LVMH WATCH WEEK 2026: CUTTING EDGE COLLABORATIONS FROM HUBLOT

At LVMH Watch Week 2026 in Milan, Hublot reaffirms its position as the watchmaker most at ease outside the traditional confines of high-end watchmaking. This year's collaboration releases span sport, fashion, and contemporary art, each partnership revealing a different facet of the Manufacture's "Art of Fusion" philosophy. From a tourbillon tribute to one of tennis' greatest champions to a stripped-back chronograph born of industrial design dialogue, these four creations demonstrate that Hublot's collaborative instincts remain as sharp as ever.

When Hublot first partnered with Novak Djokovic, the Serbian tennis player had already accumulated more Grand Slam titles than any man in history. Now, with 24 major titles, an Olympic gold medal, and over 100 professional tournament victories to his name, Djokovic's legacy demanded a horological tribute of commensurate ambition.

The Big Bang Tourbillon Novak Djokovic GOAT Edition arrives as a trilogy: three colourways corresponding to tennis's three playing surfaces. Blue represents hard court (72 of Djokovic's wins), orange signifies clay (21 victories), and green denotes grass (8 triumphs). The collection is numbered rather than limited in the traditional sense; should Djokovic add further titles, Hublot will produce additional pieces to match.

The 44 mm case immediately announces its origins. Hublot has developed a bespoke composite material using Djokovic's own Lacoste polo shirts and Head tennis racquets—12 blue shirts, 4 orange, and 2 green alongside 12 racquets—were required to produce sufficient material. The result is a lightweight, marbled surface infused with the champion's competitive spirit. The case middle employs Titaplast, a high-performance polymer with mechanical properties rivalling titanium, while chemically strengthened Gorilla Glass protects both the front and back of the watch. Despite the 14.4 mm thickness and 300 metres of water resistance, the entire package weighs just 56 grams.

Within, the MHUB6035 automatic tourbillon movement—comprising 293 components and 26 jewels—offers a visual masterstroke. Rather than a conventional solid mainplate, Hublot's engineers have created a three-dimensional lattice resembling tennis racquet strings. Each "string" measures just 0.55 mm thick, laser-engraved from a single piece, and finished with black PVD coating. Djokovic's personal "ND1" logo appears in contrasting white across this architectural web. The barrel's steel rochet wheel has been decorated to resemble a tennis ball, complete with rhodium-polished S-curves and yellow-green lacquer, while a rhodium-plated 22-carat red gold micro-rotor at 12 o'clock bears the laser-engraved Hublot logo. The movement delivers a 72-hour power reserve and beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour. The aluminium tourbillon cage is anodised to match each case colour.

The strap continues the tennis theme: white calfskin embossed to mimic racquet grip tape, lined with colour-matched leather, and fastened via a Velcro loop through an anodised aluminium buckle. An additional white rubber strap with titanium deployant clasp is included for use during exercise. Even the six bezel screws have been machined to resemble tennis balls, which required Hublot to develop a bespoke S-shaped screwdriver head for assembly.

Samuel Ross' relationship with Hublot began in 2019 when the British fashion designer received the Hublot Design Prize. What followed has been an ongoing dialogue between Ross's SR_A studio and the Nyon Manufacture: three tourbillon editions that established a shared vocabulary of industrial geometry, structural forms, and engineered surfaces. The Big Bang Unico SR_A marks a new chapter: the first SR_A model to house Hublot's emblematic Unico chronograph calibre.

The timing carries additional significance. In 2026, Hublot celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first All Black watch, making this monochrome ceramic execution particularly resonant. The 42 mm case in satin-finished and polished black ceramic—measuring 14.50 mm thick with 100 metres of water resistance—strips the SR_A language back to its essence. "Stealth, strength, speed," as Ross himself describes it.

Central to the design is Ross's signature honeycomb motif, which appears on a newly developed structured rubber strap created specifically for this reference. The pattern, previously seen across SR_A sculptures and earlier watch collaborations, reinforces the industrial character that defines Ross' practice. "With the honeycomb, it was about taking information away from the watch to increase the lightness," the designer explains. A black ceramic and black-plated titanium deployant buckle completes the strap assembly.

The matte black skeleton dial exposes the HUB1280 calibre's architecture, including the visible column wheel at 6 o'clock and open chronograph mechanism. This movement—Hublot's first entirely in-house design when it debuted in 2010—features a flyback complication that is precise to 1/8th of a second, a Swiss silicon lever escapement, and 72-hour power reserve. Comprising 354 components and 43 jewels, it beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour. The black-plated tungsten oscillating weight features a circular satin finish. Five patented innovations cover everything from dual oscillating clutches to an anti-trembling system, with every component rigorously tested through Hublot's Chronofiable protocol.

The shift to a larger production run represents a deliberate broadening of the collaboration. Where earlier SR_A models centred on sculptural tourbillon constructions in smaller quantities, the Big Bang Unico SR_A introduces Ross's design identity into a more versatile format, aligning the partnership more closely with the wider Big Bang collection.

Hublot's commitment to football spans two decades and encompasses World Cups, European Championships, Premier League timekeeping duties, and partnerships with clubs from Manchester United to Juventus and even Paris Saint-Germain. The Classic Fusion Chronograph UEFA Europa League Titanium Carbon represents one of the rarer expressions of this relationship with this being only the third Europa League edition in 10 years, following releases in 2017 and 2023.

The bezel immediately identifies the creation. Carbon fibre ranging from black to anthracite grey is inlaid with orange fibreglass, punctuated by six H-shaped titanium screws. The assembly process ensures randomness in the material's patterning, rendering each watch genuinely unique. The competition's colours—black and orange—run throughout the design.

The 42 mm grade 5 titanium case balances durability with everyday wearability. A polished finish on the middle of the case emphasises its curves, while vertical satin brushing on the upper surfaces mirrors the black lined rubber strap for a cohesive, sporty effect. At just 11.9 mm thick and with 50 metres of water resistance, the proportions suit daily wear. The caseback combines satin-finished titanium with sapphire crystal bearing the printed UEFA Europa League logo.

The HUB1153 automatic chronograph movement powers the piece, delivering a 48-hour power reserve from its 269 components and 39 jewels, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour. A distinctive touch appears at 3 o'clock on the satin-finished black sunray dial: the UEFA Europa League logo, meticulously reproduced with its trophy encircled by an orange line matching the bezel's fibreglass. The same cup appears on the caseback beneath the competition logo. Accompanying the watch is a miniature reproduction of the Europa League trophy.

Since 2020, Hublot and Yohji Yamamoto have returned repeatedly to a shared obsession: the meaning of black. Both houses built their reputations on questioning convention: Hublot through its 1980 fusion of gold and rubber, Yamamoto through the revolutionary black silhouettes that debuted at Paris Fashion Week in 1981. For their fourth collaboration, and their first on the Classic Fusion platform, they explore black as texture, depth, and philosophical statement.

The 42 mm case in microblasted black ceramic absorbs light rather than reflecting it, creating volume through shadow. Measuring just 10.4 mm thick with 50 metres of water resistance, it sits elegantly on the wrist. The black-plated H-shaped titanium screws on the bezel maintain the monochrome commitment, while sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment protects the dial.

That dial features a monochrome camouflage pattern; black and grey printing that shifts subtly with movement, read via black plated matt hands. This is camouflage reimagined in Yamamoto's language: not concealment but revelation, a study in material and motion.

"Black is modest and arrogant at the same time," Yamamoto has observed. The Classic Fusion Yohji Yamamoto All Black Camo embodies this duality. The smoked sapphire caseback unveils the HUB1110 automatic calibre, a self-winding movement comprising 177 components and 25 jewels, beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour and delivering a 48-hour power reserve. The skeletonised rotor maintains the monochrome mystery while revealing the mechanical heart within.

The strap fuses black fabric and black rubber, secured by a black-plated steel deployant buckle, which echoes Yamamoto's tactile couture alongside Hublot's technical precision. The collaboration extends beyond the watch itself: each piece arrives in a custom All Black box bearing Yamamoto's signature, reinforcing the sense that this is as much a design object as a timekeeping instrument.

As Julien Tornare notes: "For Yohji Yamamoto, black reveals what truly matters, it purifies form, letting silhouette and texture speak. At Hublot, we treat black as a living material, sculpted, layered, folded where each surface interacts differently with light. Together, we share the belief that luxury is not what shines, but what endures."

What unites these four releases is not just aesthetics; they range from the technical maximalism of the Djokovic tourbillon to the meditative minimalism of the Yamamoto Classic Fusion. Rather, it is Hublot's consistent approach to partnership. Each collaboration begins with genuine dialogue, resulting in watches that could not exist without the specific involvement of their co-creators. Djokovic's shirts become case material; Ross's honeycomb becomes strap architecture; Yamamoto's philosophy of black becomes a design principle.