Results for mb&f

Last Week in Watches: MB&F; Revives LM1, Hublot Revisits 1980

MB&F; Legacy Machine 1 EVO: The Watch That Started It All Gets a Tougher Shell

Fifteen years on, MB&F;'s most classically minded creation comes back hardened for daily wear, without losing any of its original magic.

MB&F; LM1 EVO: The Original Legacy Machine Gets a Tougher Shell Without Losing Its Soul

Fifteen years on, the watch that started it all gets the EVO treatment, and it was worth the wait

First Look - The MB&F; Legacy Machine 1 Is Back and Ready for Action as the LM1 EVO

When it was launched in 2011, MB&F;’s Legacy Machine 1 seemed like a totally alien presence among the brand’s fleet of futuristic galactic-themed Horological Machines. Appearing in the brand’s first round case, the LM1’s classical Roman numerals, lacquered registers and overtly 19th-century air made it look less like a spacecraft instrument and more like a […]

MB&F; finally gives its original Legacy Machine design the sporty EVO treatment after 15 years

The new MB&F; LM1 EVO returns to the original Legacy Machine design, but makes it more wearable, robust, and alluring than ever before.

Hands On: MB&F; LM1 EVO

The MB&F; LM1 EVO brings back the original Legacy Machine (LM) in a smaller, sportier case, with improved shock protection, water resistance and a revised movement. Fifteen years after the LM1 established the LM collection, the EVO preserves its distinctive dual-time layout and suspended balance while making it more suited to the demands of daily wear. Initial thoughts I still remember seeing the LM1 for the first time when it launched in 2011. Up to that point, MB&F; had spent six years developing its identity around the futuristic Horological Machine (HM) collection, and the brand’s original take on traditional watchmaking came as a surprise. The LM1 established what is now the Legacy Machine collection, which began as a thought experiment about what kind of watch founder Max Büsser might have designed had he been born a century earlier. The original LM becomes the fifth MB&F; platform to get the EVO treatment, after the LM Split Escapement, LM 101, LM Perpetual, and LM Sequential (in both regular and flyback configurations). It follows the same script as its predecessors, with a polished titanium (or 18k rose gold) case, proprietary rubber strap, and the brand’s patented FlexRing shock absorber, which helps take the edge off severe impacts. The EVO case is also water resistant to 80 m thanks in part to twin screw-down crowns. Of course, it’s a manually wound movement, which means the threads will se a lot of action assuming the watch is worn regularly. Fortunately, ...

Introducing: The Original MB&F; Legacy Machine 1 Gets The EVO Treatment

What We Know We are six years into the reign of the Legacy Machine EVO, a sportier version of MB&F;'s most "traditional" (and I use that term loosely) watch designs, which had the added benefit of higher water resistance, a built-in FlexRing shock protection system, slightly less delicate dials, and a different case design that lends itself to the rubber straps. We've had the Perpetual EVO, Sequential EVO, Sequential Flyback EVO, Split Escapement EVO, and LM101 EVO. Now, the original Legacy Machine, the LM No. 1, joins the collection with two case materials: titanium and a limited-edition rose gold. It seems like case sizes are the most hotly debated topic these days, and MB&F; has never shied away from a large case. It's needed to accomplish the dramatic design and depth of the floating balance that hovers over the dual time display (now in sunburst-polished black, flat subdials). The cases are 42mm by 16.8mm, with a 52mm lug-to-lug and 18mm lug width. This brings one major update to the EVO series: these watches now have quick-change rubber straps, made possible by a case redesign (so this won't apply to swapping into other EVO series models). Another update: the original's vertically moving power reserve indicator is now more traditional, rotating side to side and pointing at an inclined scale. One of my favorite things about the Legacy Machine is that it's so wild in the front and more traditional in the back. The movement is still the Jean-François Mogard-designed cali...

MB&F; and Caran d'Ache Built a CHF 850 Mechanical Gorilla That Sharpens Pencils, and It's Absolutely Unhinged

The GorillaSharpener is the latest proof that MB&F; will make basically anything, and we mean that as a compliment.

MB&F; goes bananas with the Caran d’Ache GorillaSharpener

MB&F; and Caran d’Ache go ape with the GorillaSharpener, a CHF 850 mechanical gorilla that turns sharpening a pencil into an art form.

New Release: Caran d’Ache x MB&F; GorillaSharpener

MB&F; celebrates World Gorilla Day with a weird and wonderful pencil sharpener. Dubbed GorillaSharpener, this is a design MB&F; and made by Caran d'Ache,

Photo Report: Geneva Watch Days 2026

I'll admit it, Geneva Watch Days is one of my favourite times in the city. It's when our industry reunites after a long, heatwave-themed summer to meet friends from all corners of the watch world and get hands-on with the latest pieces from some of the hottest and most interesting brands. And that's the thing about this summer show: while Watches & Wonders draws our attention to the larger players, Geneva Watch Days lets us take a breather, slow this rapidly moving industry right down, and spend time with watches and brands of all sizes. Don't get me wrong, Bvlgari, Zenith, Daniel Roth, Girard Perregaux, MB&F;, and Breitling attend, but its city-centered format and later date on the calendar mean there's much more time to see smaller names and discover new ones. The 2026 edition set a new record with 71 participating brands, unveiling nearly 400 new releases. More than 2,500 private clients, collectors, and watch enthusiasts attended, alongside more than 500 international media and content creators. However, this year's edition drew 15,000 people in total, down from last year's peak of 17,000. News from the brands exhibiting was certainly plentiful and felt increasingly significant compared to previous iterations of the show (Breitling's House of Brands used the show to unveil Gallet to the world, and MAD Editions by MB&F; announced the MAD 3 - more on those in a moment). Yet on more than one occasion, conversations centered around how the show felt a little quieter than pre...

MB&F; SP One Pavée: When the Brand's First Dress Watch Gets the Full Pavé Treatment

MB&F; took their debut dress watch and covered it in stones. Here's why that actually makes more sense than it sounds.

First Look - The New Diamond-Set MB&F; SP One Pavée

While it may be the smallest, slimmest and ultimately most wearable timepiece to hail from MB&F;, the Special Project One carries its three-dimensional genetic heritage with pride. Launched last year, the SP One belongs to MB&F;’s Special Projects line, a repository of dormant projects sketched over the years that might or might not see the […]

Introducing: The MB&F; SP One Pavée (Live Pics)

What We Know The MB&F; SP One, released in 2025, was unlike any watch the brand had ever designed. And the name—SP stands for "Special Project" —was telling. The watch was neither a zany Horological Machine nor a futuristic twist on more conventional watch design like Legacy Machine. Rather, it was the brand's first-ever take on a dress watch, in very compact proportions and with a movement suspended in the middle of it all. Those who doubted MB&F; could ever make anything close to a dress watch have now been squarely disproven, with the design extremely well received by collectors and with a rather long waitlist today (three years for the platinum variant, and slightly shorter for the one in rose gold). With the original two references in rose gold and platinum, MB&F; now introduces a new, third variation in white gold called the SP One Pavée. The new case metal for the SP One is rather insignificant compared to the main change here: a complete gem-setting makeover. There are a lot of new diamonds in the new variant—255 to be exact.  On the 38mm pebble-shaped case, diamonds grace the midcase, contrasting with the distinctive floating lugs of the watch. Diamonds grace the cap of the crown, as well as the pin buckle of the light, seafoam-colored strap. But that's not all—the inner beveled flange, previously a colorful brushed ring, is completely set in diamonds. The tilted dial, connected to the floating movement via conical gearing, is circularly brushed and treated...

Hands-on: new MB&F; SP One Pavée

We got a preview of the new MB&F; SP One Pavée at GWD26 up in their suite. Here is my hands-on impressions handling the novelty in Geneva.

Hands-On Impressions of the New M.A.D.Editions M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese

One of the splashiest Geneva Watch Days releases this year was the all new M.A.D.3, the latest entry in the ongoing series from M.A.D.Editions, the popular MB&F; spinoff. You’re probably pretty familiar with the M.A.D. project at this point, but just in case you’re stumbling onto it here for the first time, a brief primer.  Coming from many of the same people behind MB&F;, M.A.D.Editions was originally conceived as a way for brand founder Max Busser to thank his many longtime collaborators with an affordable watch that kept to the same avant-garde spirit of the high end luxury watches MB&F; has been making for years. That first watch was, apparently, not intended to ever be made widely available, a story that is perhaps apocryphal given the incredible success of the project across several release cycles. M.A.D.Editions is now a full fledged microbrand, with watches made available via highly competitive raffles on a regular basis. The brand has pledged to keep their watches affordable, relatively speaking, even as the overall quality of the pieces has been leveled up since the first watches appeared (they have moved to Swiss movements, and the finishing is noticeably nicer on newer watches, including the M.A.D.2 introduced last year).  The new M.A.D.3 leans deeper into an idea we saw with the M.A.D.2, which is to make these watches a genuine collaboration with a friend of the brand. That watch was designed by Eric Giroud, a longtime MB&F; collaborator and one of the more ...

The Business of Watches Podcast: A Market Roundup Of Geneva Watch Days Releases With Tim Jeffreys And TanTan Wang

This week on The Business of Watches: a fresh take on the new releases we saw at Geneva Watch Days and what they might mean for the market. Ahead of a special request summer fondue dinner, Tim, TanTan, and Andy discuss what they saw, what they liked and didn't like from the slew of novelties presented during the event.  We go deep into the debut of Gallet, discussing how the entry-level offering from Breitling's House of Brands will stack up against the competition and how it will re-enter the company into the cut-throat $3,000 to $6,000 price category at a time when the Swiss industry is struggling to halt the slide in volumes.  We also talk about Bulgari, Oris, Frederique Constant, Girard-Perregaux, MB&F;, and the latest MAD Editions, and why, when it comes to Doxa, you can't have just one. Plus, what the return of a new Northflag (now one word) heralds for Tudor.  There's plenty of watch business and strategy to discuss, and we hope you enjoy the conversation. Please leave any thoughts or questions in the comments section, and we'll do our best to respond. Want to subscribe so you never miss an episode? This show is being published to the original Hodinkee Podcasts feed, so you can subscribe wherever you find your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or TuneIn. Show Notes 0:30 Tim Jeffreys0:32 TanTan Wang 3:38 Gallet (brand website) 5:28 Introducing: The Gallet Flying Officer (Hodinkee) 5:50 Gallet Revives Vintage Fan Favorites With New "Classics" Multichron...

JLC calls in Batman, MB&F;’s Nostromo lands, and the GPHG shortlist arrives

The watch world has shown very little interest in easing us gently into September. A bumper Geneva Watch Days has supplied the expected torrent of launches, while elsewhere the week has delivered a Hollywood signing, a cult sci-fi reference rendered in gears and the opening salvo in the industry’s most closely watched awards contest. It’s … Continued

The M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese Is MB&F;'s Most Historically Grounded M.A.D. Edition Yet

A jumping hour complication rooted in real independent watchmaking history, wrapped in the M.A.D.Editions formula

First Look - The new M.A.D.3 Brings Vincent Calabrese’s Jumping Hour into the M.A.D.Editions Universe

A celebration of proper independent watchmaking, looking back at the early days of creative thinking, unusual displays and complications that, back then, felt almost rebellious. A best of all we love here at MONOCHROME, served on a platter by the great minds of MB&F;… And at a fairly attainable price, as you’d now expect from […]

MB&F;’s M.A.D.3 Honours Vincent Calabrese

For it’s third M.A.D. Edition, MB&F; has reimagined Vincent Calabrese’s signature jumping hours complication. While still allocated via raffle, the M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese represents a significant departure for MB&F;’s entry level sub-brand, being the first to fully conceal the winding rotor and the first to be based on a historical design from a notable watchmaker. Initial thoughts Vincent Calabrese is a pioneering independent watchmaker who co-founded the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI) alongside Svend Andersen in 1985. Mr Calabrese is perhaps most well known for developing highly original movements for other brands including the Corum Golden Bridge and the first-ever flying tourbillon wristwatch movement for Blancpain in 1989. But Mr Calabrese also produced watches under his own name, including the Baladin that served as the inspiration for M.A.D.3. Maximilian Büsser and Mr Calabrese have been friends for years and discussed collaborating on a watch project many times, but the M.A.D.3 is their first joint effort. The M.A.D.3 is affordable as such things go, at CHF2,900. That’s roughly equivalent to where original Baladins trade on the secondary market, depending on the specifics. But the M.A.D.3 is a worthy remake in a more contemporary size and should prove more reliable and easier to service when the time comes. For better or worse, the solid value proposition almost dictates a mechanism to manage demand, so buying a M.A.D.3 isn’t a...

Build Your Own Alien With Maison Alcée and MB&F;

Introducing: The Maison Alcée x MB&F; Nostromo

What We Know Maison Alcée jumped headlong into the watch community consciousness in 2023, winning the GPHG 'Audacity Prize' in recognition of the brand's unique do-it-yourself, high horology, clock-building kits. Championed by Ben, who served on the GPHG jury that year, the French husband-and-wife team of Alcée and Benoit Montfort went on to craft a highly successful LE collaboration with Hodinkee (with lume!) that quickly sold out. Now Alcée and Benoit are back with another collaboration that takes their clock-making kit to the next level. Collaborating with MB&F;, who have long supported Maison Alcée by showcasing and selling their work at their Mad Gallery locations, the Maison Alcée x MB&F; Nostromo leans hard into the well-established alien aesthetic the Geneva-based creative force is known for.  Adding to the intrigue is that this clock was designed by MB&F;'s Creative Designer, Maximilian Maertens. He's the young German who is slowly and purposefully starting to take the lead on some of MB&F;'s pieces, as Max Büsser begins to step back and give up a bit of creative control over the collective brand project he founded more than two decades ago.  So what makes this Maison Alcée kit interesting and different? It's certainly expressive of the MB&F; design language, with the arched base legs or feet giving it an extraterrestrial personality. Maertens says he's a fan of and inspired by the late Swiss artist H.R. Giger (check out the wild Giger Museum in Gruyères if y...

Introducing - The Maison Alcée x MB&F; Nostromo, an Alien-Like Creation to Build Yourself

Just ahead of Geneva Watch Days, MB&F; has teamed up with Maison Alcée to release a wonderful build-it-yourself mechanical desk clock. Celebrating the 15th anniversary of MB&F;’s M.A.D. Gallery, the two brands have collaborated on Nostromo, an alien-like creature that reflects MB&F;’s passion for extraterrestrial design and Maison Alcée’s dexterity in producing DIY desk clock […]

Twelve on Time - MB&F;’s Maximilian Büsser and his Personal Relationship with Time and Watches

Twelve on Time is a conversation series that invites leading personalities from the watch industry to step beyond their work and speak more personally about their relationship with time, creativity, and craft. Through a set of twelve questions, the column aims to lift the veil on both the individual and their perspective on watchmaking, revealing […]