SimplyAbuDhabi XII

1 2 1 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I W here would you go if you had a timemachine? Everyone has a varied answer for this question, despite the ultimate impossibility of it. For Maximilian Büsser, founder of MB&F watches, he makes manifest the desire to visit other eras by imagining what he might create had he been born 100 years earlier, dedicating himself and his team to imagining the kind of timepiece he would have made a century earlier than now. Büsser is very direct and clear about the mission of MB&F - “Based around one very simple and fundamental ideal: to assemble dedicated collectives of talented horological artisans, artists and professionals – all friends – to design and craft each year a radical and original horological masterpiece. By nurturing teams of talented individuals, harnessing their passion and creativity and crediting each individual's essential role, MB&F uses their synergy to become much greater than the sum of its parts. MB&F is above all a human adventure... a human adventure with just one goal: to create incredible horological machines.” And that is exactly what they have done with the Legacy machine – a homage to the rich watchmaking traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Legacy Machine No.1 was conceived when Büsser started really turning over the question of what kind of watch he would have created if born earlier: “What would have happened if I had been born in 1867 instead of 1967?” he says. “In the early 1900s the first wristwatches appear and I would want to create three-dimensional machines for the wrist, but there are no Grendizers (anime super robot), Star Wars or fighter jets formy inspiration. But I do have pocket watches, the Eiffel Tower and Jules Verne, so what might my 1911 machine look like? It has to be round and it has to be three-dimensional: Legacy Machine No.1 was my answer.” Staying faithful to high-quality 19th century pocket watches, the LM1 features a sedately oscillating, large diameter balance with a traditional Breguet overcoil suspended from majestic twin arches; its enigmatic regulatingmechanism is in full view, but without apparent connection to the movement. Both the hours and the minutes on each of the two sub dials can be set completely independently of each other – dual time zone complications usually do not allow independent adjustment of the minutes – their domed dials further reinforcing visual references to the golden age of watchmaking (1780- 1850). Looking like a miniature sextant, a world-first vertical power reserve indicator keeps track of available power while providing a visual three- dimensional counterpoint to the graceful arches supporting the balance. Quite exceptional. With the Legacy Machine No.1, MB&F has artfully reinterpreted traditional 19th century watchmaking excellence to create a contemporary, three-dimensional objet d'art. LM1’s ingenious three-dimensional movement was specifically developed for MB&F from Maximilian Büsser’s sketches by Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode in Le Locle, Switzerland. The balance wheel and spring are at the very heart of any mechanical watch movement and are responsible for regulating timekeeping accuracy. Büsser has long been fascinated by the large slowly oscillating balance wheels of antique pocket watches, so it was no surprise this was his starting point from which to let his fertile imagination roam free. What was surprising though is just how radically he re-interpreted tradition by relocating the balance wheel from itsmore usual position hidden at the back of the movement to not just the top of the movement, but magically floating above the movement – even floating above the dials. While the location of Legacy Machine No.1’s regulating organ may be considered avant-garde, ‘tradition’ is upheld by the large 14mm diameter balance wheel with regulating screws specifically developed forMB&F, balance spring with the Breguet overcoil and mobile stud holder. Another very special feature of the LM1 movement is the ability to set the two time zones completely independently. The vast majority of dual time zone movements only allow the hours to be independently adjusted, a rare few offer setting to the half hour. The Legacy Machine No.1 allows both hours and minutes of each dial to be set to whatever time the user wishes. The world’s first vertical power reserve indicator on LM1 is driven by an ultra-flat differential with ceramic bearings allowing for a slimmer complication and a more robust and longer-wearing mechanism. Acclaimed master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen assumed responsibility for ensuring the historical accuracy of the style and finishing of the LegacyMachine No.1 movement. No easy task with such an unconventional suspended-balance design fromwhich to begin. The style and finish of the bridges and plates visible through the display on the back of the movement where Kari Voutilainen has excelled in providing exquisite historical fidelity in both the shape of elegantly curved bridges and the traditionally wide space between the bridges and between the perimeter of the bridges and the case. TECHNICAL FEATURES: MB&F The Legacy Machine No.1 Movement: Three-dimensional horological movement developed 100% for MB&F by Chronode and created by Jean-François Mojon and Kari Voutilainen. Case: 18-karat red or white gold Glass: High domed sapphire crystal on top with anti-reflective coating on both sides Straps: Black or brown hand-stitched alligator strap