Revisiting an already radical piece is always a perilous exercise.
The 2023 HM11 is a true horological sculpture, inspired by the futuristic and organic architecture of the sixties, and already considered one of MB&F’s most creative designs. Renovating it today according to the strict codes of Art Deco was therefore a high-risk undertaking! The challenge was to change the era without touching the foundations. Organic modernism on one side, geometry on the other: on paper, the mix borders on bad taste.
Who could be entrusted with this project? This is precisely where this piece finds its balance… The HM11 Art Deco is the result of a six-handed design effort. Those of Maximilian Büsser and designer Eric Giroud, creators of the HM11 Architect, combined with those of Maximilian Maertens, responsible for proposing the Art Deco reinterpretation. Follow me, I will take you on a tour.
The atrium: the heart of the house
Like any well-designed house, the HM11 is organized around a central atrium. Topped with a double sapphire dome, it houses a flying tourbillon suspended like a kinetic sculpture. It is the visual and mechanical convergence point of the whole, the one through which everything begins. You don’t read the time there: you observe the inner life of the house.
The living room: reading the time
First habitable room, that of the hours and minutes. The display is deliberately readable, like a contemporary wall clock. On this Art Deco version, the indices adopt “sunray” patterns, and the typography embraces a 1930s graphic style, clear and structured. Time is displayed with an almost utilitarian clarity, a deliberate contrast with the overall sophistication of the object.
The engine room
The tour continues with the power reserve. Its highly graphical display allows you to immediately understand the state of the movement at a glance. This piece reminds us that the HM11 is above all a mechanical object, designed to be observed as much as handled. And with its 96-hour autonomy, rest assured: the watch has more than enough to get through the winter !
What’s the temperature at my place ?
This is undoubtedly the most surprising piece in this architect-designed house. A mechanical thermometer, an extremely rare complication in contemporary watchmaking. It works thanks to a bimetallic strip that contracts or expands according to the ambient temperature. Each piece is individually calibrated at the M.A.D. House, with a display in Celsius or Fahrenheit according to the owner’s preference.
Useless? Perhaps. But perfectly consistent in a house where one likes to know if the living conditions are just right.
The front door: setting the time
The last room seems almost empty, until the moment you decide to enter. It opens, revealing the time-setting module. A hidden crown, entirely discreet, rather than a visible technical component. Here again, you must interact with the piece to understand its function.
A rotating architecture
Winding the piece extends this domestic logic. The HM11 is wound by rotating the entire case. Each rotation recharges the movement and allows, in the same gesture, to reposition the components around the atrium. You choose what you want to see, on the right side and in the right direction. In a house that rotates on itself, the sun is always in the right room! Convenient, isn’t it?
An inhabited… and waterproof sculpture
Before being a watch, the HM11 Art Deco is a wearable horological sculpture. Overlapping volumes, sapphire domes, multiple openings: at this level of formal complexity, water resistance is far from obvious. And yet, the watch is water-resistant to 20 meters. A seemingly modest figure, but remarkable when you know that the case has 92 components and no fewer than 19 seals, almost all molded differently to fit an extraordinary geometry. Invisible engineering, yet essential, so that this house remains truly inhabitable.
Seduced by the tour ?
At the end of the tour, the conclusion is unambiguous. The HM11 Art Deco is not a compromise property, but a characterful one. Bold architecture, circulation designed around a central heart, rare technical features, and very high-level finishes. The whole imposes its presence, embraces its volume, and is aimed at an owner ready to live in a house that never seeks discretion.
Presented at Dubai Watch Week and limited to only 20 pieces, the HM11 Art Deco is aimed at discerning collectors, as sensitive to design as to engineering. A wrist-sized house, turnkey, whose real value is measured in the daily experience it offers to those who choose to inhabit it.
