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A First Look at the New MB&F Legacy Machine No.1

written by A.Morgan - 17th Oct 2011

When we interviewed Max Büsser a few months ago, we did the obvious thing and asked what was coming up next from his concept watch company, MB&F. With a twinkle in his eye and a cheeky grin exchanged with his right hand man Charris Yadigaroglou, he drops us a little hint that’s had us desperate to know more ever since. We knew it was going to be special, and we knew roughly what it was, but we weren’t expecting this.

First of all, its round. Secondly, it’s only 44mm in diameter. It has a dial on the front and the movement in the back. Wait a second, that just sound like a normal watch – are you sure this is an MB&F piece? Yes, yes it is, because there is one special difference that makes this new Legacy Machine No.1 unlike any other watch ever seen before. You may have noticed that there is something missing from the movement at the back, something quite important – the balance wheel. The heartbeat of the movement, the regulation, the timing, the control – is missing. Why? Because it’s at the front, floating above the dial. Ah yes; there’s that MB&F madness that we all love.

This isn’t Horological Machine No.5 as was expected, this is Max’s homage to the watchmakers of the 18th and 19th Century, and a new range of Legacy Machines. The idea is to take a traditional watch design and to showcase elements of its mechanism; in this case the beating heart, which hangs from a towering cantilever that arches over the dial. The MB&F ‘Friends’ ethos is still alive and kicking too, combining the efforts of the world’s finest watchmakers to produce this unbelievable timepiece.

Looking after the movement side of things is Jean-François Mojon, whose expertise has also recently been put to good use in the insanely complicated IWC Sidérale Scafusia, and the finishing has been undertaken by Kari Voutilainen, whose own watches are nothing short of engineered perfection. Also following MB&F tradition are the twin dials, in this instance displaying two entirely independent time zones, both powered by the hovering balance wheel that sits between them. Power reserve is displayed using a unique vertical gauge that required some exotic ceramics and intricate engineering to perfect.

This is what MB&F is about and has always been about – making pieces that can hold a person’s attention longer than any other piece possibly could. The beautifully domed crystal allows the floating heart to be seen practically side on as well as from above, which gives the intricacies of the movement a unique third dimension that is absent when viewed through the cramped porthole provided by just a clear caseback. The Legacy Machine No.1 is not just impressive in its own right; it shines a whole new light on the back catalogue of Horological Machines as well, highlighting the expertise and perfection that goes into creating them. MB&F have shown us that their imaginations far surpass anything we could have come up with, so I can’t even begin to guess what might be coming next…