The mind within the Machine

The robots of founder Maximilian Büsser’s childhood have influenced MB&F’s creations from the beginning. One of the most striking examples came in 2015, when MB&F partnered with L’Epée 1839 to create Melchior, a robot-clock shaped by Büsser’s memories of toys, science fiction and machines imagined as personalities rather than objects. In 2026, MB&F introduces something new: a wristwatch conceived as the brain of a robot; and a robot that gives the wristwatch a presence far beyond the wrist.

A total horological concept to open the third decade

Originally imagined to celebrate MB&F’s 20th anniversary, the development of HM12 The Guardian took far longer than expected. The project expanded and became more complex. What first seemed like a delay gradually revealed itself as an opportunity: it became the perfect object to launch the brand’s third decade.

HM12 The Guardian is not a watch; it is a complete horological concept – and a deliberate return to MB&F’s roots, at a time when much of the brand’s audience has discovered it only recently. HM12 arrives as a recalibration. A way « to put the church back at the centre of the village » as we say in French.

Back to the Idea

At MB&F, going back to the roots does not mean revisiting the past. It means returning to the ideas and principles that have shaped the brand from the beginning, and testing whether they still hold when pushed forward. One of those principles has always been: a creative adult is a child who survived.

HM12 The Guardian revisits key elements developed over the past twenty years and recombines them into a single object. Part Horological Machine, part Legacy Machine, part Co-Creation, it brings together narrative design, high-end watchmaking, mechanical experimentation and a playful relationship with the object.

A new creative duo

HM12 also marks a pivotal moment in MB&F’s creative structure. For the first time, after 20 years of collaboration with renowned designer Eric Giroud – who remains a key partner on other projects – an Horological Machine is conceived and developed entirely by the tandem formed by Maximilian Büsser and Maximilian Maertens. Max and Max have been collaborating for several years, but until now Maertens’ work had been mainly visible in the clocks and music boxes co-created by MB&F with L’Epée and Reuge.

Büsser provided the initial impulse for HM12 The Guardian, framing the concept: What if a robot’s head were a watch? He then stepped back and Maertens became the architect and guardian of the project. Over four years, Maertens iterated relentlessly: drawing, modelling in 3D, printing prototypes, testing stability and adjusting proportions.

A face, before a watch

Visually, HM12 is frontal. It reads immediately as a face, the head of the robot it sits on. Two eyes. A presence. The references are layered. For Max Büsser, they stem from early memories of robots and toys, from the science fiction imagery of the 1970s and 1980s, when machines were imagined as characters, explorers, or guardians. For Max Maertens, they come from a later generation, shaped by Transformers, animated series, and films like I, Robot, where robots evolve, adapt, and take on more complex roles. HM12 sits at the intersection of these imaginations across different eras.

A mechanical face

Developed entirely in house, HM12 is the result of a movement and case architecture that took more than four years to complete. Every element was designed internally, with narrative intent and mechanical constraints addressed simultaneously.

HM12 is conceived as a face, the entire watch forming the robot’s head. The time display occupies the position of the eyes. Instantaneous jumping hours on the left and trailing minutes on the right are read at a fixed point, while the information moves on rotating discs.

Below, one side of the micro-rotor – shaped like the MB&F battle-axe – sits where the mouth would be. Above, the flying tourbillon functions as the brain, deliberately exposed, with a classical aesthetic grounded in high-end watchmaking rather than futuristic design. The skull of HM12 is largely made of sapphire, allowing light to enter from multiple angles and strike the tourbillon directly, visible from the front and laterally through the side of the case.

The face shield, a mechanism within the mechanism

One of HM12’s defining features is its face shield system, treated as both a complication and a functional element tied to the object’s narrative. Within the logic of the watch, the shields exist to protect the robot’s face. They also radically transform and bring colour to the face of the watch.

Actuated via the left crown, the shields move in a continuous, linear way. The wearer controls how exposed the face remains and can stop at any point, from fully visible to concealed. The crown is declutching: once the shields reach their stop, it disengages.

The system is entirely mechanical and fully independent from the movement. More than 200 components are dedicated to this function alone, a level of complexity that exceeds that of many complete mechanical watches. Chatons, polished wheels and inward angles demonstrate a level of finishing usually reserved for traditional horology.

Development was handled in parallel, one engineer focusing on the timekeeping movement and the other on the shield system, while maintaining constant alignment to prevent conflicts in space, kinematics, and function. The result is a single machine in which mechanics and narrative are developed together.

The other side of the head

Developed entirely in house, the HM12 calibre has a power reserve of 84 hours and comprises 646 components – most of which are hand-finished – including 86 jewels. From the back, HM12 reveals a different register: this side follows a more classical, traditionally horological language. Where the front leans toward a futuristic expression, the back is restrained. The calibre was shaped to follow the case, not the other way around. Echoing the proportions of a human face, the movement is open, balanced and symmetrical.

The finishing reinforces this contrast. Bridges are softly curved and hand finished, with a grained surface on the mainplate. The rear rotor features a guilloché dome executed with the involvement of renowned independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen and his team, a demanding exercise given that the guillochage is applied to a curved, spherical surface rather than a flat plane.

HM12 sits deliberately between two worlds, combining the expressive futuristic language of the Horological Machines with the classical refinement of the Legacy Machines.

The Guardian, a companion, not a stand

HM12 is delivered with The Guardian, the rest of the robot’s body – the two are one. The watch detaches from its strap via a quick-release system and mounts directly onto the head via a clipping system designed to secure it firmly while allowing repeated handling. The strap is stored in a hidden drawer integrated into the robot’s base. This is not a base or a stand. It is a body built around the watch.

The development of The Guardian was entrusted to L’Epée, a long-standing partner of MB&F. The robot is conceived as a mechanical extension of the watch and includes 755 components. At the centre of its chest sits a mechanical thermometer, acting as the heart of the robot. Each arm carries a tool. On one side, a shield that contains a loupe, calibrated to inspect the movement and reveal its finer details. On the other, a detachable torch with UV capability, designed to activate the Super LumiNova on both the watch and the robot itself.

A one-time object opening to the future

HM12 The Guardian is produced in three limited editions: blue, purple, or green. Only twelve pieces per colour, for a total of thirty-six. No more.

HM12 The Guardian brings together many of the elements that have shaped MB&F over the past twenty years: a sci-fi inspired Horological Machine, an entirely in-house calibre, traditional high-end finishing, an unconventional display, and a mechanical companion designed to be handled and explored. What first appears as a playful sculpture is in fact the result of years of development and nearly 1,500 components working as one.

HM12 The Guardian revisits MB&F’s roots – creating mechanical objects with strong personalities, real technical substance and a sense of wonder. It reaffirms those foundations and carries them into the brand’s third decade.

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The LM Perpetual Chromatic Editions

The first two editions are crafted in 18k white gold and feature bezels set with either blue or purple sapphires. The third edition is crafted in 18k red gold and features a bezel set with red rubies. Each bezel is traced by an elegant line of 48 baguette-cut gemstones, all set by hand by the skilled team at the brand’s long-term Friend STG Creation in Geneva — a perfect frame for the complex perpetual calendar calibre, achieved without increasing the diameter of the case.

The new pieces are also distinguished by PVD-treated hands matched to their gemstones or case colour; purple for the purple sapphires, blue for the blue sapphires and 5N PVD for the red ruby edition, echoing the tone of the red gold case.

Bringing together the horological complexity and craftsmanship of the innovative perpetual calendar mechanism created by Stephen McDonnell with the bold sophistication of colourful gemstones, these new editions are limited to just 8 pieces each – making them among the rarest LM Perpetuals ever crafted.

The LM Perpetual

Over ten years ago, MB&F and independent Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell began with a blank sheet of paper and completely reinvented that most traditional of horological complications; the perpetual calendar. This resulted in the creation of the Legacy Machine Perpetual, featuring a visually stunning in-house movement – developed from the ground up to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional perpetual calendars.

The fact that the complication looked sensational and could be fully appreciated dial-side was just one of the many benefits offered by the new movement, controlled by a mechanical processor.

The LM Perpetual features a fully integrated 581-component calibre − no module, no base movement − with a revolutionary new system for calculating the number of days in each month. And it holistically reinterprets the aesthetics of the perpetual calendar by placing the full complication on dial-free display underneath a spectacular suspended balance.

The perpetual calendar is one of the great traditional complications, calculating the apparently random complexity of the varying numbers of days in each month − including the 29 days in February during leap years. But traditional perpetual calendars do have a few drawbacks: dates can skip; they are relatively easy to damage if adjusted while the date is changing; and the complications are usually compromises of modules powered by base movements.

The fully integrated, purpose-built movement of Legacy Machine Perpetual has been designed from scratch for trouble-free use: no more skipping dates or jamming gears, and the adjuster pushers automatically deactivate when the calendar changes, so no problems there either!

Traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms use a 31-day month as the default and basically “delete” superfluous dates for the months with fewer days – by fast-forwarding through the redundant dates during changeover. A traditional perpetual calendar changing from February 28 to March 1 scrolls quickly through the 29th, 30th and 31st to arrive at the 1st.

LM Perpetual turns the traditional perpetual calendar system on its head by using a “mechanical processor” instead of the conventional space-consuming grand levier (big lever) system architecture. The mechanical processor utilises a default 28-day month and adds extra days as required. This means that each month always has the exact number of days required; there is no fast-forwarding or skipping redundant days. And while the leap year can only be set on traditional perpetual calendars by scrolling through up to 47 months, LM Perpetual has a dedicated quickset pusher to adjust the year.

With its open dial revealing the full complication and suspended balance, it’s the harmonious mechanical beauty of LM Perpetual that really steals the show. And in an interesting technical twist, that eye-catching balance hovering on high is connected to the escapement on the back of the movement by what is likely to be the world’s longest balance staff.

Using an innovative system developed especially for Legacy Machine Perpetual, the subdials appear to “float” above the movement with no visible attachments. The skeletonised subdials rest on hidden studs, which is technically impossible with traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms because they would block the movement of the grand levier.

Taking a clockwise tour of the dial, at 12 o’clock we see the hours and minutes nestled between the elegant arches of the balance; day of the week at 3 o’clock, power reserve indicator at 4 o’clock, month at 6 o’clock, retrograde leap year indicator at 7 o’clock, and date at 9 o’clock.

The Legacy Machine Perpetual won the Best Calendar Watch Prize at the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) in 2016.

LEGACY MACHINE PERPETUAL IN DETAIL

INSPIRATION AND REALISATION

The Legacy Machine collection was conceived when MB&F owner and creative director Maximilian Büsser started fantasising. “What would have happened if I had been born in 1867 instead of 1967? In the early 1900s the first wristwatches appear, and I would want to create three-dimensional machines for the wrist, but Grendizers, Star Wars, and fighter jets would not have been around for my inspiration. But I do have pocket watches, the Eiffel Tower, and Jules Verne, so what might my 1900s machine look like? It has to be round and it has to be three-dimensional.” The result of this was Legacy Machine No.1, first launched in 2011 – followed later by LM2 and LM101.

The LM Perpetual project began with a meeting between Maximilian Büsser and Northern Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell. McDonnell had been a long-time Friend of the brand and played an instrumental role in the realisation of MB&F’s very first timepiece, Horological Machine No.1. As Büsser was thinking of developing a perpetual calendar for the fourth watch in the Legacy Machine collection, McDonnell replied that he had an idea for a perpetual calendar that addresses many of the drawbacks associated with conventional examples.

Three years and a great many sleepless nights later, Legacy Machine Perpetual was born.

CONVENTIONAL PERPETUAL CALENDARS

Conventional perpetual calendars are generally modules comprising the complication, which is fitted on top of an existing movement. The calendar indications are synchronised by a long lever (in French: grand levier) running across the top of the complication and passing through the centre. As the date changes, this long lever transmits information to the appropriate components and mechanisms by moving backwards and forwards.
The existence of the grand levier means that there can be nothing in the centre of the complication that might impede it – like a suspended balance with its staff running right down through the centre of the movement to an escapement on the back.
This lever also means that perpetual calendars require a full dial, which may have cut-outs or windows, as it is impossible to support subdials with studs because they would block the motion of the big lever mechanism.

In the traditional grand levier system, perpetual calendars assume that, by default, all months have 31 days. At the end of months with less than 31 days, the mechanism quickly skips through the superfluous dates before arriving at the 1st of the new month. Any manipulation or adjustment of the date during changeover can result in damage to the mechanism, requiring expensive repairs by the manufacturer. The dates can also jump or skip during changeover, negating the whole point of the perpetual calendar in the first place, which is not requiring adjustment for years. Or decades.

“I call perpetual calendars boomerang watches because they come back for repair so often,” says Maximilian Büsser. “The mechanisms jam, block, break, or jump days when they shouldn’t.”

MECHANICAL PROCESSOR

Legacy Machine Perpetual uses a “mechanical processor” consisting of a series of superimposed disks. This revolutionary processor takes the default number of days in the month at 28 – because, logically, all months have at least 28 days – and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month. This ensures that each month has exactly the right number of days. There is no “skipping over” redundant days, so there is no possibility of the date jumping incorrectly.

Using a planetary cam, the mechanical processor also enables a quick setting of the year so that it displays correctly in the four-year leap year cycle, whereas traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms require the user to scroll through up to 47 months to arrive at the right month and year.

The mechanical processor also enables an inbuilt safety feature that disconnects the quickset pushers during the date changeover, eliminating any risk of damage while the date is changing.

While the conception and development of this mechanical processor-controlled perpetual calendar complication is a noteworthy achievement in itself, Stephen McDonnell went even further by managing to place all 581 components of the movement in virtually the same-sized case as LM1.

OPENING UP A NEW WORLD OF PERPETUAL CALENDAR AESTHETICS

Doing away with the calendar’s big lever has allowed for completely new aesthetics not possible when conventional systems are in use. MB&F’s mechanical processor enables the centre of the complication to be used, thereby saving space and allowing design freedom as the full dial is no longer necessary.

Legacy Machine Perpetual takes advantage of its fully integrated movement to place the perpetual calendar mechanism on top of the movement main plate so that it can be appreciated from above. Legibility is often an issue with perpetual calendars due to the sheer number of indications, and LM Perpetual addresses this by using skeletonised subdials (except for the time indication) that appear to float above the complication with no apparent support from below.

BALANCE ABOVE, ESCAPEMENT BELOW

In yet another innovation, Legacy Machine Perpetual uses what is likely to be the world’s longest balance wheel pinion to connect that elegantly suspended balance, hovering above the top of the movement, to the escapement on the back of the movement. Ensuring the practicality and reliability of this approach was essential before any other development work began.

While the view through the display back is animated by the escapement, it’s the spectacular hand-finishing of the bridges and plates that really captivates the eye.

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Conceived by Stephen McDonnell, one of the original MB&F Friends and the mastermind behind the 2015 LM Perpetual, the LM Sequential EVO was one of those timepieces that was so profoundly useful that it made you wonder why no one had thought of it before. Multiple timing modes allowed you to time everything from two athletes at the same time to consecutive lap times around a track, to name a few of its extremely practical applications.

But if the LM Sequential EVO wasn’t mind-blowing enough, there was another feature that Stephen and MB&F were keen to include: the flyback function. Stephen’s original prototype movement was actually designed with a flyback system and provisions for it were built into the LM Sequential EVO. But it was extremely complicated to perfect with the watch taking nine months of prototyping, four of which were dedicated to the flyback function alone. Add to this, six different re-designs, and all the work and components that went with them, and McDonnell felt that it would be unwise – reckless even – to release the watch with a flyback when there were so many unproven elements in play.

But the dream was there and everything was designed to be able to incorporate it at a later date; this was finally achieved in 2024, with the release of the LM Sequential Flyback, housed in the more classic Legacy Machine case.

In 2026, the Flyback function finds its way into a new EVO edition: the LM Sequential Flyback EVO, in a grade 5 titanium case, with aquamarine dial plate. On the same occasion, it inherits another feature from the more classic LM Sequential edition: a tilted dial for the time, improving its legibility.

The internal jewelling of the vertical clutches is the key to the whole Sequential chronograph, and the flyback system also requires jewelling, without which it would not work. The system is very subtle, and a great deal of work went into reducing all the friction to a minimum so that the flyback did not cause the return-to-zero to block.

To achieve this, McDonnell incorporated a special jewelled roller into the flyback mechanism. Such a component is unavailable directly from any supplier of jewels, so for the first prototype, McDonnell made the jewel himself in order to prove the concept of this ground-breaking mechanism (one of five patented elements).

EVO features

The EVO treatment comprises a series of design and engineering upgrades applied to select Legacy Machine references, reshaping them into watches better suited for daily wear and a more dynamic lifestyle. Notable elements of the EVO lineup include 80-metre water resistance, a screw-down crown, an integrated rubber strap, and MB&F’s proprietary FlexRing shock-absorption system, positioned between the case and the movement to safeguard the mechanism during active use. To heighten durability and comfort, the models also incorporate advanced materials like zirconium and titanium.

Aesthetically, the EVO pieces distinguish themselves with their ergonomic case architecture and seamlessly integrated strap, as well as the absence of a conventional bezel, which allows for an open, unobstructed view of the Super-LumiNova-boosted displays beneath their domed sapphire crystals. Within, the movements receive darkened finishes that underscore the collection’s modern, sporty character.

So, what can it do?

The LM Sequential Flyback EVO features the same layout as the LM Sequential EVO with two chronograph displays. One has its seconds display at 9 o’clock and minutes display at 11 o’clock. The other has its seconds display at 3 o’clock and minutes display at 1 o’clock. Each of these chronographs can be started, stopped, and reset completely independently of the other, using the start/stop and reset pushers on their respective sides of the case. With the flyback function, the reset pushers also trigger the flyback if the corresponding chronograph is running. These pushers make up the four chronograph pushers you would usually associate with having two chronograph mechanisms in one watch.

However, there is a fifth pusher, called the Twinverter, located at the 9 o’clock position. This “magic button” as Stephen likes to call it, is the secret that elevates the functionality of the LM Sequential timepieces beyond any existing chronograph wristwatch. It controls both chronograph systems, operating as a binary switch that inverts the current start/stop status of each chronograph. This means that if both chronographs are stopped, pressing the Twinverter causes both of them to start simultaneously. If they are both running, the Twinverter makes them stop. And, if one is running and the other is stopped, the Twinverter stops the one that is running and starts the one that is stopped.

In terms of practical applications, these functions allow the chronograph to be useful in numerous situations, as the following examples illustrate:

1. Independent mode
Imagine the preparation of a meal, where different things need to be cooked for different periods of time, at different points in time. You would operate the two chronographs via their respective pushers — for instance, starting one when you put your pasta into boiling water and starting the other when the vegetables go in the oven. In fact, this application comes in handy in all areas of personal productivity. At the gym, for example, one chronograph can be set to time your entire session whilst the second is used to record your time at each station. In this example, the new flyback function can come in handy to swiftly reset and restart the timing sequence with a single press on the reset button, combining the three steps – stop, reset to zero, and re-start – in one.

2. Simultaneous or split-second mode
This mode can be used in a race involving two competitors, starting simultaneously. The Twinverter allows the wearer to start both chronographs at exactly the same time, but the different end times can be easily recorded by pressing each chronograph’s individual start/stop pusher. To note, the durations of the events can exceed 60 seconds, which is the limit for the vast majority of split-second chronographs on the market. In this mode, you can also use the new flyback function if you want to quickly restart timing.

3. Cumulative mode
In the work environment, you might want to know how much time you spend on two separate projects as you switch between them. By starting one chronograph when you begin working on one task, and then using the Twinverter when you shift focus to the second task (switching again when you go back to the first), you can easily track the amount of time you cumulatively spent on each task. Another example of this is the timing of a chess match.

4. Sequential mode (or lap-timer mode)
This mode can be used to measure individual lap times. Starting one chronograph at the beginning of an event and using the Twinverter upon the completion of a lap instantly launches the second chronograph in order to time the next lap, while the first chronograph is stopped, allowing ample time for the timing result to be noted down. The stopped chronograph can then be reset to zero, ready to be relaunched with the Twinverter for the following lap. Thanks to its minutes’ totalisers, the LM Sequential can be used effectively in sporting events with average lap times of over a minute (which includes the vast majority of motor sports).

5. Flyback mode
The flyback was originally developed in the 1930s for airplane pilots, to allow accurate timing of flight paths from waypoint to waypoint. It was found that the time to stop, reset, and restart a chronograph took so long that errors in navigation would result, which would be compounded as these accumulated over the course of a journey with multiple legs. The flyback allowed this to be done simultaneously: stop, reset and restart in a single press on the reset pusher. Combining the new flyback function with the other timing modes of the Sequential calibre offers even more functionality. For example, a pilot can keep track of overall flight time on one chronograph, while using the other chronograph to accurately time each leg with the flyback function.

Powering such an engine

The design of the Sequential calibre is completely unique. It encompasses two independent chronographs within a single movement, both of which are linked to a common escapement and oscillator. The energy losses associated with a conventional chronograph are well known, so imagine what can happen with two chronographs in a single movement? The losses would be doubled, resulting in unacceptably poor performance. All this functionality within a single watch required the invention of a fundamentally new type of chronograph system, one which would not be susceptible to any sort of energy losses.

This is exactly what the Sequential calibre does, thanks to the use of its innovative internally-jewelled vertical clutches and their associated control system. The new flyback mechanisms also incorporate jewelled rollers. Thanks to these patented solutions, the Sequential calibre outperforms conventional chronographs in terms of energy efficiency and precision.

For the history buffs

The word chronograph has Greek etymological roots. The first part comes from χρόνος (chrónos), meaning time, as seen in words such as chronology and chronicle. The second part is derived from γρᾰ́φω (gráphō), meaning to write, to make a written record of something. Just as a phonograph describes a system of recorded sound and a photograph is recorded light, a chronograph gives us recorded time. In the early 19th century, chronographs were associated with horseracing, developed according to the necessity to precisely determine the timing results of such a fast-paced sport. These early chronographs used droplets of ink to mark timings on dials even as they continued to run, allowing specific timings to be preserved for the record (at least until the chronograph was stopped and the dial wiped clean for the next race).

In the early days of motor racing, a timing system was used whereby multiple chronograph pocket watches were mounted on a frame, and a “combined operating lever” allowed all of the watches to be actuated simultaneously. However, there were inherent inaccuracies in this approach, as the multiple watches would often run at slightly different rates. Moreover, such a cumbersome arrangement could clearly never be worn on the wrist.

When Maximilian Büsser spoke to Stephen McDonnell in 2016, raising the possibility of a follow-up to Legacy Machine Perpetual (2015), the response from Stephen was four words long: “I have an idea.” It was a response as cryptic as it was exciting, particularly if you knew the kind of ideas that came from the mind of Stephen McDonnell. That conversation with Max accelerated a train of thought that Stephen had been mulling over for some time — that most modern chronographs were unable to adequately perform the job they had been designed for.

The combined operating lever immediately suggested itself to him as a way to ensure that sequential race events could be measured with maximum precision with a manually operated mechanical chronograph. The provision of two independent chronograph systems which could be actuated together simultaneously meant that different timings could be taken and preserved long enough for the results to be recorded. The key would be to find a way to pack all of this functionality into a single wristwatch…

From then on, the various solutions fell into place. Using two separate chronograph mechanisms linked to the same oscillator — an idea practically made for the Legacy Machine, with its central flying balance wheel — meant that timing errors due to tiny chronometric discrepancies between different timers would be eliminated.

Stephen McDonnell continued to refine his vision of the ideal chronograph, reconfiguring the chronograph vertical clutch to sit within the main gear train in order to eliminate the infamous flutter of the chronograph seconds hand without the need for an amplitude-draining friction spring. He incorporated internally jewelled chronograph clutch shafts that would make amplitude fluctuation between the active and inactive modes of the chronograph a thing of the past.

The crowning touch to Stephen McDonnell’s ideal chronograph, augmenting the role played by the combined operating lever found in historical chronograph systems, is the Twinverter concept. The ability to toggle instantly between chronograph operating modes directly opens up this age-old complication to be used in a variety of situations in modern daily life. It is the programming logic gate of mechanical watchmaking, a system that could have been devised only by the creator of the mechanical processor at the heart of Legacy Machine Perpetual.

Dream-maker meets watchmaker: more about Maximilian Büsser and Stephen McDonnell

Those who know the story of MB&F will know that Northern Ireland watchmaker Stephen McDonnell is counted among the key figures who brought the first creations of Max Büsser into the world. He was one of the handful of watchmakers who assembled the first few movements for what would become Horological Machine N°1.

A decade later, Stephen McDonnell re-entered the world of MB&F to develop the Legacy Machine Perpetual: a groundbreaking approach to one of the most prestigious traditional high complications, the perpetual calendar. His philosophy of watchmaking is directly complementary to that of Max, taking a blue-sky approach to practical horology, compared to Max’s way of turning space-age fantasies into wrist-worn realities.

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The original HM11 Architect
“A house is a machine to live in,” wrote Le Corbusier – a maxim MB&F made literal with HM11. The Machine transformed the idea of a “watch case” into a miniature home: four symmetrical rooms radiating from a central atrium crowned by a flying tourbillon beneath a double-domed sapphire roof. Every room had a function – time display, power reserve, mechanical thermometer, and time-setting module – and the entire case could rotate, aligning any room toward the wearer. Each 45° turn of the case delivered 72 minutes of winding, ten complete turns producing the full autonomy of four days (96 hours): a tactile ritual that connected the owner to the mechanism.
The 42mm grade 5 titanium case was built like micro-architecture, with curved walls, stacked sapphire domes, and a crown nearly ten millimetres wide, engineered with a complex multi-gasket “airlock” system to remain functional despite its size. Inside, an in-house manual movement drove a central flying tourbillon built around bevel gears, the engine suspended by four laser-cut steel springs derived from aerospace technology. The inaugural editions established a new aesthetic species: half timepiece, half inhabitable structure.

The new HM11 Art Deco
The new HM11 Art Deco builds on the same foundations while adopting a distinct visual language. Guided by Maximilian Maertens’ fascination with early-20th-century architecture – from Parisian cinemas to Manhattan skyscrapers – the design trades the organic fluidity of the Architect for the geometry and rhythm of the Art Deco movement.

On the dial side, radiating “sunbeam” motifs – partially skeletonised for legibility – replace the original conical rods, while two-tone rings and period-inspired typography define the displays. The hands feature a red stained-glass effect thanks to translucent enamel. The bridges rise in more vertical, architectural forms reminiscent of ornamental stonework, and the roof’s grooved profiles echo the stepped silhouettes of skyscrapers like the Chrysler Building. The re-drawn tourbillon bridge now aligns with the base plate, creating a visual axis that ties the structure together; even the crown gains subtle steps recalling layered poster art. Put together, the modifications reinforce a sense of upward momentum: an Art Deco skyline.

Viewed side by side, the two chapters of HM11 reveal a study in contrasts. The original Architect evokes the soft concrete curves of the 1970s: human, tactile, experimental. The new Art Deco stands upright, structured, graphic: a city in miniature. Yet both share the same spirit: a Horological Machine to be lived, not merely worn.

The HM11 Art Deco is crafted in two editions of 10 pieces each, totalling 20 pieces for MB&F’s 20th Anniversary, both in grade 5 titanium:
– Blue dial plate with 3N yellow-gold-toned bridges, paired with a white lizard strap;
– Green dial plate with 5N rose-gold-toned bridges, on a beige lizard strap.

HM11 ARCHITECT & HM11 ART DECO
Blurring the lines between horology and architecture 2023 saw the rise of HM11, a hybrid mixing complex watchmaking and architecture, straight out of the brains of MB&F creative director Maximilian Büsser and designer Eric Giroud; its curves were inspired by the neo-futuristic architecture of the 1960s and 70s. For the 2025 HM11 Art Deco editions, designer Maximilian Maertens has added distinct design elements from the 1930s movement.

HM11 Architect
“A house is a machine to live in”: Le Corbusier’s quote has followed MB&F for years because its Horological Machines are not simply worn; they are inhabited. They invite a person to step into a story, sometimes a different time, sometimes a world that never existed. The first Horological Machine N°11 took that idea and made it literal. The object on the wrist became a small design house, complete with rooms, an atrium, corridors and a front door. The result was not a traditional case with a dial but a micro architecture that happened to keep time.

The introductory HM11 Architect arrived in 2023, but the seed of the design goes back further, to the late 1960s and early 1970s, an era when a few radical architects began shaping buildings organically. They produced houses that looked as if the earth had exhaled them: forms swelled and curved, volumes wrapped around sightlines and limbs. It was human in the most direct way, not through theory but through shape and scale. Maximilian Büsser looked at these organic homes and thought: what if a house was a watch?

The answer became the HM11 Architect. A central flying tourbillon rose under a double domed sapphire roof. Its quatrefoil-shaped upper bridge called to mind clerestory windows. From that centre, four symmetrical volumes reached outward to become the rooms of the house. The four rooms were not metaphors: each one carried a specific function and could be placed either directly in front of the wearer or offset by 45 degrees, simply by rotating the case. Orientation was a choice, not an obligation.

The time room delivered the essential: hours and minutes were displayed with a clarity that felt almost domestic. Rod mounted orbs served as markers: larger and lighter aluminium orbs marked the quarters, while smaller and darker titanium orbs completed the ring. The next room housed the power reserve: five orbs increased in size as the barrel filled, with a polished aluminium orb of 2.4 millimetres indicating full power. Another room installed a thermometer, not an electronic sensor but a mechanical system using a bimetallic strip. The range covered -20 to 60 degrees Celsius, or zero to 140 Fahrenheit, as preferred by the owner. The final room looked empty, a void with a small badge carrying the MB&F battle axe emblem. That quiet space was the time setting module. Pulling the transparent unit opened the door with a click,turning it moved the hands. The crown was the key to the house.

Winding did not happen at the crown, but thanks to the entire case turning on its foundations. Each 45-degree clockwise rotation clicked under the fingers and delivered exactly 72 minutes of power to the barrel. Ten complete turns produced the full autonomy of four days (96 hours). The sensation surprised many first-time wearers: the act of winding became a twist of an object rather than the tiny movement of a fingertip. The bond between owner and machine deepened through touch. It felt playful, and at the same time it felt precise.

The 42mm case itself showed how far the house metaphor could go. Grade 5 titanium formed the outer walls of the rooms. The atrium opened to the light beneath a transparent roof built from two stacked sapphire crystal domes. The crown was sapphire as well, nearly ten millimetres across, an unprecedented feature that required special engineering. A crown of that size cannot rely on a single oversized gasket, since friction would make it unusable. The solution stacked seals like a double airlock. A total of eight gaskets supported the crown alone; adding the gaskets around the case and bezel increased the count to nineteen.

The engine under the roof was an in-house manual movement, three-dimensional in its construction and built around bevel gears. The flying tourbillon set the cadence at 2.5 hertz, or 18,000 vibrations per hour. A system dampener isolated the movement from shocks through four high tension suspension springs hidden between the engine and the lower shell. These were not simple wire coils but custom elements laser cut from a hardened steel tube with a chrome finish, a solution derived from aerospace technology.

The first HM11 launched in two editions with plates and bridges in ozone blue or rose gold tones, each limited to 25 pieces. The sense of a new species was unmistakable. On the wrist the object looked like architecture. In the hand it felt like a 1970s spaceship.

HM11 Art Deco
The next step is not a departure but a change in language: the HM11 Art Deco introduces a different voice while keeping the same foundations. The person responsible for that voice is Maximilian Maertens in Berlin. His route into the era was not academic: at sixteen he visited the Rex cinema in Paris and noticed how that building stood apart, in a city where so many entrances and façades lean toward Art Nouveau. That memory lived somewhere close and eventually became a compass point for this design.

The brief that followed was clear: evolve the Architect without losing its identity.

Art Deco arrives in HM11 through structure and graphics. The dial side adopts a two-tone logic that separates rings and fields. Displays change from the initial conical rods to radiating sunbeam motifs typical of the posters from the period. The temperature display switches to a font linked to the era. The metalwork makes the message physical: bridges visible from above gain a more vertical, block-like stance; their profiles recall ornamental stonework and the measured cadence of façades. On the case, the small roof elements are reworked with fine grooves that echo the stepped profiles of skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building. Viewed from above they feel like miniature towers; viewed in passing they introduce a vertical rhythm that sits comfortably with the sunbeam dials.

The tourbillon bridge has been redrawn so its axis connects with the larger base plate bridges: when alignment lands exactly right a clean line reads across the object and ties the architecture together. The crown gains small steps that mirror layered poster art. The changes are subtle but illustrate the approach throughout this new chapter: make many small decisions, and let the sum of them support the idea.

The difference between the two HM11 chapters becomes obvious when the watches sit side by side. The Architect feels like freshly sprayed concrete with gently rounded forms, organic and experimental. The Art Deco stands straighter and speaks in verticals and sunbeams, structured and graphic. The first reads like a humanist experiment; the second reads like a city rising, with towers and façades translated to millimetres and microns. Both share the same foundations, and both tell stories that place the wearer somewhere specific. Both are machines built to be lived.

The two new HM11 Art Deco editions are in grade 5 titanium and limited to only 10 pieces:
– with blue dial plate and 3N yellow gold toned bridges, paired with a white lizard strap;
– with green dial plate and 5N rose gold toned bridges, paired with a beige lizard strap.

HM11 Art Deco in more detail
A pair of short stories explains how certain design decisions took shape; the first concerns the dial frame. Early prototypes used a full ring with no openings. Once assembled, orientation suffered: noon, three, six, and nine were not immediate. The solution was to turn the frame into a skeleton and open specific apertures with a laser. After cutting, the space left on each hand measured around two tenths of a millimetre – roughly the thickness of two human hairs. Repositioning and indexing had to be exact. The production order was adjusted so that the risky step came before final finishing, not after. The frame then received diamond cut accents, micro blasting, and a circular satin finish. The look stayed crisp and the reading became clear.

The second story sits in the hands. The designer asked for a red stained-glass effect. Rubies were considered, but the geometry could not be made to work in that shape. Transparent enamel became the path forward. Dozens of trials established a shade that reads under direct light and with light shining through from behind. The look is slightly milky and clearly translucent. Across the watch there are four hands. Each one differs slightly to respect the intended graphics of its display.

Much of the work in the HM11 Art Deco editions is finishing. The upper cage bridge concentrates many inward angles; these are finished by hand and only a few specialists achieve them cleanly and consistently. The lower cage bridge mirrors the same drawing. The four peripheral bridges alternate polished and satin faces in sequence so light walks across the surfaces. In a render the effect almost vanishes; in person it becomes the first thing the eye tracks as the wrist moves.

Glass elements deserve a moment of attention. Each groove is cut with a specific tool. Larger grooves are taken by hand to erase machining marks. A very dark anthracite metallisation hugs the edges of the glass to hide gaskets and structural parts, a technique that already proved its worth on the first HM11 and continues to do so here. The underside of the case remains micro blasted for a calm, even tone. The upper areas alternate polish and satin in a pattern set by the new graphics. The stepped outer ring is the visible change that ties the theme together.

None of those choices change the way the machine runs; the challenge sits in manufacture and finishing. The case stays grade 5 titanium, sapphire crystals cap the top and back and cover each chamber display, with antireflective coatings on both faces. Water resistance stays at 20 metres. Inside, the manual movement developed in house runs at 2.5 hertz and stores 96 hours. Winding still happens by rotating the entire case. The functions remain hours and minutes, power reserve, and temperature.
A short note on comfort helps complete the picture. Despite its three-dimensional complexity, the case sits compact at 42mm. The curved feet that double as strap attachments spread the load and add stability during winding. The titanium shell keeps weight down.

The post HOROLOGICAL MACHINE NO11: NEW ‘ART DECO’ EDITIONS One-page summary appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

As its “101” name implies, the timepiece focuses on the essentials of a mechanical wristwatch: the balance wheel, which regulates precision; the power reserve, showing how much energy remains in the mainspring and when it needs to be wound; and, of course, the display of time itself.

The LM101 movement was the first calibre entirely conceived by MB&F’s in-house engineering team. Award-winning, independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen played a pivotal role in the design and finishing specifications, ensuring that its architecture and 19th century style hand-finishing techniques met the highest standards of traditional haute horlogerie and respected the codes of historical watchmaking.

Over the last decade, the reference has seen many stunning iterations in white, rose and yellow gold, platinum, palladium and stainless steel – along with a plethora of striking dial colours and finishes, each as desirable as the next.

The LM101 is now one of MB&F’s most coveted creations, and over the last few years, collectors and enthusiasts have frequently expressed their desire for an EVO edition. To mark MB&F’s 20th anniversary in 2025, the brand has finally decided to answer this request with the debut of the LM101 EVO – a fitting tribute to two decades of horological artistry and a thank you to the model’s most avid fans.

What is the EVO effect?

The EVO series was introduced in 2020 with the LM Perpetual EVO – an evolution of the award-winning LM Perpetual. This was followed by the LM Split Escapement EVO and the LM Sequential EVO in 2022.

The EVO treatment includes a set of design and engineering enhancements that are applied to certain Legacy Machine models, transforming them into timepieces that are better equipped for everyday wear and an active lifestyle. Key features of the EVO models include a water resistance of 80 metres, a screw-down crown, an integrated rubber strap, and MB&F’s patented FlexRing shock absorber that is fitted between the case and the movement to protect the watch during active use. To further enhance resistance and wearability, the models employ advanced materials such as zirconium and titanium.

In terms of design, the EVO models stand out thanks to their ergonomic case design and integrated strap; but also by forgoing a traditional bezel, offering an unobstructed view of the Super-LumiNova enhanced displays through their domed sapphire crystals. On the movement side, EVO models feature darkened treatments, amplifying their sporty, contemporary aesthetic.

The 20th Anniversary LM101 EVO Editions

In celebration of MB&F’s 20th anniversary in 2025, two LM101 EVO editions are introduced in titanium, available with either a salmon or peacock green dial plate. These dial plate colours are produced using CVD, short for chemical vapor deposition – a technique chosen for its technical advantages as the dial plate forms an integral part of the movement. The peacock green version is particularly captivating as shifting hues of green, blue, and purple light refract across its surface. The salmon version is just as noteworthy as it is a relatively rare colour for MB&F.

Those with a keen eye will also notice a host of new details in these EVO editions. The two black subdials, hovering just about the dial plate, are now framed by finely circled borders. At the top right, the highly legible hours and minutes are displayed by newly designed white gold hands. The power reserve indicator, positioned in the lower subdial, reveals a significant improvement: the power reserve of the LM101 EVO calibre has been increased from the previous 45 hours to 60 hours, in keeping with the sportier theme.

The elegant twin arches suspending the flying balance wheel continue to catch the eye. Milled from a single block of metal, they require many hours of hand finishing to achieve their mirror-like lustre. In this EVO version, they feature a more fluid and refined base, further distinguishing this model from the classic LM101 version. The escapement wheel has also undergone a refined redesign, inspired by the recurring battle-axe motif found in MB&F timepieces.

A Straumann double hairspring and a reliable slipping mainspring barrel are integral features of the manually-wound LM101 EVO movement. New for this LM101 edition is the innovative proprietary FlexRing which comes with the EVO package. Each timepiece is finished with a box sapphire crystal on the back, revealing the beauty of the darkened hand-finished movement beneath. Undulating Geneva waves, hand polished bevels, gold chatons, countersunk blued screws and sensually curved plates and bridges all pay homage to the style found in high quality historic pocket watches and testify to the respect accorded to historical legitimacy.

Completing the look, wearers can choose between a sleek white or grey rubber strap. Although not formally a limited edition, the collection can only be crafted in a limited quantity of a few dozen pieces per year, based on capacity.

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A decade after the first automotive-inspired MB&F Machines, MB&F revealed the supercar-inspired HM8 Mark 2 in 2023.

After a successful introduction of two editions in 2023 – with white or green body panels, the latter limited to 33 pieces – the HM8 Mark 2 came back in 2024 with a limited edition featuring a glossy sapphire blue bodywork.
In 2025, MB&F presents a new limited variation of 33 pieces, showcasing a stunning purple case paying homage to luxurious car paints, both technically and aesthetically thanks to metallic pigments and a translucid material on its body panels.

THE INITIAL DREAM

To fully understand MB&F’s link to the car world, we need to step back in time to 1985 for a moment. As children, we all have dreams, some of them come true, others get abandoned along the way, and some are so part of who we are that they end up happening despite us. This was the case with MB&F’s Founder Maximilian Büsser, who spent the majority of his childhood dreaming about becoming a car designer. He was so smitten with the idea that from the age of 4 to 18, cars were the only thing he would sketch and draw. When his classmates started discovering other areas of interest, his heart remained steadfastly loyal to the automobile with its aerodynamic lines and sleek forms.

Just before graduating from high school, he learned that the world-famous ArtCenter College of Design from Pasadena, was opening a campus in Europe, and not just in Europe, but in La Tour-de-Peilz, a stone’s throw from his childhood home. Could this be a sign? He could hardly contain his excitement until he discovered that the school fees were CHF 50,000, a huge amount of money today, and an even more colossal sum back in 1985.

Knowing how much he loved cars, his parents said they would find a way – but Maximilian knew that it would be too much for them. So as everyone keeps telling him he would make a very good engineer as he was so good at maths, he signed up for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), and that could have been the end of the story, only it wasn’t.

“I lost my way, I lost my marbles, and ended up in the watchmaking industry,” he shares with a smile. “So, when I decided to tackle car design in a timepiece, this was humungous for me. It was everything I had ever dreamed of.”

PLAYING WITH PRISMS

He found inspiration in a crazy design by Amida, called the Amida Digitrend, a watch that was unveiled in 1976, just before the company went bankrupt. Working on a similar idea, MB&F employed a sapphire prism that would allow the jumping hours and sweeping minutes to be indicated vertically, when they were actually flat as a pancake on top of the movement. The time was indicated in a window that resembled an old-style speedometer on the front of the case that could also be easily viewed while driving, no less. Unlike the Amida, with its discs next to each other, the MB&F HM design features discs that are one on top of the other, maximising the size of the digits and therefore the legibility.

The idea didn’t end there, as the mission was to make the numerals look almost digital or electronic. This was achieved using sapphire disks that were coated with a black metallization, leaving the numerals clear. Super-LumiNova® was then added underneath the sapphire disc, so that the luminescence would be completely flat, not bulbous as it appears when it is applied to the dial. It is interesting to note that the numerals had to be created back-to-front as they get reversed in the prism.

This system came to life in the HM5 with opening and closing slats that allowed the light into the movement to charge the luminescence. These slats were inspired by Marcello Gandini’s design for the Bertone Lamborghini Miura with its louvers on the rear window that gave the car its futuristic aesthetic.

These slats were dropped in the following model – the HMX – in favour of a sapphire crystal cover that gave a partial view on the engine beneath. This piece was inspired by another Italian coach builder – Touring Superleggera – and was equipped with miniature oil caps that could be unscrewed and filled with watchmaking oils.

Next came the HM8 ‘Can-Am’ with a sapphire crystal that also allowed a view on the spinning rotor. It was this movement, based on a Girard-Perregaux calibre, that is also providing the base for the brand-new HM8 Mark 2. The HM8 took its design cues from Can-Am cars (hence the nickname) from the famous Canadian American Racing Championship. The cars’ unusual design and distinctive roll bars became the inspiration for the watch’s two titanium roll bars.

The HM8 Mark 2, on the other hand, with its distinctive “double bubble” sapphire crystal, finds inspiration in the design of some of the most iconic supercars.

A CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION

Not only did the design codes of these timepieces find their inspiration in the automobile world, but the construction did too. That engineering degree was not wasted on Maximilian after all! The HM5 and HM8 Mark 2 are built from an independent water-resistant chassis to which the body panels of the watch are added, while the HMX and HM8 favoured a monobloc construction.

For the HM8 Mark 2, this coachwork first came in a choice of white or British racing green CarbonMacrolon® that has a matt finish on the top and a high polish on the sides. The white version was paired with a green CVD rotor and light green minute markers, while the British racing green version came with a red gold rotor and balance wheel and turquoise minute markers, and was limited to 33 pieces.

After these first launch editions in 2023, MB&F decided to pursue its homage to the automotive world with a blue model, quickly followed in 2025 by a purple iteration, both limited to 33 pieces only.

The HM8 Mark 2’s deep yet sparkly blue and purple are obtained from metallic pigments of mineral origin, the same as those found in metallic car paint. They come as a powder which is incorporated into resin according to a very specific protocol (incorporation time, mixing temperature, mixing speed and duration, etc.).

Thanks to its beautiful and unique body panels, the timepiece comes back with a bang, in colours that should please both watch aficionados and car enthusiasts alike. The piece is completed by a sporty and comfortable rubber strap.

CARBONMACROLON®

Developed specifically for MB&F, CarbonMacrolon® is a composite material composed of a polymer matrix injected with carbon nanotubes, which add strength and rigidity. Carbon nanotubes offer superior tensile strength and stiffness than traditional carbon fibre reinforcing. MB&F’s CarbonMacrolon® is a solid material that is hard and can be coloured, polished, bead-blasted, lacquered, satin-finished…

In addition to all these attributes, it weighs eight times less than steel, making it extremely versatile and interesting from both a technical and design point of view.

UNDER THE HOOD

Like any super- or hyper-car, a lot of the technology inside the HM8 Mark 2 is not visually obvious, starting with the titanium chassis, which is extremely complicated to mill. Even in stainless steel, it would have been extremely complex to make, but the hardness of this alloy really put MB&F’s technicians to the test.

The same is true of the CarbonMacrolon® body panels, which due to the small production quantities, could only be milled from a block, adding another layer of complexity to the watch’s coachwork.

A long line of MB&F timepieces has pushed the limits of what is physically possible in terms of sapphire crystal production, and the HM8 Mark 2 is no exception. The creation of this double-curved sapphire has reached a complexity that is 30 to 40 times more expensive than a dome sapphire. Only one supplier agreed to take on the challenge. During the many hours required to produce each sapphire crystal, the risk of breakage is incredibly high – and if it is going to break, it is always at the very last moment, much to the utter desperation of all concerned. Once safely completed and fitted into the timepiece, however, it is just as robust as the sapphire crystal on any sports watch.

And last, but not least, the battle axe rotor that powers the movement is incredibly complex to make as one of the 22-carat gold blades is only two-tenths of a millimetre thick. It cannot possibly be machined so it had to be stamped, with the engraving already incorporated into the stamp.

A WORLD-PREMIERE CROWN

Not under the hood, but equally hidden, is a brand-new type of crown that has a sort of “double de-clutch” system, to coin an automobile term. It works by pushing the crown in and turning it three-quarters of a turn to release it. This has the advantage of gaining space and providing additional security to the system, which is a genuine advantage for a sports watch.

The HM8 Mark 2 takes everything that MB&F fans have loved in this automotive series over the last 10+ years and has made it more technical, more legible, sexier and easier to wear. But more than that, it is a reminder that, wherever you are in life, it is never too late to follow your dreams.

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The MB&F SP One, initially dubbed “Three Circles”, showcases a trinity of floating elements – the barrel, balance wheel, and dial – defying gravity on your wrist. These components appear to hover mysteriously at the centre of an amphitheatre, all visible through invisible sapphire domes, with the balance wheel performing a mid-air dance and the tilted dial highlighting MB&F’s clever conical gearing. The SP One is a mechanical marvel that turns your wrist into a stage for a captivating, gravity-defying performance.

Encased in a 38mm pebble-like shell, the SP One melds a smooth, tactile feel with a bezel-free design and delicately detached lugs. As MB&F’s slimmest and smallest watch, it nonetheless remains true to the brand’s signature three-dimensional architecture and boundary-pushing spirit. Somewhere between MB&F’s radical Horological Machines and more classic Legacy Machines, the SP One inaugurates a new, undefinable “Special Projects” collection.

To truly grasp the amphitheatre-like drama and unconventional flair of this project, let’s dig into its origin story.

Plunging the hand in the basket

When COVID hit, like many others MB&F thought it was the end. In this tumultuous time, the team decided it was important to dive into a basket of fun, dormant projects that had been on the back burner for years. The M.A.D.1 was one example of these whimsical ventures: initially planned to be a playful experiment to thank friends and family, it turned out to be the runaway success we know today. The following years were tinged with more success, marked by new releases, a collection of prestigious GPHG awards… Times were great.

But as MB&F owner and creative director Maximilian Büsser says, success can be toxic – leading to complacency, treating clients poorly, and stifling innovation. Instead of succumbing to these pitfalls, the team ramped up their creativity and plunged their hands deeper in the basket of dormant projects.

This surprising turn of events underscored a timeless truth for the brand: the unexpected can indeed work wonders. It was a bold reminder that the best business plans are the ones you never planned at all. This embodies the spirit of MB&F, which according to any management book, epitomizes doing everything wrong. No business plan, just a will to create the unexpected, going against the grain and revelling in the unconventional.

The basket brimming with special projects sketched over the years, seemingly senseless at the time, was full of wild ideas, flashes of intuition, and even sketches of skateboards and razors. It was a treasure trove of creativity. Max reached into the basket and picked out one project that best embodied the spirit of these special ventures.

This project, simply code-named Special Project One (SP One), was the chosen one.

Nothing classic about a classic

“We asked ourselves: what if we did what no one expected – an elegant, classical watch?” remembers Max. This was a risky move, much like the brand’s first Legacy Machine, or the M.A.D.1, or many other MB&F projects: zero market expectations, 100% risks.

“As creators, pride drives us. Pride doesn’t come from the easy path but from risking it all and potentially facing a huge setback”. The first sketch of the SP One, dating back to 2018, proves this ethos. Like all MB&F projects, it started with a sketch – quickly or “badly” drawn, as Max likes to say – but the essence of the design and specificity of the project were already there. Three circles resembling a smiley face hinted at the playful yet intricate journey ahead. The concept stemmed from this idea of a trinity: the barrel, the balance wheel, and the dial suspended in the case itself levitating on the wrist.

Yet, these early sketches were all about crafting a watch that whispered sophistication instead of shouting for attention. It needed to be subtly elegant, with a classic flair that set it apart from the usual MB&F boldness while keeping the brand’s roots alive. In other words, a hard-to-reach equilibrium.

This initial sketch was then refined and reworked with the help of famous watch designer and longtime MB&F Friend Eric Giroud. After numerous iterations, the concept seemed just right: it was then time for the engineers to take over, sketching and mapping the entire project with precision, care and plenty of head-scratching.

Levitating in a circle

Initially code-named “Three Circles,” the SP One movement is crafted around the three key elements of any mechanical watch: the barrel, the balance wheel, and the dial. Each component isn’t just there for show; they’re meant to feel like they’re floating in mid-air.

Thanks to the sapphire glass on both the front and back, these elements appear to defy gravity. However, it’s the thoughtful architecture of the movement that truly enhances this captivating levitation effect, creating a striking visual experience. Embracing the “less is more” mantra, the bridges are almost like magic, practically invisible. Most components are cleverly hidden beneath the three key elements, letting their beauty take centre stage. The fewer bridges, screws, and wheels, the better! In fact, trying to spot a screw from the front is like searching for a needle in a haystack, amplifying that stunning levitating effect.

Visually, the three elements have identical circumferences, adding complexity to the movement’s design. The single-barrel architecture is elegantly suspended, enhancing the levitation effect and presenting a genuine challenge for the movement designers. The balance wheel oscillates at 2 o’clock and captivates the wearer eyes like a flying saucer.

In Max’s imaginative world, everything seems to float, and the dial perfectly follows suit! Tilted just right to highlight MB&F’s expertise in conical gearing, this feature is a tricky feat to pull off while keeping it reliable. Rarely seen in watchmaking, it adds a wonderfully subtle three-dimensional flair that’s as intriguing as discreet.

This technically complex to achieve architecture reveals a simple and unique structure that makes understanding how a mechanical watch functions surprisingly straightforward.

Surrounding this movement is what Max playfully dubs the “amphitheatre”: a beautifully bevelled flange that channels the grandeur of Greco-Roman theatres, spotlighting the stunning intricacies of the movement like a gladiator in the arena.

Flip the SP One over, and you’ll uncover the other side of its arena, showcasing the meticulous hand finishing and overall attention to detail typical of MB&F – one of the rare watchmakers today perpetuating traditional hand finishing and artisanal craftsmanship.

The MB&F touch is unmistakably present in the SP One. Beyond the desire to surprise and take risks, it’s the meticulous attention to the movement that reveals the family ties. The complexity lies in maintaining finesse and elegance while preserving classic codes. All wheels are hand-angled, with prominent chatons, and the finish balance is subtle between satin, polished, and micro-blasted surfaces.

A satisfying pebble

Beyond the unconventional construction of the movement and traditional hand-finishing, the pebble case design further sets the SP One apart.

Despite being thin, this watch paradoxically boasts a three-dimensional presence. Imagine holding a perfectly-smooth pebble, polished by years in a riverbed: that’s the feel of the SP One. Its 38mm case, sleek like a spaceship and bezel-free, features sapphire glass that seamlessly blends front and back with the case. This design gives the watch a captivating floating effect also emphasized by its cleverly crafted lugs. A closer look reveals that they’re not directly attached to the upper case; instead, they rise elegantly from the lower case, creating a subtle yet distinct gap between each hand-polished lug and the upper section.

Overall, the SP One is as smooth to the touch as it looks, inviting you to run your fingers over its curves. It’s like a tiny UFO landed on your wrist, blending unconventional design with an organic, tactile sensation.

While the SP One is MB&F’s thinnest watch, it’s not about competing for the title of the slimmest watch in the world. Instead, it embodies a harmonious balance in design and proportions, prioritizing elegance and artistry over mere thinness to achieve true equilibrium.

The term “equilibrium” perfectly captures the essence of this Special Project. It breaks conventions while staying true to the brand’s core identity and traditional craftsmanship, all while exploring new avenues.

In essence, a classical MB&F that has nothing classical about it.

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MB&F’s 20th Anniversary
2025 marks the 20th Anniversary of an adventure that started in 2005 when Maximilian Büsser started putting together a network of “Friends”, on the basis of a drawing that we know now as Horological Machine No.1. Two decades and more than 20 calibres later, the MB&F team includes over 60 employees – what a ride it has been.

Reflecting on the last 20 years, Max shares: “It is like a dream come true, only I never dreamt it. I could never have even imagined we would be where we are today back then; it is surreal.”

This birthday year will be jam-packed with new timepieces, collaborations, and surprises that are a genuine celebration of the art of MB&F creativity, starting with two limited editions – the LM Perpetual Longhorn and the LM Sequential Flyback Longhorn – limited to just 20 pieces each.

The Longhorn Adventure
The Longhorn concept was born in 2009 during the design phase of LM1, MB&F’s first Legacy Machine. The stylistic idea of playing with longer lugs – also called horns – was pleasing to the eye but problematic as where should the spring bar go: close to the case or at the tip of the lug? Depending on the wrist size, both options can lead to a bad fit. So, the long horns were switched for short horns and that was that, or so everyone thought.

Fast forward to 2021 and the 10th anniversary of the LM1. There were no LM1 timepieces left, since MB&F had made the decision to close the series. Just one prototype remained, potentially to mark this important milestone. But how could this timepiece be even more special than everything that had come before? It was at this moment that the question of the long horns was raised once more, but this time with the ingenious idea of drilling two holes in the lugs – one at the tip of the horn, the other closer to the case – so the customer could decide.

This wasn’t the only special feature of this unique piece. Where most of the LM1s were crafted in gold, platinum or titanium, this one-of-a-kind timepiece came in stainless steel – and instead of the Legacy Machines’ classic white sub dials, it featured glossy black dials against a rhodium-plated base plate. The black dials were a headache to create as even the smallest speck of dust would ruin them, but patience and perseverance prevailed.

The piece was sold at auction by Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo with a significant portion of the proceeds going to Save the Rhino International, closing a chapter on the LM1. The incredible feedback following the sale, however, left a question about whether the long horns and this inversed black and silver colour scheme should end here.

The First Two Anniversary Limited Editions
They say that “all good things come to an end”, but if you can make them last a bit longer, why not seize the right opportunity? This was the thinking behind these first two anniversary timepieces featuring stainless steel cases, long horns, rhodium-plated base plates, glossy black lacquer sub dials and blued hands.

Legacy Machine Perpetual Longhorn
The first is the LM Perpetual Longhorn, containing MB&F’s GPHG award-winning perpetual calendar first released in 2015. Created in collaboration with independent watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, the 581-component, fully integrated and purpose-built movement eliminates the drawbacks of conventional perpetual calendars, offering a significantly more user-friendly and trouble-free solution.

McDonnell’s perpetual calendar relies on a ground-breaking “mechanical processor” which avoids skipping dates and jamming gears as the adjuster pushers automatically deactivate when the calendar changes. In this anniversary edition of 20 pieces, McDonnell’s visually stunning in-house movement takes on a whole new aesthetic with the addition of long horns and the black, silver and blue colourway.

Legacy Machine Sequential Flyback Longhorn
The second limited edition, the LM Sequential Flyback Longhorn, was also conceived by Stephen McDonnell. The first version of the series, the LM Sequential EVO, was first released in 2022 and was MB&F’s first-ever chronograph – and 20th calibre. It featured significant technical innovations and an unprecedented combination of timing modes thanks to its “Twinverter” binary switch, allowing independent timing, split-second, cumulative and lap-timer modes – going on to win watchmaking’s ultimate prize, the coveted Aiguille d’Or award.

The Flyback version went even further than the EVO edition as, on top of the previous timing modes, typically associated with motor racing, it added the flyback function originally conceived for pilots, bringing the Sequential into the world of aviation. Now adorned with long horns, blued hands and glossy black sub dials, this second limited edition of 20 pieces is also ready to kick off MB&F’s 20th birthday celebration.

A Tribute to a Special Friend
“We cannot talk about MB&F’s journey, without talking about Stephen McDonnell,” notes Maximilian Büsser. “It is for this reason that we wanted to start our 20th-anniversary celebrations with his calibres, which are some of the most complicated movements in the MB&F collection.”

Northern Ireland-based watchmaker Stephen McDonnell is indeed one of the original MB&F Friends. His collaboration began in the very early days of the brand when he assisted with the final development and assembly of Horological Machine No.1. Several years later, he went on to develop the abovementioned LM Perpetual and Sequential.

These two Longhorn limited editions are just the beginning of a year of celebrations dedicated to MB&F’s many collaborations and creations, so stay tuned for more over the coming months.

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The LM Perpetual EVO was launched in three limited editions in zirconium, followed by a titanium edition with green CVD dial-plate, replaced in February 2024 by an ice blue dial-plate. To celebrate the opening of the MB&F LAB in Silicon Valley with retail partner Stephen Silver, the series is joined by a limited edition of 18 pieces in 18K rose gold with an ocean blue dial plate. All editions feature a closely-fitted, integrated rubber strap for the smoothest wearing experience of any MB&F Machine ever.

The 44mm case’s profile emphasises openness and extreme clarity. A specially developed monobloc shock-absorbing system – “FlexRing” – that makes for the most robust Machine ever to emerge from MB&F. The LM Perpetual Engine, designed by Stephen McDonnell, an award-winning perpetual calendar that replaces traditional constructions with an innovative mechanical processor.

The MB&F collection has welcomed several complications and horologically prestigious mechanisms. In terms of combining prestige, tradition and innovation, however, Legacy Machine Perpetual has remained at the apex of MB&F watchmaking savoir-faire since it was introduced in 2015.

Although the 44mm diameter is unchanged from its 2015 iteration, the new EVO case design features a no-bezel construction, with the domed sapphire crystal fused directly to the case. The increased openness of this design highlights the equilibrium between the legibility of LM Perpetual EVO’s calendar indications and the cinematic play of the engine components — surmounted by the iconic MB&F hovering balance wheel. This expansive new presentation of the LM Perpetual Engine was no simple design reconfiguration. New geometries for the sapphire crystal had to be calculated, achieving the mechanically opposing aims of maintaining structural strength and decreasing its height-to-diameter ratio. Freeing LM Perpetual EVO from the bezel also necessitated the use of a sophisticated thermal bonding system between the sapphire crystal and the case.

The previously circular pushers for adjusting the perpetual calendar have been enlarged into double-sprung oblong actuators, boosting the tactile comfort and ease of adjustment. The LM Perpetual EVO is rated at 80m of water resistance, enabled by its screw-down crown. A small, but essential, detail of implementing a screw-down crown is the débrayage of the winding stem, disengaging the crown from the winding mechanism when it is pushed in and tightened, which eliminates the chance of manually over-winding the mainspring barrel.

An additional new element of the LM Perpetual EVO is the FlexRing: an annular dampener fitted between case and movement, providing shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes. Machined from a single block of stainless steel, the dampener imparts exceptional robustness to the perpetual calendar, a function that is associated with classicism and elegance, but is arguably the most pragmatic and utilitarian of all the high complications.

When Stephen McDonnell set out to redesign the perpetual calendar for MB&F, he proposed a system that rethought the entire mechanical basis of the complication. The LM Perpetual uses a “mechanical processor” consisting of a series of superimposed disks. This revolutionary processor takes the default number of days in the month at 28 — because, logically, all months have at least 28 days — and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month. This ensures that each month has exactly the right number of days, and removes the possibility of the date jumping incorrectly. An inbuilt safety feature disconnects the quickset pushers during the date changeover, so that even if the pushers are accidentally actuated whilst the date is changing, there is no risk of damage to the movement.

In design, in technique, in spirit, Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO has been an evolution of your story with MB&F.

The LM Perpetual EVO is not a watch for sports. It is a watch for life.

CALENDRIC COMPUTATION

Conventional perpetual calendars are generally modules comprising the complication, which is fitted on top of an existing movement. The calendar indications are synchronised by a long lever running across the top of the complication and passing through the centre. As the date changes, this long lever transmits information to the appropriate components and mechanisms by moving backwards and forwards. This traditional system, while beautiful in its interplay of levers and components, is also extremely unwieldy, restricting movement construction in several key ways that would make something like Legacy Machine Perpetual a mechanical impossibility.

Created by Stephen McDonnell and premiered in 2015, the LM Perpetual Engine was — and still is — one of the most innovative perpetual calendar systems to exist in modern watchmaking.

In the traditional system, perpetual calendars assume that, by default, all months have 31 days. At the end of months with fewer than 31 days, the mechanism quickly skips through the superfluous dates before arriving at the 1st of the new month. Any manipulation or adjustment of the date during changeover can result in damage to the mechanism, requiring expensive repairs by the manufacturer. The dates can also jump or skip during changeover, negating the whole point of the perpetual calendar in the first place, which is not requiring adjustment for years. Or decades.

Legacy Machine Perpetual uses a “mechanical processor” consisting of a series of superimposed disks. This revolutionary processor takes the default number of days in the month at 28 – because, logically, all months have at least 28 days – and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month. This ensures that each month has exactly the right number of days. There is no “skipping over” redundant days, so there is no possibility of the date jumping incorrectly.

Using a planetary cam, the mechanical processor also enables quick-setting of the year so that it displays correctly in the four-year leap year cycle, whereas traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms require the user to scroll through up to 47 months to arrive at the right month and year.

The mechanical processor also enables an inbuilt safety feature that disconnects the quick-set pushers during the date changeover, eliminating any risk of damage while the date is changing.

In 2015, Legacy Machine Perpetual premiered the world’s longest balance wheel pinion, connecting the hovering balance to the escapement on the back of the engine. This technical feat has since been showcased elsewhere in the MB&F collection, namely the Legacy Machine Split Escapement.

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All this was to change when Jaquet shared with MB&F that he would like to do more. An initial conversation led to a brainstorming session that turned into the creation of a series of eight unique pieces illustrating the novels and short stories of 19th-century French author Jules Verne. The timepiece that was chosen was the Legacy Machine Split Escapement as it had the largest surface available for engraving and exploring Jules Verne’s literary works.

In his preliminary research for the series, Jaquet devoured close to 60 novels and short stories, selecting some of Jules Verne’s best-loved works such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea but also some of the lesser-known stories such as The Adventures of Captain Hatteras. The resulting eight LM Split Escapement ‘Eddy Jaquet’ pieces were snapped up in a heartbeat, with the ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ edition winning the GPHG’s Artistic Crafts Award in 2021. The last piece in the series was delivered to its owner in 2022, which naturally raised the question “What next?”

EIGHT NEW LITERARY INSPIRED CREATIONS

MB&F decided to continue with the literary inspiration for a second series and presented Eddy with a list of 15 famous novels in the young fiction category, of which he was to choose eight works. Rediscovering the pages of each story over the following weeks and months, he finally made his selection, as follows:

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robin Hood (anonymous)

Like the first Jules Verne series, none of the illustrations imagined by Jaquet are drawn from existing works of art. They are entirely conceived by the artist after reading the source books and viewing other creative works, such as films and comic books.
Each engraving is an intricate tableau of scenes and key moments from the stories, synthesised in the imagination of Jaquet and expressly designed to be interpreted through the medium of the LM SE movement. Beyond the list of 15 initial novels for consideration, MB&F has always given Jaquet complete freedom in his creative process.

Not only did Jaquet have to exercise his creativity and engraving skill to the utmost, he was also obliged to practise his craft within the requirements and limitations set by the LM SE engine. The designated engraving space is the dial, which is in fact the baseplate of the movement; it presents a flat upper surface but is actually of variable thickness on its reverse side in order to accommodate the different movement components. Engraving the dial plate as if it was uniformly thick throughout was not possible — careful consideration had to be made as to where the thinner areas were, so as not to inadvertently puncture the artistic canvas if a particular section required deep-relief engraving.

From the production side, several adjustments were made to the original LM Split Escapement as well, so as to maximise the available engraving space and allow Jaquet to exhibit his savoir-faire to the fullest. New, openworked date and power-reserve subdials were created, along with wider dial plates. The bezel was redesigned to be slimmer, and the case dimensions reworked, in order to make space for the wider dial plate. Because the bezel and case dimensions were changed, a new dial crystal had to be produced, with a less pronounced curve to the dome, since its diameter was now increased.

The timepieces in this second series come in stainless steel cases that have been paired with black subdials on a white gold base plate, framing Jaquet’s intricate engravings and bringing these treasured literary classics to life. Each timepiece is also presented with an original drawing signed by Jaquet, together with a Loupe System X6 macro lens, allowing each new owner to enter a whole new level of discovery.

The post MB&F x EDDY JAQUET THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES The LM Split Escapement hosts a new series of 8 Pièces Uniques, engraved by Master Engraver Eddy Jaquet appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

The brainchild of designer Eric Meyer, Albatross was inspired by the “Albatross” airship in Jules Verne’s novel Robur the Conqueror, but also more generally by the rockets and hot air balloons imagined by the French author, who had a fascination for flying objects. The works of Jules Verne have already inspired several MB&F creations, including the Legacy Machines collection and more specifically a series of Pièces Uniques based on the LM Split Escapement, engraved by Master Engraver Eddy Jaquet.

The clock’s technical specifications are impressive: 1520 components, 17kg, 60cm long by 60cm high and 35cm wide. The aircraft springs into action as the clock strikes the hours and prepares for take-off with its 32 rotating propellers that whirl for about seven seconds.

Inside the aircraft are two movements and two winding systems; one powers the time and striking hour, thanks to two separate barrels, while the other provides the energy for the propellers, powered by a third barrel. The first is manually wound via the propellers at the front of the flying machine: clockwise for the striking hour and anti-clockwise for the time. The propellers at the back wind the automaton. In terms of power reserve, the clock can run for an average of eight days – whether the chiming function is turned on or off – and the automaton for one day.

Not only is this the first “propeller hour” clock ever to be created, but it has a mechanical system inside that allows its future owner to turn the action on or off, as desired. Thanks to the two movements, it is possible to have the propellers turn without the hour chime, and vice versa. There are also two “on demand” buttons to chime the time and/or turn the propellers separately.

A closer look at the propellers reveals that they work in pairs, turning together to give the impression that they are going faster. They turn at a speed of 7 seconds for half a turn, or 14 seconds per turn, so that they always remain visible and don’t create any wind. Arnaud Nicolas, CEO of L’Epée, had some fun working on this: “We had to make several attempts to find the correct power and speed for the propellers as our initial experiments caused chaos in the workshop: it was like a helicopter ready for take-off!”

The propellers on the left side of the spaceship turn one way, while those on the right side go the other way, as if the ship really was going to take off. Another detail to note is that when the hour strikes, the propellers operate instantaneously, attesting to the attention to detail that has gone into the Albatross’ creation.

As the “grown-up children” who worked on this creation remember only too well what they were like as youngsters, they have included fail-safes so that any unauthorized manipulation of the propellers won’t cause anything to break. They have also crafted a miniature cockpit, complete with a dashboard and ship’s wheel, behind the porthole to delight curious young eyes. At first, there was no plan for a dashboard in the boat’s cabin, but as soon as the idea of having a see-through element was discussed, they could not resist adding these secret details.

The clock is made from a mix of brass, steel, and aluminium and comes in a choice of five colours – blue, red, green, champagne, and black – all of which are limited to only eight pieces. The coloured parts are achieved using a translucent cold lacquer, a little like enamel, which allows the different finishing techniques to be perceived beneath. This colouring technique offers a superior depth compared to typical anodising treatments, and took L’Epée years to perfect.

Albatross flies in a class of its own: combining an automaton creation with a precision chiming clock mechanism is particularly rare. This creation continues to fuel the spirit of exploration and adventure that was first imagined by Jules Verne many years ago, and will without a doubt inspire others as these airships take their place in homes across the globe.

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If watches had a voice, Maximilian Büsser’s M.A.D.Editions would say this: Thank You. Thanks to the friends who have supported the world of MB&F; thank you to those who turned the initial sketches into something tangible on the wrist; thanks to the collectors who have followed this universe since the beginning or those who have entrusted their faith along the way. A thank you to anyone curious about what MB&F strives to create. This journey of gratitude led to the creation of the M.A.D.1, a watch that gives back to the MB&F community, with a timepiece that prioritises creativity at an accessible price point.

Crafting a story

Since June 2021, M.A.D Editions has developed the identity of the M.A.D.1 across four models. What began with the M.A.D.1 Blue, initially created just for MB&F’s community of suppliers and collectors, was met with an unprecedented demand that the brand could never anticipate. They soon decided that the vote of thanks shouldn’t just stop there. If M.A.D.Editions were going to create a watch that not only represents the eccentric world of mechanical art, but a watch that would be obtainable for more wrists, then the story needed to be shared with the world.

Four iterations of the M.A.D.1 later, the family of watches continues to grow. With the anticipated future of its successor, the M.A.D.2 on the horizon, the story of the M.A.D.1 doesn’t just stop here, however. Three years on, and coinciding with Geneva Watch Days 2024, the M.A.D.1S joins the collection. You’ll notice the addition of the letter S, which isn’t just for the sake of generating another reference number, but a slimmer, single cylinder, and Swiss made movement offering.

Debuting its first ever Swiss made movement in the series, the M.A.D.1S now plays host to an automatic La Joux-Perret G101 movement, beating at a frequency of 28,800 bph/4 Hz with a power reserve of 68 hours. Housed in a Stainless Steel 316L case, at 42mm x 15mm, it showcases an alternative movement proposition in the line-up. Rather than repeat the story of its predecessors, the M.A.D.1S offers something different, turning the page on a new chapter.

Turning a new page: the M.A.D.1S

When Maximilian Büsser set out to create the first M.A.D.1, the challenge was a tough one: to create a product that welcomes the same spirit of creativity as an MB&F machine, but under a separate brand. And all the while confronting the task of an approachable price point. Challenge accepted. But the first hurdle?

No in-house movement would match the desired price. The search led the team far and wide to find a movement that would embody the spirit of the M.A.D.1: its crux, the rapid spinning of the rotor, provoked by the flick of the wrist. While bidirectional movements were in their plenty (offering slower rotations), no such mechanism for a Swiss made movement with unidirectional

winding existed at the time of the M.A.D.1 inception, within the desired price bracket. And after all, what would the madness of these watches be without their spinning enchantments? Thus, Büsser and the team opted to bring the spinning illusions to reality by modifying a dependable Japanese Miyota 821A movement, granting the unidirectional winding needed to achieve the feat.

Until now: the M.A.D.1S now plays host to an all new movement. Call it variation on a theme, this diversified timepiece continues to write the story of this unexpected horological phenomenon, now with an all-new interior.

With around 6000 wrists bearing ownership of a M.A.D.Edition to date, the M.A.D.1S welcomes the next community of collectors and culturally-curious wrists with a more streamlined presence, in part thanks to the new Swiss made movement. The reduced height of 15mm – 20% slimmer than previous M.A.D.1 editions – is also obtained thanks to the single cylinder display (previous editions featured two cylinders, one for hours, one for minutes).

To complete the evolution, the slimmer movement and case size are matched with re-worked lugs for a sleeker fit, along with a modified rotor that offers further transparency to the movement.

Hailing back to the foundations of the M.A.D.1 and the spirit of giving back to a cherished community, the M.A.D.1S follows suit with the launch of its colourways. The M.A.D.1S will be available to ‘Friends’ (suppliers) and ‘Tribe’ members (MB&F collectors) in a limited series with bespoke purple accents on the dial. To the public, who have continued to champion the M.A.D.Editions in their numerous variations, the M.A.D.1S will debut with ice-blue accents.

Discover the tale

At the heart of M.A.D.Editions, Maximilian Büsser has set out to bring his sense of wonder to watchmaking, while eradicating as many obstacles as possible from price point to accessibility. Averse to prolonged waiting lists and countless queues, the team behind M.A.D.Editions have created a raffle system to allow for as fair distribution to the public as possible.

Open for several days, the raffle allows ample time for entrants to register, while removing as best as possible multiple registrants and bots, to ensure as fair a result as possible. The random draw is taken under the supervision of a bailiff. The M.A.D.1S raffle will open at the end of August, just before the Geneva Watch Days.

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In 2022, MB&F unveiled its Legacy Machine Sequential EVO, a twin chronograph that opened up a world of timing possibilities. This ground-breaking chronograph redefined the chronograph as we knew it, winning the hearts of collectors and the coveted GPHG ‘Aiguille d’Or’ award the same year.

Conceived by Stephen McDonnell, one of the original MB&F Friends and the mastermind behind the 2015 LM Perpetual, the LM Sequential EVO was one of those timepieces that was so profoundly useful that it made you wonder why no one had thought of it before. Multiple timing modes allowed you to time everything from two athletes at the same time to consecutive lap times around a track, and even two different dishes in the oven, to name a few of its extremely practical applications.

But if the LM Sequential EVO wasn’t mind-blowing enough, there was another feature that Stephen and MB&F were keen to include: the flyback function. Stephen’s original prototype movement was actually designed with a flyback system on the left-hand chronograph and provisions for it were built into the LM Sequential EVO. But it was extremely complicated to perfect with the watch taking nine months of prototyping, four of which were dedicated to the flyback function alone. Add to this six different re-designs, and all the work and components that went with them, and McDonnell felt that it would be unwise – reckless even – to release the watch with a flyback when there were so many unproven elements in play.

But the dream was there, right from the very beginning, and everything was designed to be able to incorporate it at a later date. The chronographs could have been conceived in several different ways, but only one of these configurations would allow the inclusion of a flyback, changing the fundamental way the chronographs were designed.

The internal jewelling of the vertical clutches is the key to the whole Sequential chronograph, and the new flyback system also requires jewelling, without which it would not work. The system is very subtle, and a great deal of work went into reducing all the friction to a minimum so that the flyback did not cause the return-to-zero to block. To achieve this, McDonnell incorporated a special jewelled roller into the flyback mechanism. Such a component is unavailable directly from any supplier of jewels, so for the first prototype, McDonnell made the jewel himself in order to prove the concept of this ground-breaking mechanism (one of five patented elements).

Two years of secret-keeping and testing were required so that the system would be robust enough in the long term, and now the LM Sequential Flyback Platinum is ready, steady, go!

So, what can it do?

The LM Sequential Flyback Platinum features the same layout as the LM Sequential EVO with two chronograph displays. One has its seconds display at 9 o’clock and minutes display at 11 o’clock. The other has its seconds display at 3 o’clock and minutes display at 1 o’clock. Each of these chronographs can be started, stopped, and reset completely independently of the other, using the start/stop and reset pushers on their respective sides of the case. With the new flyback function, the reset pushers also trigger the flyback if the corresponding chronograph is running. These pushers make up the four chronograph pushers you would usually associate with having two chronograph mechanisms in one watch.

However, there is a fifth pusher, called the Twinverter, located at the 9 o’clock position. This “magic button” as Stephen likes to call it, is the secret that elevates the functionality of the LM Sequential timepieces beyond any existing chronograph wristwatch. It controls both chronograph systems, operating as a binary switch that inverts the current start/stop status of each chronograph. This means that if both chronographs are stopped, pressing the Twinverter causes both of them to start simultaneously. If they are both running, the Twinverter makes them stop. And, if one is running and the other is stopped, the Twinverter stops the one that is running and starts the one that is stopped.

In terms of practical applications, these functions allow the chronograph to be useful in numerous situations, as the following examples illustrate:

1. Independent mode
Imagine the preparation of a meal, where different things need to be cooked for different periods of time, at different points in time. You would operate the two chronographs via their respective pushers — for instance, starting one when you put your pasta into boiling water and starting the other when the vegetables go in the oven. In fact, this application comes in handy in all areas of personal productivity. At the gym, for example, when trying to optimize your physical workout routine, one chronograph can be set to time your entire session whilst the second is used to record your time at each station, or the downtime in between. In this example, the new flyback function can come in handy to swiftly reset and restart the timing sequence with a single press on the reset button, combining the three steps – stop, reset to zero, and re-start – in one.

2. Simultaneous or split-second mode
This mode can be used in a race involving two competitors, starting simultaneously. The Twinverter allows the wearer to start both chronographs at exactly the same time, but the different end times can be easily recorded by pressing each chronograph’s individual start/stop pusher. To note, the durations of the events can exceed 60 seconds, which is the limit for the vast majority of split-second chronographs on the market. In this mode, you can also use the new flyback function if you want to quickly restart timing.

3. Cumulative mode
In the work environment, you might want to know how much time you spend on two separate projects as you switch between them throughout the day. By starting one chronograph when you begin working on one task, and then using the Twinverter when you shift focus to the second task (switching again when you go back to the first), you can easily track the amount of time you cumulatively spent on each task. Another example of this usage is the timing of a chess match.

4. Sequential mode (or lap-timer mode)
For those timing competitive sports, this mode can be used to measure individual lap times. Starting one chronograph at the beginning of an event and using the Twinverter upon the completion of a lap instantly launches the second chronograph in order to time the next lap, while the first chronograph is stopped, allowing ample time for the timing result to be noted down. The stopped chronograph can then be reset to zero, ready to be relaunched with the Twinverter for the following lap. Thanks to its minutes’ totalisers, the LM Sequential can be used effectively in sporting events with average lap times of over a minute (which includes the vast majority of motor sports).

5. Flyback mode
The flyback was originally developed in the 1930s for airplane pilots, to allow accurate timing of flight paths from waypoint to waypoint. It was found that the time to stop, reset, and restart a chronograph took so long that errors in navigation would result, which would be compounded as these accumulated over the course of a journey with multiple legs. The flyback allowed this to be done simultaneously: stop, reset and restart in a single press on the reset pusher. Combining the new flyback function with the other timing modes of the Sequential calibre offers even more functionality. For example, a pilot can keep track of overall flight time on one chronograph, while using the other chronograph to accurately time each leg with the flyback function.

Powering such an engine

The design of the LM Sequential is completely unique. It encompasses two independent chronographs within a single movement, both of which are linked to a common escapement and oscillator. The energy losses associated with a conventional chronograph are well known, so imagine what can happen with two chronographs in a single movement? The losses would be doubled, resulting in unacceptably poor performance. All this functionality within a single watch required the invention of a fundamentally new type of chronograph system, one which would not be susceptible to any sort of energy losses.

This is exactly what the LM Sequential does, thanks to the use of its innovative internally-jewelled vertical clutches and their associated control system. The new flyback mechanisms also incorporate jewelled rollers. Thanks to these patented solutions, the Sequential calibre outperforms conventional chronographs in terms of energy efficiency and precision.

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A decade after the first automotive-inspired MB&F Machines, MB&F revealed the supercar-inspired HM8 Mark 2 in 2023.

After a successful introduction of two editions in 2023 – with white or green body panels, the latter limited to 33 pieces – the HM8 Mark 2 comes back with a new 2024 limited edition featuring glossy sapphire blue bodywork, again limited to 33 pieces. Thanks to their metallic pigments and a translucid material, the blue body panels recall luxurious car paints, both technically and aesthetically.

THE INITIAL DREAM

To fully understand MB&F’s link to the car world, we need to step back in time to 1985 for a moment. As children, we all have dreams, some of them come true, others get abandoned along the way, and some are so part of who we are that they end up happening despite us. This was the case with MB&F’s Founder Maximilian Büsser, who spent the majority of his childhood dreaming about becoming a car designer. He was so smitten with the idea that from the age of 4 to 18, cars were the only thing he would sketch and draw. When his classmates started discovering other areas of interest, his heart remained steadfastly loyal to the automobile with its aerodynamic lines and sleek forms.

Just before graduating from high school, he learned that the world-famous ArtCenter College of Design from Pasadena, was opening a campus in Europe, and not just in Europe, but in La Tour-de-Peilz, a stone’s throw from his childhood home. Could this be a sign? He could hardly contain his excitement until he discovered that the school fees were CHF 50,000, a huge amount of money today, and an even more colossal sum back in 1985.

Knowing how much he loved cars, his parents said they would find a way – but Maximilian knew that it would be too much for them. So as everyone keeps telling him he would make a very good engineer as he was so good at maths, he signed up for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), and that could have been the end of the story, only it wasn’t.

“I lost my way, I lost my marbles, and ended up in the watchmaking industry,” he shares with a smile. “So, when I decided to tackle car design in a timepiece, this was humungous for me. It was everything I had ever dreamed of.”

PLAYING WITH PRISMS

He found inspiration in a crazy design by Amida, called the Amida Digitrend, a watch that was unveiled in 1976, just before the company went bankrupt. Working on a similar idea, MB&F employed a sapphire prism that would allow the jumping hours and sweeping minutes to be indicated vertically, when they were actually flat as a pancake on top of the movement. The time was indicated in a window that resembled an old-style speedometer on the front of the case that could also be easily viewed while driving, no less. Unlike the Amida, with its discs next to each other, the MB&F HM design features discs that are one on top of the other, maximising the size of the digits and therefore the legibility.

The idea didn’t end there, as the mission was to make the numerals look almost digital or electronic. This was achieved using sapphire disks that were coated with a black metallization, leaving the numerals clear. Super-LumiNova® was then added underneath the sapphire disc, so that the luminescence would be completely flat, not bulbous as it appears when it is applied to the dial. It is interesting to note that the numerals had to be created back-to-front as they get reversed in the prism.

This system came to life in the HM5 with opening and closing slats that allowed the light into the movement to charge the luminescence. These slats were inspired by Marcello Gandini’s design for the Bertone Lamborghini Miura with its louvers on the rear window that gave the car its futuristic aesthetic.

These slats were dropped in the following model – the HMX – in favour of a sapphire crystal cover that gave a partial view on the engine beneath. This piece was inspired by another Italian coach builder – Touring Superleggera – and was equipped with miniature oil caps that could be unscrewed and filled with watchmaking oils.

Next came the HM8 ‘Can-Am’ with a sapphire crystal that also allowed a view on the spinning rotor. It was this movement, based on a Girard-Perregaux calibre, that is also providing the base for the brand-new HM8 Mark 2. The HM8 took its design cues from Can-Am cars (hence the nickname) from the famous Canadian American Racing Championship. The cars’ unusual design and distinctive roll bars became the inspiration for the watch’s two titanium roll bars.

The HM8 Mark 2, on the other hand, with its distinctive “double bubble” sapphire crystal, finds inspiration in the design of some of the most iconic supercars.

A CHASSIS CONSTRUCTION

Not only did the design codes of these timepieces find their inspiration in the automobile world, but the construction did too. That engineering degree was not wasted on Maximilian after all! The HM5 and HM8 Mark 2 are built from an independent water-resistant chassis to which the body panels of the watch are added, while the HMX and HM8 favoured a monobloc construction.

For the HM8 Mark 2, this coachwork first came in a choice of white or British racing green CarbonMacrolon® that has a matt finish on the top and a high polish on the sides. The white version was paired with a green CVD rotor and light green minute markers, while the British racing green version came with a red gold rotor and balance wheel and turquoise minute markers, and was limited to 33 pieces.

After these first launch editions in 2023, MB&F has decided to pursue its homage to the automotive world with a new model limited to 33 pieces only.

The HM8 Mark 2’s deep yet sparkly sapphire blue is obtained from metallic pigments of mineral origin, the same as those found in metallic car paint. It comes as a powder which is incorporated into resin according to a very specific protocol (incorporation time, mixing temperature, mixing speed and duration, etc.).

Thanks to its beautiful and unique blue body panels, the timepiece comes back with a bang, in a colour that should please both watch aficionados and car enthusiasts alike. The piece is completed by a sporty and comfortable white calfskin strap.

CARBONMACROLON®

Developed specifically for MB&F, CarbonMacrolon® is a composite material composed of a polymer matrix injected with carbon nanotubes, which add strength and rigidity. Carbon nanotubes offer superior tensile strength and stiffness than traditional carbon fibre reinforcing. MB&F’s CarbonMacrolon® is a solid material that is hard and can be coloured, polished, bead-blasted, lacquered, satin-finished…

In addition to all these attributes, it weighs eight times less than steel, making it extremely versatile and interesting from both a technical and design point of view.

UNDER THE HOOD

Like any super- or hyper-car, a lot of the technology inside the HM8 Mark 2 is not visually obvious, starting with the titanium chassis, which is extremely complicated to mill. Even in stainless steel, it would have been extremely complex to make, but the hardness of this alloy really put MB&F’s technicians to the test.

The same is true of the CarbonMacrolon® body panels, which due to the small production quantities, could only be milled from a block, adding another layer of complexity to the watch’s coachwork.

A long line of MB&F timepieces has pushed the limits of what is physically possible in terms of sapphire crystal production, and the HM8 Mark 2 is no exception. The creation of this double-curved sapphire has reached a complexity that is 30 to 40 times more expensive than a dome sapphire. Only one supplier agreed to take on the challenge. During the many hours required to produce each sapphire crystal, the risk of breakage is incredibly high – and if it is going to break, it is always at the very last moment, much to the utter desperation of all concerned. Once safely completed and fitted into the timepiece, however, it is just as robust as the sapphire crystal on any sports watch.

And last, but not least, the battle axe rotor that powers the movement is incredibly complex to make as one of the 22-carat gold blades is only two-tenths of a millimetre thick. It cannot possibly be machined so it had to be stamped, with the engraving already incorporated into the stamp.

A WORLD-PREMIERE CROWN

Not under the hood, but equally hidden, is a brand-new type of crown that has a sort of “double de-clutch” system, to coin an automobile term. It works by pushing the crown in and turning it three-quarters of a turn to release it. This has the advantage of gaining space and providing additional security to the system, which is a genuine advantage for a sports watch.

The HM8 Mark 2 takes everything that MB&F fans have loved in this automotive series over the last 10+ years and has made it more technical, more legible, sexier and easier to wear. But more than that, it is a reminder that, wherever you are in life, it is never too late to follow your dreams.

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MB&F sharing a similar appreciation for high quality and design to Phillips is proud to host, the Global Highlights Tour, a prelude to the Geneva Watch Auction: XIX, which will take place on 11 and 12 May 2024 in Geneva, and will share Italian watch collector and publisher Guido Mondani’s private collection including over 40 consigned wristwatches.

As a leading global platform for buying and selling 20th and 21st century works, Phillips offers dedicated expertise in the areas of Modern and Contemporary Art, Design, Photographs, Editions, Watches, and Jewels.

Among the notable hero pieces are the Two-Crown Patek Philippe World Time Ref. 2523/1, a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona ‘John Player Special’ Ref. 6241, and a Rolex Ref. 6102 featuring a ‘Caravel’ Cloisonné Enamel Dial. Also of significance is a potentially one-of-a-kind Stainless-Steel A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 boasting a Blue Dial, along with the inaugural appearance at auction of the Platinum Rexhep Rexhepi Chronomètre Contemporain.

“We’re thrilled to present such a unique collection of wristwatches at Phillips Watches at M.A.D Gallery, spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. Many pieces are making their auction debut, catering to discerning collectors with a diverse array of models sure to captivate enthusiasts,” Alexandre Ghotbi, Deputy Chairman and Head of Watches for Europe & Middle East at Phillips.

“This collaboration celebrates the dedication of icon collectors and emphasizes the role of the U.A.E in the global watch community. The MB&F M.A.D Gallery in Dubai Mall, a hub for innovation and artistic expression, provides the perfect backdrop for showcasing these extraordinary timepieces. We’re honored to partner with Phillips, and Bacs & Russo in bringing this experience to watch enthusiasts across Dubai and the wider GCC,” said Maximilian Büsser, Founder of MB&F.

The tour promises to captivate aficionados, offering a rare glimpse into the world of haute horology.

Visit Dubai’s MB&F M.A.D Gallery from 18th to 20th of April for an unforgettable journey through time.

The post MB&F and Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo Proudly Present the Global Highlights Tour of the Geneva Watch Auction: XIX at Dubai’s MB&F M.A.D Gallery. appeared first on Arab Watch Guide.

“Jean-Charles de Castelbajac represents five decades of creativity. Very early on, he was able to create a unique voice and style, then over the years pivot, reinvent himself and challenge the status quo. Today, at the age of 74, his message of love and life is more than ever an example for the new generation.” Maximilian Büsser

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

As a young man in the 1980s, MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser adored the French artist and designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac for his avant-gardist pop designs in primary colours. Over the years, his respect for JCDC continued to grow as he observed the artist from afar. Collaborations with artists such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe, Cindy Sherman, and Jean-Michel Basquiat further increased his awe.

JCDC has never been a conventional designer, always daring to disturb, disrupt, and promote artistic chaos. Where most Couture designers seek out the finest quality fabrics, JCDC made clothes out of unconventional materials like his old boarding school blanket, mops, sponges, and oil cloths, being the first to upcycle in the fashion world, before it was even a thing!

With a career spanning five decades, the French designer has always had a multidisciplinary approach to his work, connecting different worlds to further explore his art. He is perhaps best known for his audacious creations like the teddy bear coat, his “poncho for two”, his Barack Obama dresses, and the robes he created for Pope John Paul II and his Papal entourage for World Youth Day in 1997.

50 Years and Counting

JCDC’s artistic career started in 1968, when he founded the Ko & Co ready-to-wear fashion company along with his mother, Jeanne-Blanche de Castelbajac. Over the following years, numerous designers would call upon his talents as a freelance designer and in 1973, he held his debut fashion show, propelling him into the limelight. By the end of the decade, he had become a fashion phenomenon with boutiques in Paris, New York, and Tokyo.

The 1980s and 1990s would see JCDC branching out into the creation of costumes for films, stage costumes for musicians, and even furniture, while the early 2000s saw him return to the world of fashion with numerous collaborations. His innovative and avant-garde approach to design has enabled him to continuously reinvent himself decade after decade. He was the artistic director of United Colors of Benetton from 2018 to 2022.

His art is expressed through installations, performances, chalk street-art, drawings and collages. In 2021-2022, his artwork was the subject of an exhibition entitled “The People of Tomorrow” at the Centre Pompidou’s children’s gallery in Paris, which itinerated to Shanghai’s West Bund Museum in 2023 and the Centre Pompidou Malaga in February 2024.

In 2023, he created a collection of his drawings for the Gien earthenware factory.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

The young Maximilian Büsser was a huge fan, saving up his pocket money for one of the designer’s bathing suits featuring pandas on it (could this have been the start of Max’s panda fascination)? Fast forward 40 some years and the idea came to Max to try and contact JCDC to see – if by any chance – he would be interested in co-designing a watch. After all, JCDC is an expert in what he likes to call “accidents”, the results of combining two worlds that usually have nothing to do with each other. Max decided to try his luck and reach out on Instagram, and from this one DM, an extraordinary collaboration has been born.

M.A.D.1 ‘Time to Love’

The initial thought was to collaborate on an MB&F Horological Machine, but it quickly became evident that the M.A.D.1 – from the brand’s parallel more accessible label, M.A.D.Editions – would be the perfect canvas for JCDC. Working with his three iconic colours – red for passion, blue for hope, and yellow for human warmth – he has adorned the M.A.D.1 rotor with his signature colourway that is produced in lacquer on a newly-engineered rotor, where one of the wings is slightly heavier than the other two to optimize spinning. A bright green is also present and featured on the piece’s hour disc – another colour close to Castelbajac’s heart and linked to childhood memories.

Other details include a quote from the artist in French on the dial’s base: “Ce trésor rare et précieux, c’est ta vie. Le temps vole de ses ailes blanches. Tu es le gardien de ton temps”. This translates into English as: “This rare and precious treasure is your life. Time flies with its white wings. You are the guardian of your time”. The numbers of the hour and minute rings are in his own handwriting, and the crown features an engraving of an angel talking to the moon, a recurring theme in his art creations. The strap is crafted in leather and is embroidered with the name of the watch, ‘Time to Love’, and each timepiece comes with two straps – one in black and the other in white.

JCDC’s work has never been about fashion, it has, and remains to be, all about style.

‘Time to Love’ is not just a catchy name but a genuine philosophy for the artist who uses his work to spread love, peace and spirituality– a message that couldn’t be more poignant today.

“My relationship with time is unique. I am often “before or after hours”: before in my vision, after in my satisfaction. But when it’s time to love, I am always on time”, says Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

The M.A.D.1 ‘Time to Love’ will be limited to 999 pieces, which is a first, as previous editions were not limited, just produced in batches that were made available via raffles. Retail price (before taxes) is CHF 3,200 + VAT.

As numbers will be more restricted than before, half will be made available for the MB&F Tribe (registered collectors of MB&F pieces) and Friends (suppliers) on a first come, first served basis. The rest will be available to the general public using the same raffle system as before, to ensure fair distribution to those interested in acquiring a ‘Time to Love’.

The raffle will open on Wednesday, April 3rd at 2pm CET and registrations will remain open for a period of approximately 2 weeks.

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The 14th year of MB&F unveiled a new avenue of horological exploration, an evolution of creative horizons for founder and company alike: the Legacy Machine FlyingT, first launched in 2019, is the first of MB&F’s three-dimensional horological art pieces inspired by women.

A round case in gold or platinum, with a steeply cambered bezel and slender, elongated lugs, often fully set with diamonds. A high, extravagantly convex dome of sapphire crystal rises from the bezel. Beneath the dome, a subtly curved dial plate in various finishes: liquidly black with layers of stretched lacquer, guilloché, vibrant gemstones or glittering with blazing white diamonds.

An asymmetric ventricular opening in the dial plate frames the heart of the LM FlyingT engine – a cinematic flying tourbillon that beats at a serene rate of 2.5Hz (18,000vph). The tourbillon projects high above the rest of the engine, a kinetic, dynamic column that stops just short of the apex of the sapphire crystal dome. Affixed to the top of the upper tourbillon cage is a single large diamond that rotates simultaneously with the flying tourbillon, emitting the fiery brilliance of the very best quality stones.

At the 7 o’clock position – another reference to the numeric theme that runs throughout LM FlyingT – is a dial of black or white lacquer (or gemstone) that displays the hours and minutes with a pair of elegant serpentine hands. The dial is inclined at a 50° tilt so that the time can be read only by the wearer, an intimate communication that highlights the personal nature of LM FlyingT.

On the reverse, the automatic winding rotor takes the shape of a three-dimensional red gold sun with sculpted rays, providing LM FlyingT with four days of power reserve.

The design of Legacy Machine FlyingT is replete with associations drawn from the feminine and maternal influences in Maximilian Büsser’s life. Says Büsser, “I wanted LM FlyingT to reflect the personality and qualities of the women of my family, particularly my mother. It had to combine supreme elegance with tremendous vitality. The column-like structure of the flying tourbillon was very important to me as I felt very strongly that women form the pillar of humanity. At the same time, there is another layer of meaning coming in from the sun-shaped rotor, which incorporates the element of life-giving, a source of sustenance which we gravitate towards and around.”

Legacy Machine FlyingT was first launched in 2019 in three editions, all in white gold and set with diamonds. These were followed by two limited editions in 18K red gold and platinum, shedding their diamonds but featuring guilloché dial plates.

Since 2020, the FlyingT collection has also hosted a special gemstone dial every year, with editions in Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Tiger Eye and ‘Cœur de Rubis’ (anyolite). The series is joined in 2024 by the sophisticated LM FlyingT Onyx edition, featuring the deep black gemstone encased in an 18k yellow gold case.

LEGACY MACHINE FLYING T IN DETAIL

INSPIRATIONS

The creative process behind Legacy Machine FlyingT started, when Maximilian Büsser began thinking about making something inspired by the feminine influences in his life. Says Büsser, “I created MB&F to do what I believe in, making three-dimensional sculptural kinetic art pieces that give the time. I was creating for myself, which is the only way we could have made all these crazy and audacious pieces over the years. But at some point there came a desire to create something for the women in my family. I’ve been surrounded by their influence all my life, so I gave myself the challenge to do something for them.”

Inspiration came from the combination of seemingly incompatible qualities that characterised the greatest feminine figures in Maximilian Büsser’s life. Elegance was key, but so was an infectious energy that could captivate an entire roomful of people. The lines and composition of Legacy Machine FlyingT epitomise these qualities, being as refined and pure as any other Legacy Machine, but with the dynamism and exuberance of a central flying tourbillon.

The intimate and personal nature of LM FlyingT led to the ultimate placement of the time indication at the 7 o’clock position on the dial plate, with the dial tilted 50° to face the wearer. The message is subtle but clear – that whoever the owners and wearers of Legacy Machine FlyingT may be, their time belongs to them and no one else.

UNLOCKING THE FEMININE SIDE OF MB&F

“The last thing I wanted to do,” says Maximilian Büsser, “was to take a masculine timepiece, resize it, put a different colour on it and call it a ladies’ watch.” Each MB&F creation is drawn together in a complex process that is equal parts original Max Büsser concept, design finesse by Eric Giroud, and mechanical ingenuity by the in-house technical team. Aesthetic and philosophical coherence is essential to the final result, from the adventurous Horological Machine N°5 “On The Road Again” to the high-complication, technically ambitious Legacy Machine Perpetual.

To bring out a different level of refinement for the feminine-inspired LM FlyingT, the Legacy Machine case was completely redesigned. Case height and diameter were reduced in order to shift the focus to the highly convex sapphire crystal dome. The lugs were slimmed down, their curves were emphasised, and deep bevels were introduced to create a more elegant profile.

Harsh or particularly defined lines have been tempered throughout LM FlyingT, such as in the example of the hour and minute hands, which take on an undulating shape – echoed in the rays of the sun-shaped automatic winding rotor.

Asymmetry is highlighted in the design of LM FlyingT, from the positioning of the time display at 7 o’clock to the ventricular dial-plate aperture that frames the emerging tourbillon. Even the tourbillon cage itself embraces asymmetry, opting for a cantilevered double-arch upper bridge instead of the symmetrical battleaxe which has topped all other MB&F tourbillons.
Woven throughout Legacy Machine FlyingT are subtle references to the aspects of femininity that resonate strongest with Max Büsser, such as the solar motif of the automatic winding rotor and the column construction of the tourbillon, which introduce concepts of life-giving and support.

ABOUT THE ENGINE

The mechanical antecedents of Legacy Machine FlyingT lie mostly in the Horological Machine collection, namely with the HM6 series and HM7 Aquapod.

In a departure from most modern watch movements, which take a radial and co-planar approach to movement construction, the LM FlyingT engine utilises a vertical and co-axial approach. The cinematic flying tourbillon, which boldly projects beyond the dial-plate of LM FlyingT, is a visually stunning example of the rotating escapement and stands in stark contrast to other flying tourbillons, which usually do not venture past the confines of their surrounding watch dials.

Flying tourbillons, as their name suggests, are anchored only at their base, with no stabilising bridge to restrict lateral motion at the top. This increased need for overall rigidity is what causes the conservative placement of most flying tourbillons within their movements. Legacy Machine FlyingT breaks free of this limiting need for movement security and confidently displays its flying tourbillon in all its glory.

An additional distinct challenge which arose in the construction of LM FlyingT was the shape of the upper tourbillon cage, which creates more mass on one side of the tourbillon than the other. In order to compensate and ensure that the mechanism remains balanced, a counterweight was hidden under the tourbillon carriage, on the opposite side of the upper tourbillon cage.

In order to display the time as precisely as possible on the 50° inclined dial, conical gears were employed to optimally transmit torque from one plane to another, a solution first used in HM6 and subsequently in HM9 Flow.

The 280-component engine of Legacy Machine FlyingT has a power reserve of four days (100 hours), which is among the highest within MB&F, a testament to the growth of in-house expertise and experience.

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The LM Perpetual EVO was initially launched in three limited editions in zirconium, followed by a titanium edition with green CVD dial-plate. In 2024, MB&F introduces a new icy blue dial-plate in the same highly-resistant titanium case, replacing its green predecessor. All editions feature a closely-fitted, integrated rubber strap for the smoothest wearing experience of any MB&F Machine ever.

A 44mm case in zirconium or titanium, modern metals with material properties surpassing stainless steel. A case profile that emphasises openness and extreme clarity. A specially developed monobloc shock-absorbing system – “FlexRing” – that makes for the most robust Machine ever to emerge from MB&F. The LM Perpetual Engine, designed by Stephen McDonnell, an award-winning perpetual calendar that replaces traditional constructions with an innovative mechanical processor.

The MB&F collection has welcomed several complications and horologically prestigious mechanisms. In terms of combining prestige, tradition and innovation, however, Legacy Machine Perpetual has remained at the apex of MB&F watchmaking savoir-faire since it was introduced in 2015.

Although the 44mm diameter is unchanged from its 2015 iteration, the new EVO case design features a no-bezel construction, with the domed sapphire crystal fused directly to the case. The increased openness of this design highlights the equilibrium between the legibility of LM Perpetual EVO’s calendar indications and the cinematic play of the engine components — surmounted by the iconic MB&F hovering balance wheel. This expansive new presentation of the LM Perpetual Engine was no simple design reconfiguration. New geometries for the sapphire crystal had to be calculated, achieving the mechanically opposing aims of maintaining structural strength and decreasing its height-to-diameter ratio. Freeing LM Perpetual EVO from the bezel also necessitated the use of a sophisticated thermal bonding system between the sapphire crystal and the case.

The previously circular pushers for adjusting the perpetual calendar have been enlarged into double-sprung oblong actuators, boosting the tactile comfort and ease of adjustment. The LM Perpetual EVO is rated at 80m of water resistance, enabled by its screw-down crown. A small, but essential, detail of implementing a screw-down crown is the débrayage of the winding stem, disengaging the crown from the winding mechanism when it is pushed in and tightened, which eliminates the chance of manually over-winding the mainspring barrel.

An additional new element of the LM Perpetual EVO is the FlexRing: an annular dampener fitted between case and movement, providing shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes. Machined from a single block of stainless steel, the dampener imparts exceptional robustness to the perpetual calendar, a function that is associated with classicism and elegance, but is arguably the most pragmatic and utilitarian of all the high complications.

When Stephen McDonnell set out to redesign the perpetual calendar for MB&F, he proposed a system that rethought the entire mechanical basis of the complication. The LM Perpetual uses a “mechanical processor” consisting of a series of superimposed disks. This revolutionary processor takes the default number of days in the month at 28 — because, logically, all months have at least 28 days — and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month. This ensures that each month has exactly the right number of days, and removes the possibility of the date jumping incorrectly. An inbuilt safety feature disconnects the quickset pushers during the date changeover, so that even if the pushers are accidentally actuated whilst the date is changing, there is no risk of damage to the movement.

In design, in technique, in spirit, Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO has been an evolution of your story with MB&F.

The LM Perpetual EVO is not a watch for sports. It is a watch for life.

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This is not always the easiest concept to grasp, because a watch is not a house, right? A house is a house, and a watch is a watch; there is no confusion, it is black and white, right? With its latest creation, MB&F further blurs the line between the two, and the result is the grey of steel rebar, the grey of freshly sprayed concrete.

Introducing the MB&F Horological Machine Nº11 Architect.

The house that Max built

Somewhere around the mid- to late 1960s, architecture entered an experimental phase, starkly different from the designs of the previous decade. Post-war buildings were pragmatic, rectilinear forms, hastily erected to fulfil a purpose. But then a small yet reactive movement began taking hold, one that was surprisingly humanistic in its approach, though not in a way that architectural scholars would use the term.

It was humanist in the sense that it moulded space around the form of a human body, the spherical scope of vision perceived by the human eye, the radial ambit of human limbs moving through the air, the roundness of the breath that inflates our lungs and creates ephemeral vapour halos on car windows in winter.

These architects, some of whom eschewed that title and instead called themselves habitologists, built houses which appeared as if they had been exhaled out of the earth, or as if the land had flexed its fingers and forgotten to curl them fully back up again. They bubbled, they undulated, they arched like an extended sinew. And when Maximilian Büsser, founder of MB&F, looked at one of these houses, he thought, “What if that house was a watch?”

A central flying tourbillon forms the heart of the house, pushing skyward under a double-domed sapphire roof. Fittingly, for a mechanism that is spatially and functionally at the origin point of the watch, its quatrefoil-shaped upper bridge recalls the shape of clerestory windows in some of humanity’s greatest temples to its Creator, or perhaps the shape of a zygote undergoing cell division at the moment of conception. From this spinning core, four symmetrical volumes reach outwards, creating the four parabolic rooms of the house that is HM11 Architect.

Turn the house to access each room; the entire structure rotates on its foundations. The 90° angle of offset between each room means that you can position HM11 with one of its rooms directly facing you, or with one of the corridors of the house running towards you and rooms obliquely to each side. This versatility in display orientation also has a practical use. HM11 Architect is an energy-efficient construction — each 45° clockwise turn is signalled by a tactile click under the fingers, and delivers 72 minutes of power directly to the barrel. After 10 complete rotations, HM11 is at its maximum autonomy of 96 hours.

While all four rooms share a similar interior — glossy white walls with a full sapphire crystal window pane — each of them has a different function. The time room is where you go to retrieve the hours and minutes. Rod-mounted orbs serve as hour markers, using larger and lighter polished aluminium orbs for each quarter and smaller and darker polished titanium orbs for the rest. Red-tipped arrows point to the hours and minutes, providing a rare accent of colour to the otherwise Spartan time room.

The next room, 90° to the left, is where the power reserve display resides. Following the design schema established by the time room, rod-mounted orbs are paired with a red-tipped arrow to show how much running autonomy is left in the HM11 barrel. Proceeding clockwise, the five orbs increase in diameter until the final polished aluminium orb, 2.4mm in diameter, indicating the full 96 hours of power reserve.

An instrument rarely seen in horological contexts (though familiar in domestic ones) is installed in the next room — a thermometer. HM11 uses a mechanical system of temperature indication with a bimetallic strip, which may seem quaint in this age of instant high-precision electronic thermometers and thermostat-regulated smart homes. This mechanical system functions without any external energy input and is available in Celsius or Fahrenheit display variations.

One last room remains, a white void, its only aesthetic feature a tiny round badge engraved with the MB&F battle-axe motif, set into the sapphire-crystal window. But this seemingly empty space functions as the time-setting crown of HM11. Pull on the transparent module, and it opens with a click. It is the front door and key to HM11; you turn it to relocate yourself in time.

While the peripheral rooms of HM11 are surrounded by exterior walls of polished grade-5 titanium, the central atrium is open to the light, covered by a double-arched sapphire crystal roof. Underneath, the in-house HM11 engine hums away, its cadence set by the 2.5Hz (18,000 vph) balance of the flying tourbillon. Plates and bridges are coloured with a physical vapour deposition (PVD) process, coming in ozone blue or the warm solar hues of 5N gold, limited to 25 pieces each for the two launch editions of HM11.

More about the HM11 case

The houses that sparked the genesis of Horological Machine Nº11 Architect in Max Büsser’s mind all had an organic quality about them. They had forms that were playful, that swelled and bulged out in unexpected places. How does one begin to translate a thought experiment into a real creation? How do you answer the question of “What if a house was a watch?” The first blueprints were made in 2018 by Eric Giroud, keystone of the MB&F design process, whose architectural background clearly informs the layout of HM11. A central atrium that gives onto four peripheral rooms. Transparency and light. Interior volumes that interact with exterior perspectives. Curvilinear morphology, primitive in its affinities with the human form, futurist in its unboxed vision.

The materials chosen to represent the two launch editions of HM11 Architect are titanium and sapphire crystal. Both are known for being extremely challenging to machine, such that it was only within the last two decades that their use became feasible in watches of complex form. The lower half of the HM11 case is a highly three-dimensional Grade-5 titanium shell with different inner and outer surface profiles. The upper caps of each of the four HM11 rooms are machined separately, since they can be affixed only after the movement has been installed. Close to a week is required to complete the HM11 case, comprising all the operations of milling, finishing and quality control.

The Horological Machines of MB&F have established a reputation for increasing the sophistication of shaped sapphire crystal components used in watchmaking, and Horological Machine Nº11 is no exception. There are six externally facing sapphire crystal components in the case of HM11, the largest of which consists of two separate sapphire crystal domes stacked concentrically to form the transparent atrium roof of HM11. Dome skylights feature prominently in 1970s residential architecture, a result of that period’s fascination with injection-moulded acrylics and adventurous design.

An unprecedented feature in watchmaking is the see-through crown, close to 10mm in diameter, that allows an unimpeded view directly into the movement. A crown of this size in sapphire crystal, whilst undeniable in its aesthetic impact, comes with specific technical challenges to be overcome. As the primary point of ingress to the movement, a watch crown must be equipped with gaskets that prevent water or dust particles from entering the watch and compromising its performance. Conventional watch crowns require gaskets that measure around 2mm in diameter, which in most instances provide adequate protection. Such gaskets are primarily made from rubberised polymers, and create friction when the crown is turned, but in negligible quantities that go unnoticed during normal use.

In Horological Machine Nº11, a conventional gasket sized in proportion with the crown five times bigger would have generated so much friction that the crown would essentially have braked and been unusable. Instead, two sets of gaskets are used, similar to a double airlock security system in spacecraft or submersibles. Towards the outer edge of the watch, a large low-friction gasket creates just enough of a seal to stop dust from entering via the sapphire-crystal window. A watertight gasket, much smaller in diameter, is located closer to the centre of the movement, surrounding the crown axis. A total of 8 gaskets are dedicated to the sapphire crown alone.

Ensuring the integrity of the case and the movement within are in fact a total of 19 gaskets, necessitated by the complexity of the case and its various external components. The largest gasket used in HM11 Architect is of O-ring construction, shaped in all three dimensions and placed between the case and the bezel. A custom mould was cast for this one gasket; together with the 18 others, it delivers a purpose-engineered solution as a guarantee that the HM11 house remains safe from the elements, with a water resistance rating of 2ATM (20 metres).

The “bubble houses” of the mid- to late 20th century were enabled by evolutions in building technology, using materials and methods that seemed wildly implausible at first — or at least until someone actually made a house with one. And so, it is with the MB&F Horological Machine Nº11 Architect. New things often require new ways. True change starts when you think differently, but it endures when you live differently.

Despite its 3-dimensional, architectural conception and the complexity of its movement, the HM11 case surprisingly measures only 42mm in diameter. It sits sleekly and comfortably on the wrist, thanks to the curved case feet that are also the strap attachment points. These allow the watch to fit a variety of wrist sizes – and also provide stability when the case is turned to wind the barrel.

More about the HM11 engine

At the literal and conceptual heart of the HM11 Architect engine are two words: power and efficiency.

While the barrel forms the repository of all power in any mechanical watch, the ultimate source of this energy is the person whose wrist the watch occupies. The barrel is invested with energy through incidental kinetic action (in conjunction with an automatic winding system) or deliberate manual input (via the winding crown). These two methods of supplying energy are combined in HM11. Winding the watch can be both incidental — a secondary effect of changing the room orientation — and deliberate. The action itself is amplified; instead of turning a crown of small diameter, you turn the watch itself, adding greater weight to the relationship between HM11 and its wearer.

A standard watch with a power reserve of 48 hours requires between 20 and 30 full turns of the crown to be fully wound. With HM11, its 96 hours of power reserve can be completely rewound after just 10 full clockwise rotations of the case.

Relocating the winding action from a small-diameter component like a crown to the case itself also raises the upper limit of torque you can apply to the winding mechanism. It’s simple physics — increasing the diameter of a rotating element reduces the energy required to turn it. This means that the mainspring barrel of HM11 Architect can be rewound more directly and more quickly.

The flying tourbillon that controls the timekeeping ability of HM11 Architect is today a key part of the mechanical identity of MB&F, appearing in Horological Machines 6 and 7, as well as Legacy Machine FlyingT. Its large balance wheel boosts the overall inertia of the system, offering benefits in terms of chronometric stability, but tourbillons (and flying tourbillons in particular) are vulnerable mechanisms, susceptible to shocks that can interfere with performance. Conventional shock-protection solutions in watchmaking are designed to protect specific components, notably wheel pivots, whereas general shock-proofing solutions that shield the entire movement are uncommon. Rather than applying additional shock-proofing elements to individual watch components, HM11 incorporates a full-system dampener, consisting of four high-tension suspension springs that sit between the movement and lower-case shell.

These are not simple coiled springs made from wire, but custom springs laser-cut out of a low-carbon high-hardness steel tube with chrome finish. The specific alloy composition and crystalline structure of this steel provide exceptional resistance to wear, while its finish and cylindrical form impart aesthetic value — despite the fact that the springs are completely hidden from view. Such springs are used nowhere else in modern watchmaking except at MB&F, and are derived from technologies designated primarily for the aerospace industry.

Importing new technology from other industries may not be an uncommon practice in modern watchmaking, but importing old technology is certainly a rarer occurrence. The mechanical thermometer of HM11 Architect runs on the same centuries-old principle of exploiting differences in thermal expansion coefficients between materials, but its utilisation here constitutes a novel and unusual watchmaking function. A bimetallic strip is formed into a compact spiral and coupled with a rack and lever such that the expansion and contraction of the spiral changes the rotational angle of the rack, moving the lever which in turn controls the motion of the temperature indication hand. Whilst traditional bimetallic strips were made from laminated copper and steel, modern manufacturers of mechanical thermometers have improved the precision and reliability of their instruments with proprietary alloys. The HM11 mechanical thermometer measures temperatures ranging from -20–60°C (0–140°F), with display variations available in the two most common temperature scales.

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THE STORY OF THE LM SPLIT ESCAPEMENT

Like all good stories, it is worth starting at the very beginning. The idea behind the LM Split Escapement started life in 2015 with the LM Perpetual. Designed and conceived by Northern Irish master watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, there were two criteria for the perpetual calendar: make it fool-proof; and display MB&F’s signature flying balance wheel in the centre of the dial. McDonnell was soon to realise that there was a problem: there was nowhere to put the escapement. The concept had worked with previous Legacy Machines, where the balance wheel was on the front of the watch along with the escapement, but with the perpetual calendar display of the more complex LM Perpetual, there was simply no room for both.

A man of solutions, McDonnell had the ingenious idea of creating the world’s longest balance staff that would traverse the entire movement, leaving the large balance wheel on its own, on the front of the watch, and moving the remaining parts of the escapement – anchor and escape wheel – to the opposite side of the movement, almost 12 mm below; hence the name ‘Split Escapement’.

When the LM Perpetual was unveiled, there were so many innovations to talk about that the split escapement went largely unnoticed. So, in 2017, MB&F decided to create the LM Split Escapement (LM SE) to highlight McDonnell’s genius idea. The manual-winding, 298-component movement is driven by double barrels providing 72 hours of power reserve, and features a user-friendly, fool proof rapid date-changing system that prevents the user from inadvertently damaging the movement when adjusting the date.

EVO-LUTION

The first editions of the LM Split Escapement were presented in MB&F’s classic Legacy Machine case – but the collection now also features the EVO case, conceived for a more active lifestyle.

This new case design first came to life in 2020 in the form of the LM Perpetual EVO; it features 80 metres of water resistance, a screw-down crown, an integrated rubber strap and a bezel-free design. But the EVO concept goes deeper: inside the case, the movement is suspended thanks to a world-premiere, monobloc shock-absorbing “FlexRing” system, dampening the kind of vertical and horizontal shocks that come with real-life adventures.

After the LM Perpetual EVO, the EVO case worked its way further into the Legacy Machine collection: most recently and with a bang, in the form of MB&F’s first-ever chronograph, the LM Sequential EVO. But previously and more discreetly, with a 10-piece limited edition LM Split Escapement EVO, presented quietly on the occasion of the UAE’s Golden Jubilee.

In addition to the EVO case, that Golden Jubilee edition featured a change that radically modified the design of the LM Split Escapement: the entire mechanism was rotated clockwise by 30 degrees, with the crown at 4:30 instead of 2 o’clock – completely changing the symmetry of the watch, giving it a totally new character.

In 2022, MB&F added two new LM SE EVO editions to the series. The first came in grade 5 titanium with an icy blue base plate and slate grey dial and counters, while the second was a limited edition reserved exclusively for the MB&F LAB in Beverly Hills, operated by retail partner Westime; the 25-piece edition came in Westime’s corporate colours of blue and black with a striking black base plate and metallic blue dial and counters.

Another feature of these editions was the special darkened treatment on the movement side, creating heightened contrast between the wheels, the rhodium-plated barrels and the rose gold details – symbolically echoing the contrast between the active, contemporary nature of the EVO collection and the traditional finishing of the movement. MB&F is one of only a handful of artisanal brands that continue to finish components painstakingly by hand, making the view of the movement as mesmerizing as the dial.

A SOPHISTICATED BLACK AND GREEN EDITION FOR TAIPEI

The relationship between Maximilian Büsser and Swiss Prestige is very special. Indeed, a strong bond links the two, practically since the beginnings of MB&F. Several years later, in 2015, Swiss Prestige opened the MB&F M.A.D.Gallery in Taiwan – the second in the world and the first in Asia.

It was an impressive challenge for Lori Shen (CEO of Swiss Prestige) and her team as the company had been operating for many years as a distributor, but had no background in running an actual retail store. If people doubted the reasons why someone would take such a risk, Lori Shen had the perfect answer; “The reasons are simple. First, I love what Max does. Second, if you want to stand out, you need to be different. It hasn’t been an easy path but I am extremely proud of this decision.”

Travelling back to 2023, MB&F’s Taipei M.A.D.Gallery gets its own limited edition of 20 pieces with a stunning LM Split Escapement EVO. This new addition bears a titanium case, a beautiful black base plate, as well as a multi-reflective green dial and open counters.

It comes with a choice of two rubber straps; a contrasting fresh white strap, or a lovely dark grey which compliments the piece’s base plate perfectly.

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PROJECT ORIGINS

H. Moser & Cie. and MB&F are both independent, human-scale Swiss companies.

They are run by two passionate personalities, longstanding acquaintances who both appreciate and respect each other on both a personal and professional level.

The brands have in fact been working together for more than ten years, with Precision Engineering AG – a sister company of H. Moser & Cie. – notably supplying MB&F’s balance springs. It is therefore not surprising that MB&F asked Edouard Meylan to take part as a “friend” to help create a Performance Art Piece.

The latest aspect of this collaboration lies in its being a two-way street. Maximilian Büsser says: “When I called Edouard to tell him that I wanted to collaborate on a creation, I mentioned that I really liked the double balance-spring, the Moser fumé dials and the Concept watch series. Edouard immediately told me that he would let me borrow these features, but on condition that he could also reinterpret one of my machines. After an initial moment of surprise, I gave it some thought. Being 50% Indian and 50% Swiss, I am firmly convinced that mixing DNA creates interesting results, so why not try the experiment in watchmaking? I therefore agreed and suggested the FlyingT model, which is particularly dear to my heart.” In a spirit of sharing and openness, while cultivating the notion of strength in unity, H. Moser & Cie. and MB&F have thus jointly created two models, available in several versions and issued in 15-piece limited series.

This number is a nod to the 15^th anniversary of MB&F as well as honouring the 15^th anniversary of the relaunch of H. Moser & Cie. By pooling their strengths, these two competing yet friendly brands are working to harness the combined strengths of talented artisans, entirely in keeping with the philosophy adopted by MB&F.

LM101 MB&F X H. MOSER

The Legacy Machine 101 distils the very quintessence of mechanical watchmaking: the balance wheel, the power reserve and the passing of time. It is therefore no coincidence that MB&F has chosen to revisit this model – one of the purest and “simplest” in its collection – since it is indeed minimalism that guided the creation of the LM101 MB&F x H. Moser model. Like H. Moser & Cie. and the “back to basics” approach embodied in its Concept watch series, MB&F has chosen to remove its logo and return to its roots and indeed to the very origins of horology, when only the movements were signed. In the same understated spirit, it has abandoned the floating domed subdials to display the

hours and minutes as well as the 45-hour power reserve by means of hands placed directly on the main dial. The fumé dials borrowed from H. Moser & Cie. can thus be expressed in complete freedom, also enhanced by a refined bezel. Four fumé dials have been chosen for the LM101 MB&F x H. Moser: Red fumé, Cosmic Green fumé, Aqua Blue fumé and, of course, the famous Funky Blue fumé. Topped with a domed sapphire crystal, the case is made of steel, for only the third time in the history of MB&F. 

The mesmerising large suspended balance wheel continues to take centre stage, albeit completely redesigned on the LM101 MB&F x H. Moser in order to highlight the beauty of the fumé dials. This beating heart, which represents the quintessence of watchmaking in the eyes of Maximilian Büsser, has been fitted with a double balance spring produced by Precision Engineering AG. Thanks to this pair of matching balance springs, the displacement of the point of gravity undergone by each spring as it expands is corrected, significantly improving precision and isochronism in a continuous quest for perfection. In addition, the paired balance springs also reduce the friction effect normally encountered with a single balance spring, resulting in optimised isochronism. Through the case back, the curved sapphire crystal reveals the ‘engine’ driving this timepiece. Unlike the base movement of the Legacy Machine 101, of which the finishes were determined by co-creator Kari Voutilainen, the aesthetics of the calibre that powers the LM101 MB&F x H. Moser is more contemporary, with a subtle NAC treatment to enhance its beauty.

ENDEAVOUR CYLINDRICAL TOURBILLON H. MOSER X MB&F

H. Moser & Cie. has borrowed from MB&F the concept of three-dimensional movements, a strong element of the Geneva Maison’s identity, protected by a sapphire dome and featuring a one-minute flying tourbillon that rises above the main dial through a ventricular opening appearing at 12 o’clock. Benefiting from the expertise of its sister company Precision Engineering AG, H. Moser & Cie. has equipped its tourbillon with a cylindrical balance spring, the same as that developed by Precision Engineering AG for MB&F’s LM Thunderdome. Invented in the 18^th century, the cylindrical balance spring is reminiscent of a worm- or corkscrew, rising perpendicularly around the upper rod of the balance staff. Commonly used in historical marine chronometers at the time, it offers the advantage of developing concentrically, and therefore geometrically, since it works perfectly along the axis of its pivots. This gives it a significant advantage over the flat balance spring, whose opposite ends tend to exert forces on the pivots, despite the Philips or Breguet terminal curves which were specifically developed to partially correct the non-concentric opening of the balance spring. Fitted with a Breguet overcoil at both attachment points, the cylindrical balance spring reduces pivot friction and greatly improves isochronism. Due to its specific shape, the cylindrical balance spring is far more difficult to produce and takes ten times longer to make than a traditional balance spring. 

Another reference to MB&F’s identity lies in the tilted dials, which H Moser & Cie. has adopted for its hour and minute subdials. These are inclined at 40° so that the owner of the watch is the only one to whom it reveals the secret of time, and mounted on a conical gear train ensuring optimal torque transmission from one plane to the other. As Edouard Meylan explains: “We have Moserized the MB&F universe by developing a sapphire subdial, which melts into the background so as to highlight the beauty of our fumé dials. And to preserve the purity and elegance of this true work of horological art, we have inscribed our logo like a watermark on the sapphire subdial, thereby underlining the personal character and intimate relationship binding it to its owner”.

Available in five different versions, the Endeavour Cylindrical Tourbillon H. Moser x MB&F model comes in a steel case topped by Funky Blue, Cosmic Green, Burgundy, Off-White or Ice Blue dials, all of the fumé variety

https://www.mbandf.com/en/press/performance-art/lm101-mbandf-hmoser

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