Deserved Winner at GPHG - MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual

The Legacy Machine Perpetual was launched in 2015 and what an impact it made.

Max and his friends certainly know how to make the complicated look as good as it does. Clean, uncluttered yet sophisticated. I can’t put my finger on it, but despite the high complication of the mechanism, the look just works for me. A gorgeous art piece in my humble opinion.

This year, the 2016 edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie De Genève honoured Max Busser’s Legacy Machine Perpetual with the Calendar Watch Prize. And what a field that was competing in this category - LM Perpetual, H Moser & Cie’s Endeavour Perpetual One Concept Funky Blue, Chopard’s L.U.C Perpetual Chrono, Bovet’s Virtuoso VII Retrograde perpetual calendar just to name a few. Strong field but the LM Perpetual came out tops. Not surprised…

The beauty of the LM Perpetual is the fact that many perpetual calendar timepieces use the sub-dial layout but while MB&F adopted a similar sub-dial layout, he also designed it with an “open work” concept. Brilliant!

Congrats to Max Busser and the talented Stephen McDonnell for the win! Thoroughly well deserved.

Max Busser Unveiling HM6 - Space Pirate

We were hosted by The Hour Glass on the day of the unveiling of the new Horological Machine Number 6 from Max Busser & Friends.

The venue was a private room at the Grand Hyatt Mezza9 restaurant and hosted within the wine cellar! Cool stuff for a cool timepiece launch.

Max explained how the timepiece was inspired by his childhood character of Captain Future and the space station in that series. See how the HM6 "time capsules" resembles the space station capsule?

But not only that, he also spoke about how he was influenced by BioDesign and the works of Luigi Colani. The form and the flowing designs of Colani is evident in the HM6 and Max paid tribute to that influence.

As with many engineering feat, the engineers have more say but with the HM6 Max and the design team was adamant on what needed to fit into the timepiece. Otherwise, it will be all to easy to make the watch a lot larger than the final product.

The final product is breathtaking. Looking like a vehicle straight out of a sci-fi movie, the HM6 is ultra light being that it is made of titanium. The first piece was delivered to Singapore already.

The timepiece sits nicely on the wrist. And I think it is an instant hit - not only with the men but also with the women who probably see this as a high jewellery art piece. I like it! No, I love it!!! What do you think?

Thanks to The Hour Glass for hosting the event. More detailed report on the HM6 to come.

Back to Basics - LM101 MB&F

So Max Busser was in town recently to launch the new Legacy Machine named LM101.

Back to basics is what the LM101 is - the "least" complicated piece by Max Busser and Friends. And what a beauty the 101 is. First. let's start with a comparison - the LM2 versus the LM101, side-by-side.

The LM101 is a very wearable 40mm bearing the hallmark of the LM series - a domed shaped sapphire glass and a suspended balance wheel.

The crown is at the four o'clock position and the dial displays the time and a power reserve. As with all LM art pieces, the dials are beautifully shiny and resembles enamel. But Max says they are not enamel but rather a special form of lacquer.

A closer look at the watch - the bottom dial is the power reserve.

And the case back - the hand wound movement signed by Max and Kari Voutilainen. Level of finish is what you would expect from an MB&F.

Another look at the watch - sorry for the poor quality of the pictures as it was taken in restaurant lighting. The timepiece is in white gold.

A final look at the LM101 in B&W. Understand the pricing is sub 90k SGD. A very beautifully crafted piece and one for the ladies too. Kudos to Max and his back to basics! Thanks to the Hour Glass for hosting the dinner.

That is Max unveiling the LM101 from his pouch. Congrats to a new wonderful art piece by MB&F!

Something is Brewing - MB&F

Max Busser was in town recently and we had the chance to have dinner with him.

And what for you might ask? Well, something is up for sure. For the time being, enjoy the shot of the LM2 that was on Max's wrist that night.

You may want to check out my blog on the LM2.

Count down… 7 days to go to a new Machine!

Thanks to the Hour Glass!

MB&F - Legacy Machine No 2

MB&F has done it again - with Legacy Machine Number 2, it changed from one-engine-two-dials to two-engines-one-dial.

Max calls it Kinetic Art - art in motion and I cannot agree more. Watching the two escapement beats simultaneously driving the watch is amazing. In actual fact, LM2 continued from LM1 with both technical experts Jean-Francois Mojon and Kari Voutilainen continuing from LM1. There are a lot of similarities but the one-to-two was changed to two-for-one. Coming in three metals, the platinum with blue dial is limited to 18 pieces while the rose gold and white gold versions are unlimited although production is limited to a very small number per year.

Inspired by the Duality by Philippe Dufour, Max felt he needed to create a watch with double balance wheel. What the team came up with not only pays homage to the past but also created a watch where two balance wheels driving one single gear train. Without going too much into the technical, the differential basically averages out the variation of the two balance wheels.

The lacquered dial is at the 12 o'clock position and the differential at the 6 o'clock position. The two balance wheels are suspended over the dial and the differential. The platinum comes with a blue (PVD) dial.

The rose gold version comes with a silver dial. Notice the high domed sapphire crystal.

The movement is well finished - very compact and reminiscent of a three quarter plate.

Movement comes with 44 jewels and a power reserve of 45 hours. Balance oscillates at 18,000 vph. The movement is hand finished.

Here's a wristshot. I thought the weight is more balanced on the LM1. Size of the watch is 44mm for both but the LM2 is slightly thicker.

Enjoy the sketch of the watch.

All I can say is that the LM2 is a great continuation of the LM1 and it is exquisite! If only I could afford one. Thanks The Hourglass for the invite and also Max for explaining his new Legacy Machine. Can't wait for the next HM...