Ask any young brand owner for what they’d sell their soul and the answer is likely to be the same: a distinct and uncompromising identity strong enough to overawe trends and able to stand the test of time. Despite still being regarded as a “young” brand, Hublot has been one of the more visible and aggressive names established in the past half-century. Since its foundation in 1980, the masters of fusion have tirelessly pushed boundaries, ignored convention, and succeeded in being first, unique, and different on multiple occasions.

While the bombast and bravado with which Hublot has hammered home its unrelenting message may often fly in the face of traditional communication and product release strategies, the success of this modus operandi is undeniable. The brand founded by Carlo Crocco 43 years ago has carved for itself a niche like no other. Whatever Hublot does, regardless of widespread opinion, stays within the lane it has fearlessly paved for itself. It remains, much to the chagrin of rivals unable to match its effervescence, one among many, and, because of its unwavering commitment to its original reason for being, the brand continues to find favor within its target demographic.

There is a popular book written by Kevin Kelly called 1,000 True Followers. The premise is simple: to be successful you do not need to convince the world of the merits of your business. You need only a small, dedicated following that “gets” exactly what you’re doing (and why), and is willing to support your continued endeavors. The best, perhaps most sustainable brands in the world, understand this well. Hublot is no exception. It is a brand that rises above sometimes scathing criticism because its leaders have always understood that being adored by everyone is less important than being able to effectively speak to every one of its fans.

Hublot has done this routinely since it burst onto the scene at a troubling time for watchmaking en masse. It fused precious metals with rubber — a material never before considered luxurious enough to play a significant role in serious horology — and built its reputation on being a driver of change. This way of doing business has underpinned the brand’s success ever since and has seen it become one of the most recognizable and talked about names in watchmaking.

The release of the Hublot Classic Fusion High Jewellery 2023 continues this theme. Here we have an 18-karat white gold case, set with baguette-cut diamonds, and affixed to the wrist with a rubber and leather strap fastened by a blackened titanium buckle. That’s an awful lot of material talking points crammed into a watch that, by the brand’s often behemothic standards, is demure at 42 mm in diameter.

Contained within the show-stopping case is the HUB1710 caliber, a self-winding movement based on the Zenith Elite 670. Although aesthetically modified to Hublot’s in-house specifications, its functionality remains unchanged. The operating frequency is 28,000 vph, its power reserve stands at 50 hours, and the movement still relies on 27 jewels to keep things running smoothly. The date, which one would normally expect to find on the HUB1710 is absent from the dial for a cleaner and more focused look.

This commitment to chromatic cleanliness is continued with the caliber’s coloration. The balance wheel is silver-toned and almost all easily visible gold colored elements have been removed with only the index pins and balance jewel shock spring remaining in their original tone. The bridges and mainplate of the HUB1710 have been plated in a slightly darker gray than the bright silver rotor weight, pleasingly signed with Hublot’s elegant “H” logo.

These high jewellery pieces have, for many years, been central to the Hublot catalog. While the integration of precious gems might have seemed thematically off-brand the very first time it was attempted, it quickly became part of Hublot’s story, and this piece is the latest in a long lineage of stunningly stone-set timepieces.

Hublot seamlessly pairs 431 diamonds (amounting to 14.6 carats) with the classic silhouette that made the brand famous. Doing so was no mean feat. Setting the 241 stones that adorn the dial took 120 hours alone. The remaining gems required a further 80 hours of meticulous concentration to perfectly locate. Thus, the Hublot Classic Fusion High Jewellery 2023 represents not just a fusion of white gold, diamond, titanium, leather, and rubber, but also a fusion of forward-thinking design, high-end horology, and traditional artisanal handcrafts that the brand has committed to protecting going forward.