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The Watches

MB&F Launches its First Chronograph, the LM Sequential EVO

For its first chronograph, independent watchmaker MB&F teams with Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell to launch the Legacy Machine Sequential EVO, a two-column-wheel chronograph with split-second, independent and lap timer modes – a watchmaking premiere.

The new watch, powered by MB&F’s twentieth caliber, boasts a ‘Twinverter’ switch that controls both chronograph systems.

The new MB&F Legacy Machine Sequential EVO,

The binary switch inverts the start/stop status of each chronograph. As MB&F explains: “this means that if both chronograph displays happen to be stopped (at zero position or otherwise), pressing the Twinverter (at 9 o’clock) will cause both of them to start simultaneously. If they are both running, the Twinverter makes them stop. If one is running and the other is stopped, the Twinverter stops the one that is running and starts the one that is stopped.”

Belfast-based McDonnell previously worked with MB&F to finalize the MB&F HM1 and most famously developed the GPHG-award-winning MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual.

His design for the new watch allows the user to perform the same functions as a split-seconds chronograph. But overall, McDonnell focused the design for everyday use rather than specifically for sporting functions, according to MB&F’s Charris Yadigaroglou. Most of the new timing modes are novel to this design and not available when using a traditional chronograph.

For example, in ‘independent mode’ the wearer can assist with varied cooking times. In this so-called ‘pasta mode” the wearer could operate the two chronographs via their respective pushers. One might start when placing pasta into boiling water and the other can separately time when vegetables go in the oven. Additional modes include Simultaneous mode, Cumulative mode and Sequential mode.

MB&F places McDonnell’s caliber into its sporty EVO case much like the case that houses the latest example of the LM Perpetual. This is a 44mm by 18.2mm zirconium structure with no bezel, a domed sapphire crystal, a screw-down crown (offering 80 meters of water resistance) and MB&F’s own anti-shock FlexRing system.   

MB&F will launch the new watch in two versions. One features an ‘atomic’ orange CVD dial plate and the second features a ‘coal’ black PVD dial plate. Both come with an integrated rubber strap with a folding titanium buckle.   Price: $180,000.

 

Specifications: MB&F Legacy Machine Sequential EVO

Movement: Fully integrated dual chronograph system developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell, featuring Twinverter switch allowing multiple timing modes. Manual winding with double mainspring; Balance frequency: 3Hz (21,600 vph). Three-days of power reserve. Flying balance wheel with regulating screws at 12 o’clock, Breguet overcoil. Superlative hand finishing; internal bevel angles highlighting handcraft; polished bevels; Geneva waves; hand-made engravings, darkened bridges (NAC finish). Power reserve indication at the back of the movement.

Dial: Galvanic black dials with Super-LumiNova on numerals and hands.

Functions: Time display (hours/minutes) at 6 o’clock.

Left chronograph: Seconds displayed at 9 o’clock and minutes at 11 o’clock; start/stop pusher at 10 o’clock and reset at 8 o’clock.

Right chronograph: Seconds displayed at 3 o’clock and minutes at 1 o’clock; start/stop pusher at 2 o’clock and reset at 4 o’clock.

Twinverter pusher at 9 o’clock: binary switch that inverts the current start/stop status of both chronographs.

Case: 44mm by 18.2mm zirconium. Water resistance to 80 meters. Screw down crown. FlexRing annular dampener fitted between case and movement, providing shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes. Sapphire crystals on top and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both faces.

Strap: Integrated rubber with titanium folding buckle.

Price: $180,000.

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Bulgari Launches Miniature Movement for Serpenti

Highlighting its LVMH Watch Week, Bulgari unveils BVL100, a new miniature mechanical movement, which Bulgari places inside the head of new snake-shaped Serpenti bracelet watches.

One of four new Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi High Jewelry models with Bulgari’s new small mechanical movement.

Bulgari dubs the new movement Piccolissimo (Italian for “very small”), and it is indeed one of the smallest mechanical calibers available, measuring a wispy 12.30 mm in diameter and 2.50 mm thick.

“We believe this is the smallest round caliber currently on the market, and it opens up a new world of possibilities for us in this collection and beyond,” notes Antoine Pin, managing director of Bulgari Watches.

The new Bulgari BVL100 movement. Set inside the Serpenti Misteriosi head, the movement can be switched for left or right hand wear.

Bulgari launches the new caliber inside four lacquered and gem-set Serpenti Misteriosi watches.

With this 2022 debut, Bulgari re-establishes a mechanical time display within the Serpenti collection. The watch and jewelry maker debuted Serpenti in the 1950s outfitted with manual-wind calibers but in recent years has equipped the line with quartz movements. With only a few very limited exceptions, the Serpenti lines have been powered by quartz calibers since the late 1980s.

In addition to the new mechanical caliber, the Serpenti Misteriosi offers a wholly new convertible option: Each watch is designed to be worn on either wrist.

Bulgari has cleverly devised an interchangeable movement housing for Serpenti Misteriosi that can be removed from within the snake’s head and turned in the other direction to be visible on the left or right arm.

The Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi offers a wholly new convertible option. Each watch is designed to be worn on either wrist.
The Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi offers a wholly new convertible option. Each watch is designed to be worn on either wrist.

The movement

Bulgari explains that it builds the new BVL100 caliber with 102 components that in total weigh a mere 1.3 grams. In order to power the hands, watchmakers fit a 170mm-long mainspring into a barrel that measures 5mm thick and 1.47 mm across. And to ensure the greatest inertia, Bulgari opted for a white gold balance wheel.

The wearer views the time on the new Serpenti models by pressing the snake’s tongue, revealing the diamond-set dial. A bidirectional crown on the caseback controls Winding and time setting.

Since 2014 Bulgari has introduced a series of record-breaking (and award-winning) ultra-thin watches within its Octo Finissimo collection. With its new Piccolissimo caliber, Bulgari now expects to extend its dominance of ultra-thin watchmaking to what have traditionally been ‘ladies’ sized models with small diameters and high gemstone counts.

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MB&F Teams with Bulgari for Gemstone-Set LM FlyingT Allegra

MB&F has joined forces with Bulgari to create the new Legacy Machine FlyingT Allegra, a dramatic colored-gem-set iteration of the LM FlyingT, MB&F’s first venture into feminine-focused design.

You may recall that the LM FlyingT was quite a success upon its launch in 2019. Customers clamored for it, and the industry awarded it the prize for Best Ladies’ Complication at the 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. The 39.5mm by 20mm watch displays hours and minutes on a 50° vertically tilted dial with two serpentine hands regulated by a dramatically raised flying tourbillon at the center.

Just last year MB&F added a limited edition guilloché-dialed LM FlyingT series cased in red gold and platinum. More recently, the watchmaker launched an eye-catching Lapis Lazuli LM FlyingT model. MB&F noted at the time that it expected to announce at least one new gemstone-set edition annually.

The new MB&F x Bulgari LM FlyingT Allegra, here in a pink gold case.

For the newest edition, the MB&F x Bulgari LM FlyingT Allegra, Bulgari’s well-established gemstone expertise merges with the LM FlyingT’s existing diamond-set dial plate to create a terrific counterbalance the technical center of the dial.

Prominent single stones of tourmaline, tsavorite, diamonds, rubellite, amethyst, tanzanite and topaz flank the watch’s diamond-set flying tourbillon and the balance at the center.

Bulgari opts for a cabochon cut for each stone, a choice that not only makes the stones all the more prominent above the dial, but that also perfectly matches the FlyingT Allegra’s round case.

On the back of the watch MB&F again creates a sun-shaped oscillating weight with gold rays rotating on a ruthenium disc above a platinum counterweight.

The caseback reveals the sun-shaped oscillating weight.

MB&F will offer twenty MB&F x Bulgari LM FlyingT Allegra watches, cased in either pink gold or white gold. Each is set with fully diamond-set dial plates and adorned with Bulgari’s fine gemstones. Price: $185,000.

 

Specifications: MB&F x Bulgari Legacy Machine FlyingT Allegra

Movement: FlyingT featuring three-dimensional vertical architecture, automatic winding, conceived and developed in-house, central flying 60-second tourbillon, balance frequency of 18,000 (2.5 Hz), power reserve of 100 hours, three-dimensional sun winding rotor in 18k 5N+ red gold, titanium and platinum.

Dial: Hours and minutes displayed on a 50° vertically tilted dial with two serpentine hands. White gold version set with diamonds, tsavorite, topaz, amethyst, tanzanite and tourmaline. Pink gold version set with diamonds, tsavorite, tourmaline, tanzanite, amethyst and rubellite.

Case: 39mm x 20mm white gold or pink gold, set with diamonds. High domed sapphire crystal on top with anti-reflective coating on both sides, sapphire crystal on back. Two crowns: winding on left and time-setting on right. Water resistance to 30 meters.

Strap: Alligator leather strap with white or pink gold pin buckle matching the case.

Price: $185,000.

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Bulgari Takes Top Prize at Grand Prix 2021

Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar took the top prize, or “Aiguille d’Or,” at the 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) yesterday in Geneva.

Piaget, MB&F and Louis Vuitton took home two awards each, while a Special Jury prize was awarded to Dubai Watch Week.

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar was the top prize winner at the GPHG 2021.
The Louis Vuitton Tambour Carpe Diem won the GPHG Audacy Prize 2021.

 

Here is a full list of the 2021 winners:

Aiguille d’Or Grand Prize: Bulgari, Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar

Ladies’ Watch Prize: Piaget, Limelight Gala Precious Rainbow

Ladies’ Complication Watch Prize: Van Cleef & Arpels, Lady Féerie Watch

Men’s Watch Prize: Grand Seiko, Hi-Beat 36000 80 Hours Caliber 9SA5

Men’s Complication Watch Prize: MB&F, LMX Titanium

Iconic Watch Prize: Audemars Piguet, Royal Oak “Jumbo” Extra-Thin

Tourbillon Watch Prize: De Bethune, DB Kind of Two Tourbillon

Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize: Christiaan Van Der Klaauw, CVDK Planetarium Eise Eisinga

Mechanical Exception Watch Prize: Piaget, Altiplano Ultimate Automatic

Chronograph Watch Prize: Zenith, Chronomaster Sport

Diver’s Watch Prize: Louis Vuitton, Tambour Street Diver Skyline Blue

Jewelry Watch Prize: Chopard, Flower Power

Artistic Crafts Watch Prize: MB&F, LM SE Eddy Jaquet ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’

“Petite Aiguille” Prize: Tudor, Black Bay Ceramic

Challenge Watch Prize: CIGA Design, Blue Planet

Innovation Prize: Bernhard Lederer, Central Impulse Chronometer

Audacity Prize: Louis Vuitton, Tambour Carpe Diem

Horological Revelation Prize: Furlan Marri, MR. Grey Ref. 1041-A

Special Jury Prize: Dubai Watch Week

You check out all the GPHG 2021 winning watches here.

The 2021 nominated watches, including the eighteen award-winners, are on display in Geneva until November 14. The winning watches will then be on display at Dubai Watch Week, from November 24 to 28, and then in Paris from December 2 to 5.
 

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De Bethune Dreams With Swizz Beatz

Last year producer and talent scout Swizz Beatz challenged De Bethune to create a “totally different Dream Watch 5.” This week, De Bethune debuted its response to that challenge with a watch worthy of the futuristic Dream Series.

The new De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon Season 1 is a spectacular deltoid-shaped, blued-titanium and sapphire wrist rocket regulated by a De Bethune high-velocity tourbillon.

The new De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon Season 1 .

The inventive Swiss company, lead by pioneering watchmaker Denis Flageollet, has built on its own Dream Watch legacy by refining its pointedly curved Dream Watch 5 case, first seen in 2014, into a skeletal sculpture that both showcases an open-set dial while also protecting it with two dramatic blued titanium bridges.

As De Bethune points out, there is nothing straight or flat about this latest Dream Watch 5 case, which is composed of seven different sapphire components ingeniously embedded into a polished blue titanium frame.

At the center, gripped by the watch’s titanium exoskeleton, is a three-dimensional orb that indicates the moon phases. Adjacent, and just below the blue bridges, the wearer eyes the hours and minutes directly through a hand-cut cabochon-shaped crystal.

The back of the watch (below) is almost as dramatic, especially since the ultra-clear sapphire back seems to magnifying the beauty of De Bethune’s mirror-polished DB2149 high-speed tourbillon caliber. The 30-second tourbillon oscillates at 36,000 vibrations/hour, set just beneath a slightly blued sapphire window. See specifications below for additional details about this expertly engineered, highly tuned movement.

De Bethune notes that to enhance the interior of the DW5 Episode 1, it collaborates with Swiss engraver Michèle Rothen, who has ‘retouched’ each surface with added micro-detail and greater dimension.

The De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon Season 1 is a ten-piece limited edition.

Price: $520,000.

 

Specifications: De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon ‘Season 1’

(Reference DW5TSB, a ten-piece limited edition)


Functions: 
Hours, minutes, central spherical moon-phase indication, 30-minute indication on the ultra-light silicon and titanium De Bethune tourbillon cage (appearing on the back).

Movement: DB2149 hand-wound, three positions (for winding, spherical moon phase and time setting), titanium balance-wheel with white gold inserts, De Bethune balance-spring with flat terminal curve, silicon escape-wheel, spherical moon-phase display accurate to within one lunar day every 1,112 years, De Bethune ultra-light silicon and titanium 30-second tourbillon, 36,000 vibrations/hour.

Dial: Blued grade-5 titanium aperture frame.

Case: 58mm by 47mm
 by 17mm tapered hand-polished and blued grade- 5 titanium, open-worked with sapphire blue inserts and hand-engraved motifs, cabochon-cut blue sapphire 
crown.

Bracelet: Blue canvas/leather with an additional rubber strap, titanium clasp with polished and blued titanium pin buckle.

Price: $ 520,000.

 

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