Legends of the Fall: MB&F Releases Three New Models for the 2020 Fall Season
Maximilian Büsser and Friends have been busy this year, designing, constructing and testing three new models in their workshops in Switzerland. From the classical, to the extreme, to the outrageous, the new Fall collections have rounded out MB&F’s offerings to fill every need and to suit every occasion. Making MB&F not only a collector’s brand, but a lifestyle brand, these new creations are companion pieces for our sacred – and sometimes rough – journey in this world.
Beginning with MB&F’s most recent departure from the delicate mechanical work we are accustomed to from the already legendary, independent watchmaker, the Legacy Machine Perpetual Evo takes the innovative “mechanical processor” based perpetual calendar Legacy Machine, and makes it a rugged, go anywhere timepiece. “Not a watch for sports,” according to MB&F, “but a watch for life,” this high horology companion piece is designed to endure the rigours of an active life, and still be suitable for everyday life.
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For more classical tastes, MB&F’s collaboration with renowned Swiss engraver Eddy Jaquet has produced the LM Split Escapement Eddy Jaquet Limited Edition series. “We’re brainstorming around the table, and a theme that comes immediately to mind is the writing of Jules Verne, because I’m so into science fiction, and because the Legacy Machine collection that Eddy has been working on is basically the watch that I would have created if MB&F was founded 150 years ago,” says Büsser.
In preparing for this project, Eddy Jaquet read up to 60 novels and short stories by the 19th century French author, with the eight stories which were selected being: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, Around the World in Eighty Days, Five Weeks in a Balloon, The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Michael Strogoff and Robur the Conqueror.
With a dial plate as thick as 1.15 mm in some places, Jaquet was able to engrave in deep relief, sculpting the scenes he envisioned out of the lustrous silver. Finishing his work with a dark rhodium alloy, Jaquet was able to give his creations the added depth of his artistic shading. Each of the eight unique pieces is housed in an 18-karat red gold case.
Concluding with, perhaps, the most unconventional of the Fall releases, MB&F’s collaboration with clockmaker L’Épée 1839, has given form to the creative vision of Berlin-based designer, Maximilian Maertens. TriPod, the latest of MB&F’s ‘Robocreatures,’ features a dial which gives the time in three sets of hours and minutes which make one revolution in 36 hours. The time is read through three lens-quality glass spheres, reinforcing the Tripod theme of the three delicate, insect-like legs upon which the clock sits.
Having a master’s degree in optics, L’Epée 1839 CEO, Arnaud Nicolas, explains, “The precision of the sphere had to be very, very accurate. It’s not at all common for a ball-shaped piece of glass to have the tolerance of an optical lens.” Powering the dial is a three level, 182-component movement with a vertical balance beating at a rate of 2.5 Hz. Wound by key, the movement has an eight day power reserve, and is visible through a neon blue, neon green or neon red casing, with 50 pieces available in each colour.
Showing their capacity to produce unique pieces which appeal both to collectors and users of high horology time pieces, MB&F has proven it has not only depth of creativity and skill, but the range to build mechanical sculptures for every part of life.
The End... or is it?
Read issue no. 3 of THE CIRCLE | VANCOUVER magazine, coming this December, to discover the rest of the story.
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