rubber Classic Fusion Tributo
Hublot announced the Classic Fusion Tributo on 15 October 2026 — a return to the watch that set the brand in motion. Carlo Crocco's 1980 original paired a slim gold case with a plain black rubber strap, a combination the industry of the day found close to scandalous.
The watch that started it all
Crocco, working under the MDM Genève name, presented the watch at the Basel fair in 1980. Its recipe was simple and, at the time, heretical: a 36 mm yellow gold case with an integrated black rubber strap, and twelve exposed screws on the bezel in place of conventional hour markers. "It shocked the industry. The professionals didn't understand; they thought I was crazy," Crocco recalled. The watch — named Hublot, French for porthole — was successful enough that its name eventually took over from MDM as the brand's. Crocco sold the company to LVMH in 2008, and Hublot has since grown around the far more extroverted Big Bang line.
The brand has dipped into its archives before — a 40th-anniversary collection and the Classic Fusion Original of 2023 among them — but the Tributo moves closer to Crocco's design than any of those, restoring the twelve-screw bezel and the direct contrast of solid gold and plain black rubber. Crocco himself was brought back in to consult on the project.
What has changed, and what has not
The Tributo's case measures 38 mm across and 9.5 mm thick — two millimetres larger than the quartz-powered original — with a screw-down crown and water resistance to 100 metres, twice the rating of the current standard time-and-date Classic Fusion models. The twelve H-shaped titanium screws remain, domed as before, and still double as hour markers; there are no indices, and the date sits at 3 o'clock. Inside is the manufacture calibre HUB1711 — an automatic produced with sister brand Zenith from an Elite base — with 185 components, a 4 Hz beat, a 60-hour power reserve and an openworked "H" rotor visible through the sapphire case back. Hublot has deliberately left out its One Click strap-change system, the better to stay faithful to the original construction.
The two references have distinct personalities. The yellow gold model (reference 262.VX.1130.RX.MDM) stays closest to Crocco's watch, with a matte black lacquered dial and the gold pad-printed MDM signature at 6 o'clock. The white gold version (262.WX.6870.RX.MDM) pairs a polished black onyx dial with black-plated titanium screws and a black tungsten rotor. Both are priced at CHF 25,000 / £23,600, are not limited, and are available now through selected Hublot points of sale and online.
There is a charitable footnote, too: Hublot is donating CHF 100,000 to Main dans la Main, the foundation Crocco established in 1998 — the name drawn from the same three letters that sat on the original dial.
“Today, seeing the very first design and the origins of the Art of Fusion brought back to life is deeply emotional.” — Carlo Crocco, founder of Hublot
What it means for buyers and sellers
The Tributo is a gold-only release at £23,600, which leaves the steel Classic Fusion — one of the most recognisable and widely traded modern Hublots — as the accessible route into the model on the secondary market. Revivals tend to work on pre-owned prices in two directions at once: they bring fresh attention to the classics they reinterpret, and they can add interest to genuinely early examples. With the MDM signature now back in production, 1980s and 1990s MDM-era Hublots — long among the quieter corners of the market — may draw renewed curiosity from collectors.
Whether that translates into firmer values will depend, as ever, on condition, completeness and provenance. If you own an early Hublot, or a steel Classic Fusion bought in the past decade, it is a sensible moment to establish what it is worth.
Sources
- Monochrome Watches — Hublot Returns to Its Roots with the Classic Fusion Tributo (15 October 2026) — monochrome-watches.com/hublot-returns-to-its-roots-with-the-classic-fusion-tributo-video-review-price/
- Fratello — The New Hublot Classic Fusion Tributo Takes Us Back To 1980 (15 October 2026) — www.fratellowatches.com/the-new-hublot-classic-fusion-tributo-takes-us-back-to-1980/
- Time+Tide — The new Hublot Classic Fusion Tributo looks to the past and future with serious upgrades (15 October 2026) — timeandtidewatches.com/hublot-classic-fusion-tributo-hands-on/
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