Watches & Wonders was all about the 20th anniversary of Hublot’s modern iconoclast of ‘oversize’, the Big Bang. Now, the bad boy of LVMH’s watch and jewellery group, based in Lake Geneva’s medieval city of Nyon is calming things down somewhat, as well as reminding us of the silky-smooth proportions Carlo Crocco’s original brand launched in 1980.
Having set the tone with its sought-after Essential Grey editions, Hublot
now shifts things to what other watchmakers have called – rather ill-advisedly, to those with English as a first language – beige. The Classic Fusion ‘Essential Taupe’, is released in two sizes: 42 mm and 45 mm, both online-exclusive and both in a pitch-perfect blend of grey and brown – a shade bordering on salmon, to cite another, better-termed colour trend of late.
Hublot may be known for bold moves, disruptive materials and colours you can spot across the room – especially in the case of the Big Bang, which modern industry legend Jean-Claude Biver brought to the ‘Offshore’ fight in 2005 – but it also knows how to speak softly and still make a big impact. Genderless, seasonless and cool, calm and collected (let alone collectable, knowing the ‘Hublotista’ crowd) both models feature a polished and satin-finished titanium case and bezel, a sunray taupe dial and a highly tasteful, safari-suit strap that fuses rubber and fabric in matching tones. Plus Sellita-based self-winding mechanics.
In 1980 and for the first time, Crocco dared to put a gold case on a (vanilla-scented) rubber strap, turning the notion of what could constitute ‘luxury watch’ upside down in the process. Named Hublot after the French for ‘porthole’, these new bezels offer a window to a more-mature-than-ever future.
Hublot Classic Fusion Essential Taupe in satin-brushed titanium; 42mm and 45mm diameter, both $8,900 or £7,300; hublot.com