Why This New Hublot Is My Favorite Watch of 2026

The older I get, the simpler my tastes are becoming. But don’t confuse simple with boring. Simple can be stunning—just look at this new Hublot.

It’s mid-October; I’ve seen a boatload of new watches since the start of the year, and people are already talking unapologetically about Christmas plans, so I feel all right about making some “best of 2026” calls. I know there was a much more fun release from the brand just last month, but this Hublot Classic Fusion Tributo—specifically the one in yellow gold, but the white gold version is also fit—might be that watch for me.

I remember when I first tried on a Classic Fusion. It was in 2018, when Baselworld was still the king of the watch fair scene. I liked it because, unlike many watches, the dial was clean. There was hardly anything going on with the Hublot, and the porthole shape of the case and bezel hit different. There was a bit of AP Royal Oak sniffing around, but it was more stripped back and less showy. The casual nature of a sporty black rubber strap cozying up against the pimping gold case immediately felt quite me; like the horological equivalent of dressing for business up top, party down below.

I reckon this new Classic Fusion is the most complete version of the original ever made. The OG was a 1980 creation by a young Italian gentleman called Carlo Crocco, and the story behind the making of this watch is one of my favorites, and not just because it’s essentially the watch Hublot was founded upon.

When Crocco started working in watches for his family’s company in 1969, he was tasked with “developing entry-level products," he says. But he had greater ambitions: he wanted to create more beautiful things. So in a fitting tribute to his wife Marie-Danielle, he decided to do exactly that.

Crocco's philosophy was simple: “To remove rather than to add.” With that in mind, he came up with a design that used twelve screws to hold it together while also telling the time. Who needs hour markers on a dial? Not Crocco. He wanted to make something innovative that kept the “classicism and know-how of the Swiss industry," he says, while “adding something different and special to it."

Thirty-eight years prior to my first Baselworld, Crocco walked up to that same fair to debut his new creation (the MDM stood for “Marie-Danielle Montre,” montre being watch in French).

Vacheron Constantin’s distributor in Italy told the designer, “You are crazy!” according to Crocco. Meanwhile, Cartier’s director came by and said, "This is the product we should have had," says Crocco. The timing of the watch's release was crucial, though. Many Swiss watchmakers were freaking out about the Quartz Crisis—the arrival of the new more-accurate and easier-to-mass-produce technology in 1969 decimated the luxury industry in the '70s. “We arrived at that moment with a high-end watch equipped with a Swiss quartz movement," says Crocco. "It was the ideal time to introduce a new model.”

Fast forward to 2026, and only one of those directors was correct. Without the Classic Fusion, Hublot wouldn’t be the disruptive powerhouse it is today. Its willingness to combine the precious luxury material with a rubber strap may seem old hat today but it's only because Hublot kickstarted the movement more than four decades ago. And this new tribute version brings back the MDM logo on that polished black onyx dial at 6 o’clock, as well as the 12 screws that hold it together and tell the time. I’m all for the 38mm case (the OG was 36mm) as that size better fits my wrist, especially when a watch has lugs like these. But crucially, it is powered by an in-house movement indicative of how far Hublot has evolved technically in the past 46 years: the HUB1711 Manufacture Self-winding Caliber, with 50 hours of power reserve.

“Minimalism by design” and “horological depth” are two things Hublot CEO Julien Tornare holds in high regard, and this tribute has both in abundance—honoring Crocco’s original not “by freezing it in time, but by keeping it in motion," Tornare says.

My review is in: 10/10 for pure, unadulterated simplicity that's never boring.

This story originally appeared on British GQ.