Watch brandsWatch wikiWatch videosVariousWatch calendarSaved articles
PopularRolexOmegaPatek PhilippeAudemars PiguetTudorGrand SeikoCartierSeikoIWCTAG HeuerBreitlingJaeger-LeCoultreA. Lange & SohneZenith

Results for Max Büsser

187 articles · 9 videos found · page 2 of 7

Dubai Watch Week 2025 Panel Highlights and Rolex CEO Keynote SJX Watches
Audemars Piguet Chopard Sep 29, 2025

Dubai Watch Week 2025 Panel Highlights and Rolex CEO Keynote

In less than two months, industry leaders will gather in Dubai for Dubai Watch Week (DWW), an event that has become a focal point of the industry since launching a decade ago. The 2025 edition will take place from November 19-23 in a new 200,000 sq ft venue next to Dubai Mall in order accommodate a slate of 90 brands; the largest line-up in its history, up nearly 50% compared to the 2023 edition. As ever, a highlight of DWW is the opportunity to hear directly from industry leaders during the various panel discussions. This year’s line-up includes some of the biggest names in watchmaking with a keynote from Rolex chief executive Jean-Frédéric Dufour, in conversation with Abdul Hamied Seddiqi, provocatively titled, ‘The Time to Act is Now – a note to the watch industry.” Mr Dufour rarely speaks publicly at a watch event, so this is one of the most significant happenings at DWW. In total, more than 50 sessions will take place across the five days of the event covering a variety of topics ranging from luxury and legacy in the age of algorithms and virality, to the reality of future-proofing founder-led independent brands; the latter will be a fireside chat with Max Büsser and Kari Voutilainen. There will also be a new chief executive roundtable featuring Georges Kern, Ilaria Resta, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, and Julien Tornare, the heads of Breitling, Audemars Piguet, Chopard, and Hublot, respectively. DWW takes place from November 19-23, 2025 in Burj Park adjacent t...

Read article
Reflecting on Twenty Years of MB&F; SJX Watches
MB&F; Aug 4, 2025

Reflecting on Twenty Years of MB&F;

It’s difficult to picture what the independent watchmaking landscape would look like without MB&F;. In some ways, it feels like the brand has always been around, perhaps because for me, it has. I first discovered MB&F; in 2008 when the HM2 was launched, but even back then the brand had an aura of polish that belied its short history. With the benefit of hindsight, Max Büsser’s decision to step away from corporate life, and leave the top job at Harry Winston Rare Timepieces to build his own brand rooted in collaboration, transparency, and imagination, seems obvious. But at the time, it was seen as a risky move that would never work. To understand why it did, we need to go back to the early 2000s. Max Büsser during the launch of the HM1 It’s called what? Let’s rewind. In the early 2000s the watch community was obsessed with the topic of in-house movements. The internet was slowly helping collectors find one another and share insider knowledge, which revealed how many watches were powered by the same handful of movements. If a new brand wanted to be taken seriously, it was increasingly important to be a manufacture and do as much as possible in-house. It was a simpler time, and we had yet to see such widespread misuse of the term.  So when Mr Büsser explained that MB&F; stood for ‘Maximilian Büsser & Friends,’ and that he would actively celebrate the friends and collaborators that he was working with, people told him he was crazy. But he understood that the coll...

Read article
Introducing - The Funky Groove of the New MB&F; HM8 Mark 2 Purple Monochrome
MB&F; Jun 12, 2025

Introducing - The Funky Groove of the New MB&F; HM8 Mark 2 Purple

Max Büsser’s childhood dream was to become a car designer. Although he ultimately studied engineering and founded MB&F;, one of the most successful indie watch brands, his passion for cars has permeated his design language, resulting in driver’s watches like the 1970s-inspired HM5, featuring a lateral speedometer-style display. The HM8 Mark 2, released in 2023, is a true […]

Read article
MB&F; Launches an Entirely New Collection for their 20th Anniversary with the SP One Worn & Wound
MB&F; May 20, 2025

MB&F; Launches an Entirely New Collection for their 20th Anniversary with the SP One

Would you expect anything less from MB&F; on their 20th anniversary than the launch of an entirely new collection? The independent brand founded by Max Büsser has spent the last two decades confounding expectations, delighting enthusiasts and collectors along the way with some of the brazen and creative watch designs of the modern era. The brand’s influence and importance on the modern independent watch scene really can’t be overstated. To date, MB&F; releases have existed on two distinct tracks: the LM or “Legacy Machine” collection, which represents Max Büsser’s idea of a classical watchmaking style (think circular cases, classical complications, and a generally traditional if sometimes highly complex readout of the time), and the HM, or “Horological Machine” collection, which can be described as pure, maximalist creativity. This is where you see watches shaped like dogs, and spaceships, with time read in unusual and unexpected ways. While you’d think that working within two collections in this manner (particularly where one is seemingly unbound by traditional watchmaking rules) Max and his team would have the freedom to create just about anything they set their mind to. In reality, of course, there are always projects that don’t reach the finish line for one reason or another. The SP One (SP is short for “Special Projects”) represents an entirely new product category for MB&F; with the promise of reviving these projects and creating entirely new one...

Read article
The Highly Anticipated M.A.D.2 is Here Worn & Wound
MB&F; ’s total revenue Mar 18, 2025

The Highly Anticipated M.A.D.2 is Here

The M.A.D.Editions M.A.D.2 is finally here. This is, perhaps, the most inevitable release of the year. It’s like starting your series of space operas with “Episode IV,” you know that at some point V is coming (and, indeed, I-III, but we’ll save that conversation for another day). Following up one of the most discussed watches of the last few years is certainly no easy task, and the M.A.D.2 comes to market at a very different time than its predecessor, at least in terms of what’s desirable at the moment.  At this point, we all know the story: Max Büsser, in an effort to make something for his friends and collaborators who could likely never afford the high priced watches they helped him create, created a small batch of watches with an inverted rotor and an unusual time telling apparatus read from the side of the case. The M.A.D1 became a viral hit in the watch community, spawned a bunch of variants, and an improved “S” model just last year. Along the way, the M.A.D.Editions project became a brand unto itself, generating around 20% of MB&F;’s total revenue in 2024. And in the three short years since the first M.A.D.Editions watches appeared, the appetite for avant-garde and experimental designs at approachable price points has increased dramatically. In other words, M.A.D.Editions is no longer the only game in town (but they’re still the only affordable way to get a little bit of that Max DNA in a watch without spending tens of thousands of dollars, or mor...

Read article
[VIDEO] The M.A.D.1S: First Impressions, and Scratching the MB&F; Itch Worn & Wound
MB&F; Feb 28, 2025

[VIDEO] The M.A.D.1S: First Impressions, and Scratching the MB&F; Itch

As a watch enthusiast, you inevitably come to admire certain brands and watches that you know, deep down, you’ll just never be able to own. It doesn’t take long in this hobby to become acutely aware that it’s insanely expensive, and there’s a whole miniature industry of watches that exist in absolutely untouchable realms. If you’re really lucky, maybe every so often you get a chance to see a watch in this class at an industry or collector event, but we’re talking about watches produced in the hundreds per year, max. They are genuinely rare. The odds of getting a glimpse of one of these super watches is always against you.  MB&F;, for me, has always been this brand. They are perhaps the watches I love the most that I have the smallest chance of ever actually owning. Trust me when I tell you I’ve made peace with that many times over, as most enthusiasts have with whatever watches or brands are truly out of reach. This hobby would be truly miserable, after all, if we let the disappointment of never actually being able to own a six figure watch ruin our day. So when the M.A.D.1 project surfaced a few years ago, I along with many other watch lovers got a shot of hope injected directly into their veins. Surely you know the story by now: Max Büsser, as a “thank you” gesture to his many partners and colleagues that have helped him create so many incredible but wildly expensive timepieces over the years, designed a watch that was made with the spirit of an MB&F;, ...

Read article
First Look - The Bulgari x MB&F; Serpenti, The Metamorphosis of an Icon into a Horological Machine Monochrome
Bulgari x MB&F; Serpenti Feb 10, 2025

First Look - The Bulgari x MB&F; Serpenti, The Metamorphosis of an Icon into a Horological Machine

Incredible things can happen when you put Bulgari’s designer extraordinaire and director of watchmaking, Fabrizio Buonamassa, and MB&F;’s visionary founder and creator, Max Büsser, in the same room. Joining forces for the second time, the dynamic duo has envisioned a new habitat for Bulgari’s iconic Serpenti that sheds its familiar feminine universe and takes possession […]

Read article
From the Grönefeld Brothers, a New Brand, GRØNE, and an Affordable New Watch, the Manueel One Worn & Wound
Kurono Tokyo Nov 5, 2024

From the Grönefeld Brothers, a New Brand, GRØNE, and an Affordable New Watch, the Manueel One

A new brand is the talk of the watch world today, and the latest example of a trend we’ve seen developing over the last several years. GRØNE is the new project from Bart and Tim Grönefeld, the brothers behind the Grönefeld brand, one of the most acclaimed indies in the world. Following in the footsteps of the M.A.D. 1 project, Kurono Tokyo, and others, the brand exists as a way for admirers of a high priced independent maker to buy into the aesthetic and perspective of the brand at a much more affordable price point. The first release from GRØNE, the Manueel One, carries a retail price of just 2,150 Euros. At retail, Grönefeld watches start at around 50,000 Euros and go up from there. They are also very low production, with fewer than 100 pieces made each year.  The Manueel One, according to Bart and Tim, was inspired by a desire to bring their watches to “our our watchmakers, our children, and our friends.” If this sentiment sounds familiar, it’s nearly identical to Max Büsser’s reasoning behind the M.A.D. 1 project, which was initially only offered to friends of the brand, including partners that Max and his team had worked with for years. Like the M.A.D. 1, the Manueel One borrows some aesthetic and design principles from the higher priced watches the brand is known for, but it does so without the serious attention to craft and watchmaking you’d get with an atelier made timepiece. That’s to be expected, of course. Anyone thinking that an order for t...

Read article
The M.A.D.1 Gets a Slimmer, More Wearable Update Worn & Wound
MB&F; Aug 27, 2024

The M.A.D.1 Gets a Slimmer, More Wearable Update

The M.A.D.1 has been a genuine phenomenon since it debuted three years ago. The M.A.D. brand, an offshoot of MB&F;, exists almost by accident. The debut watch was made available to MB&F; friends and family as an affordably priced “thank you” for years of partnership and support, and was eventually made available to the public. Turns out there are a lot of enthusiasts out there who are after a little taste of MB&F; but don’t necessarily have the nearly six figures (or more) for the genuine article. The M.A.D.1, in all of the variants we’ve seen since it launched, has offered fans of independent watchmaking a simulacrum of a much higher end experience, simply by wearing and owning something that originated from the mind of brand founder Max Busser. But, if we’re being honest, there have always been aspects of the M.A.D.1 that could use a little refining to make it more appealing as a watch that you’d actually want to wear day in and day out. The new M.A.D.1S seeks to solve some of those problems.  First and foremost, it’s worth pointing out that isn’t the M.A.D.2, a watch that the brand says has been in the works for some time and will debut next year. Rather, this is an honest to goodness evolution of the original idea, and seems to address some of the common complaints from M.A.D.1 skeptics. The “S” here stands for slimmer, surely the most notable change from the original, which came in at a sometimes comical 18.8mm tall. The new version is just 15mm tall...

Read article
Industry News: Chanel Invests in MB&F; Worn & Wound
Chanel Invests Aug 22, 2024

Industry News: Chanel Invests in MB&F;

News broke this morning that Chanel has invested a 25% stake in MB&F;, one of our favorite independent brands. The investment comes on the eve of MB&F;’s 20th anniversary year, and is being framed by the brand as future-proofing the company. “It was our responsibility,” according to a statement from founder Max Büsser, “in today’s very favourable context and with our management team in its prime, to take this major step to ensure our long-term future.” MB&F; founder Max Büsser Büsser retains a majority stake in the company (60%) while his partner and Head of R&D; & Production Serge Kriknoff owns 15%. According to the statement released by MB&F;, the brand will continue to be run independently by the current leadership team, which also includes Charris Yadigaroglou (Head of Marketing Communications) and Thibault Verdonckt (Head of Sales). Brands taking on investment is of course nothing new, and the decision of a niche independent that has displayed over multiple decades that it’s capable of not only sustaining itself but growing feels like a smart business decision. It plays directly into a topic that comes up a lot in the world of independent watchmaking: What happens when a founder moves on? While there is no indication that Büsser is stepping aside anytime soon, longevity is something always on the mind of watch collectors. This is an industry, after all, where some brands can trace their roots to the 18th century. We covered this very topic in a Q&A; podcas...

Read article
MB&F; Updates the HM8 Mark II with a New Blue Limited Edition Worn & Wound
Urwerk May 6, 2024

MB&F; Updates the HM8 Mark II with a New Blue Limited Edition

It’s hard not to love Max Büsser. Anyone who has met the man in person will tell you that he is a fount of enthusiasm and creativity. The watches he creates are otherworldly and fun and, like ‘em or not, his watches have helped to - alongside brands like Urwerk and watchmakers like Vianney Halter - push independent watch design to new and interesting directions in a big way. One of last year’s big releases from MB&F; (alongside the UFO-like HM11) was the HM8 Mark 2, which was initially released in June to plenty of fanfare. At the time, the watch was available in two configurations - one in white, and a limited edition of 33 in a wonderful British Racing Green. That limited edition is now long gone, and in its place, MB&F; has announced a new limited release of the HM8 Mark 2, this time in blue.  For those who may have missed it last summer, the HM8 Mark 2 is an automotive-inspired watch and an evolution of, you guessed it, the HM8 that was first released in 2016. Max Büsser - who has said time and again that he wanted to design cars long before he was interested in watches - has tapped into his affection for automobiles and racing as inspiration for a number of watches and clocks over the years, to great success. The HM8 Mark 2, and the HM8 before it, pull from this history. Racing and watches have always been linked. The simple reality is that racing without timing doesn’t really work and so, for as long as there have been cars, watchmakers have been ...

Read article
First Look - M.A.D. Editions Releases the M.A.D. 1 ‘Time to Love’ by Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac Monochrome
MB&F; Apr 3, 2024

First Look - M.A.D. Editions Releases the M.A.D. 1 ‘Time to Love’ by Designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac

MB&F;, or Max Büsser & Friends, is an indie brand that thrives on the creative input of its friends. Pooling together different talents, Max Büsser has produced some extraordinary mechanical and artistic collaborations. While most watch fans get a kick out of MB&F;’s creations and collaborations, very few of us can afford them. To remedy […]

Read article