WORLDTEMPUS - 4 October 2011
Elizabeth Doerr
MB&F has brought out four Horological Machines within its short lifespan– and each one of them has been a designer piece par excellence. The innovation and craftsmanship of the Horological Machines have only been overshadowed by each one's avant-garde design destined to please collectors of rare wristwatches. The eagerly anticipated timepieces have all had one particular thing in common: no one was ever able to guess in advance what they would look like when released. Most likely there has never been any one brand to have previously brought out four so dissimilar timepieces in the history of watchmaking.
The same is true of Legacy Machine 1: not one person would have guessed beforehand what sort of Machine was going to spring from Büsser's imagination this year, and certainly never would anyone have imagined that it be so – well – classic in appearance.
Timing is everything
“I feel schizophrenic now,” Büsser said of his new “baby,” which follows a decidedly different path than the previous Horological Machines. “The Legacy Machines have opened up a second family of wristwatches for MB&F.”
Though critics will probably say that Büsser is following the lead of the established manufactures in the wake of the global financial recession of the last two years, the fact is that he began the sketches for Legacy Machine 1 in 2007. Even though the watch world as a whole has now returned to more classic appearances than it has displayed for the last decade or so, Büsser could not have known this in 2007 when the motto seemed to be, “the crazier the better.” “No one [in the company] but me was interested in pursuing this project,” he sheepishly explained.
“This is a second way of seeing a three-dimensional machine,” Büsser continued. “Even though now it is clear that a potential client base is much larger [with such a timepiece], this was not the reason I decided to introduce it.” Büsser went on to explain that having shown the prototype to his retailers at Baselworld 2011, he was inundated with orders and sold four entire years' worth of production of LM1 before the fair had ended. Büsser estimates his little company – which now boasts ten full-time employees – will be able to produce 70 examples of LM1 per year.
The Golden Age
Büsser's inspiration for this timepiece was what he terms “the golden age” of watchmaking: the nineteenth century. “It was a very industrial era where reliability and precision overtook as an art form. What followed was a beautiful time in which artisans were once again trying to make people proud of art. If I had lived during this time, what would I have had for inspiration? Jules Verne, world expositions, big metallic bridges à la Eiffel…This is a three-dimensional machine of 100 years ago.”
As always, Büsser enlisted the aid of some of his “friends” to aid in making his imagination a ticking reality. “I approached Jean-François Mojon first, who had just gone independent and had the MCT project under his belt at the time. However, for nineteenth century watchmaking, I really needed Kari too.”
Kari Voutilainen is one of the most sought-after independent watchmakers of our time – and thus also one of the busiest. He therefore turned Büsser's request to join the project down – until he saw what LM1 was about and agreed to join after all. “I learned more from Kari during this time than I had in 20 years of working in watchmaking all together,” Büsser commented. Mojon and his team at Chronode designed the LM1's manually wound caliber from the ground up while Voutilainen was responsible for the aesthetics and finish of the movement, which lends it its traditional feel. The movement proudly bears the name of both its creators – the first caliber to have “Voutilainen” emblazoned upon it outside of the Finn's own.
The legacy
The look of this Machine is dominated by the large 14 mm balance wheel floating between two dials, each of which displays its own time zone and can be set completely independently of the other using its dedicated crown. The LM1 boasts 45 hours of power reserve using just one single spring barrel.
The complicated case comprising 65 individual parts is available in red or white gold and measures 44 mm in diameter and 16 mm in height, including the high domed sapphire crystal that accommodates the hovering balance wheel beating at a vintage 18,000 vph. It goes without saying that the movement displays superlative hand-finishing in full nineteenth-century style.
“Making this watch was the ultimate fantasy for me, an incredible adventure,” Büsser said. Buying it will be a dream come true for others – provided they have 85,000 Swiss francs including taxes to spend on their adventure.
