Maximilian Büsser is evidently a very inclusive friend. He named his company, Maximilian Büsser & Friends (MB&F), so as to embrace these special allies. And extraordinary they certainly are - masters of the horological world no less.
Büsser who was previously managing director of Harry Winston Rare Timepieces was the man that brought in these exceptional talents in order to launch the Opus series of watches. It was through these collaborations that the image of Harry Winston was transformed from diamond merchant to maker of fine horology sought after by aficionados the world over. Now he’s doing it again - under a new label.
MB&F is therefore an artistic and micro-engineering concept laboratory in which changing collectives of independent professionals are assembled each year to design and craft a radical ‘Horological Machine’. The company acts as a catalyst in fusing traditional high-quality watchmaking with cutting-edge technology and avant-garde three-dimensional kinetic sculpture.
Their first timepiece, Horological Machine No.1, launched last year, wrote the first chapter in the story of the revolution; this year’s Horological Machine No.2 (HM2) takes it one step further. The HM2 is a holistically conceived and engineered three-dimensional timepiece that is a small marvel of technicalities: instantaneous jump hour, concentric retrograde minutes, retrograde date, bi-hemisphere moon phase and automatic winding.
With over 450 components making up its case and movement HM2 is incredibly sophisticated. Yet its complexity has been engineered for simple and trouble free functionality. The rectangular shape and flying buttresses as lugs are truly unique. Encased in twin plates of either white or rose gold on top and titanium underneath, it appears the watch is held together by four Allen screws at each corner.
You may think it is hard to read the time on such a watch but you’d be wrong. The left porthole houses the date, in addition to the northern and southern moon-phases while the right one a retrograde minute. The hour is shown through a blue circle and the minute pointer is a discrete triangle. Clearly it is neither a sport nor a dress watch but a ‘Horological Machine’ worn by those who hold the art of watchmaking in high esteem.
Model MB&F Horological Machine No.2
Price 57,000 USD
Quantity 125 pieces available in 18 karat rose gold, 125 pieces available in 18 karat white gold
Why Cutting-edge technology, set as sculptured art using high-tech alloys and precious metals create a winning combination of traditional watchmaking and 21st century micro-engineering.
