Maison Alcée doesn’t just make clocks; founded in 2021 by husband-and-wife team Alcée and Benoît Montfort, the company specializes in creating a watchmaking experience where the client becomes a watchmaker, assembling their very own table clock.
Their first clock called Persée comes in a kit format with 233 components that can be assembled by anyone with the will and the patience to step up to the watchmaker’s bench. It is accompanied by a beautifully illustrated 250-page book, which serves as an instruction manual and includes QR codes for additional video explanations and support via a private discussion group. The kit also includes watchmaker tools, some of which have been specially developed for amateurs with parts in beryllium copper to avoid scratches.
“Everything is presented in a highly pedagogic way, but it isn’t child’s play,” shares Alcée Montfort. “We didn’t want to make a toy for adults; this is a genuine horological project, but one that comes with all the support clients need to succeed. The result is always a moment of intense pride at having created something from A to Z with one’s own hands.”
Partners in Play
The M.A.D.Gallery was the first boutique to believe in the Maison Alcée concept as it fit perfectly into the ethos of what the M.A.D.Gallery was all about – mechanical art, play, and community. In celebration of the gallery’s 15th anniversary, the two companies have collaborated on a brand-new clock kit called Nostromo.
Designed by MB&F’s Creative Designer Maximilian Maertens and crafted by Maison Alcée, the clock has been transformed into an alien-like creature from outer space, in keeping with MB&F’s love for extra-terrestrial inspired design.
Like Persée, the movement is based on that of a wristwatch, built on a larger scale. As well as marking out hours, minutes and seconds, it features an hour chime that can be enabled and disabled. Boasting a fourteen-day power reserve, the movement has been designed so that it can be assembled by any lover of high horology, including novices – in about 10 hours’ time. Only the regulating organ comes pre-assembled.
The assembly of the gears, wheels and pinions remains generally the same as Persée, but visually, it is a whole different beast. The clock has been turned on its side, and Maertens has added three organic feet, which bring it to life. The clock itself can be rotated on its feet, creating an additional element of play once it is completed, and the time display is angled upwards for a better view on the dial.
“It was no easy feat to modify the clock, since it needed to remain as user friendly as possible. It would have been easier if I had been designing something for professional watchmakers to assemble, but this was a different story,” explains Maximilian Maertens. “I am a huge H.R. Giger fan, and I wanted to bring a little bit of the alien world into play. Its name, Nostromo, also comes from outer space as it is the name of the spaceship in the first Alien movie.”
Weighing 760g and measuring 160cm long by 135cm wide and 123cm high, the Nostromo is constructed from stainless steel, brass and German silver. The dial, which was previously a complete ring, has now been separated into single pieces and comes in the M.A.D.Gallery’s signature peacock blue, the same colour as the decorative wall orb that can be found in MB&F retail spaces. This dial separation also allowed Maertens to bring more visibility to the movement and open up a view on the clock’s gears. A keen eye will also notice that the hands have been reworked and are in black, providing heightened contrast with the movement.
Nostromo will be available in a limited edition of 50 pieces and will be accompanied by the 250-page book/instruction manual that has additional video content, via QR codes, for the specificities of the Nostromo.
Maison Alcée
Maison Alcée is a young French horological maison that invites watch and clock enthusiasts to assemble their own high-end mechanical desk clock at home. Founded by husband-and-wife team Alcée and Benoît Montfort, their first clock kit creation is called the Persée and it arrives in a beautifully crafted wooden box with 200+ components manufactured predominantly in the French and Swiss Jura, professional tools, and an art book that guides the owner through each stage of development.
Maison Alcée’s philosophy is that contemporary luxury can be lived through the mindful act of creation: taking time, learning with one’s own hands, and shaping an object whose meaning surpasses anything simply purchased. This bold vision for mechanical clockmaking was recognized by the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) in 2023, when Maison Alcée won the Audacity Prize.
15 Years of the M.A.D.Gallery
2026 marks the 15th anniversary of the M.A.D.Gallery, an adventure which started in Geneva and has since spread to Dubai – but also in a more compact form, dubbed “MB&F Labs”, in Taipei, Singapore, Paris, Beverly Hills and Menlo Park (Silicon Valley). More recently, New York also joined the list with the opening of an MB&F Lounge in Manhattan.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary, the M.A.D.Gallery has invited several of its mechanical artists to create special limited editions. Following-up Frank Buchwald, Martin Smith (Laikingland) and Maison Alcée, other limited-edition mechanical art devices will join the celebrations throughout the year, giving collectors even more reason to visit.
