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MB&F Reprises MusicMachine

MB&F this week premieres MusicMachine 1 Reloaded, a sleeker, metallic encore to the first MB&F MusicMachine cylinder music box made with Reuge that debuted in 2013. Now sporting an anodized aluminum body, which replaces the original’s black walnut body, the new model retains its spaceship design with dual propellers and twin silver cylinders mounted on outrigger landing gear.

The new MB&F MusicMachine 1 Reloaded.

German designer Maximilian Maertens updates the original, which was devised by Chinese designer Xin Wang. In addition to metallizing (in red, blue or black) the formerly lacquered wood body, Maertens also places the mechanical machinery within an open hull to expose more of the twin cylinders and places it all atop a new rounded tripod stand.

While it may appear as a hyper-speed version of the earlier three MusicMachines, the new edition still plays the same tunes at terrestrial tempos using the same 1,400-pin revolving cylinders.

The left cylinder plays the Star Wars theme, “Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back, and the theme from Star Trek. Back on earth, the right cylinder plays Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall,” Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” and John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Echoing their time-telling counterparts, all music boxes require energy derived from coiled springs that is then transferred by gear trains. The owner winds the MusicMachine 1 Reloaded using two propeller-like winding levers. This puts the cylinders into motion.

As they revolve (in opposite directions) the pins pluck the teeth of steel combs, each containing a selection of seventy-two hand-tuned notes. Each comb forms a unique pair with its corresponding cylinder; neither can play properly without the other.

When in operation, the observer will notice two rings spinning alongside the winding levers. These are the device’s cylinder fan air regulators that regulate the speed of the cylinders.

Again echoing certain timekeepers (notably chiming watches), the main springs here tend to turn the cylinders faster when fully wound than when they are nearly unwound. The circular fan air regulators compensate for that difference, providing more resistance when rotating faster than slower. This means the tunes will maintain their required tempos.

Available in red, blue or black, each MB&F MusicMachine 1 Reloaded is limited to 33 pieces, each priced at CHF 18,500.

 

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The Watches

MB&F Launches M.A.D.1 Red

Collectors frustrated by the very limited nature of last year’s MB&F M.A.D.1 now have a chance to score a new version of the very cool, affordably priced automatic watch with lateral time display and tricked-out upside-down Miyota movement.

MB&F is releasing the new M.A.D. 1 Red under the new M.A.D. Editions label.

MB&F’s new M.A.D. 1 Red looks very similar to the original blue-tinged M.A.D.1, which was available last year only to MB&F Friends and MB&F watch owners.

Like that first watch, the new model also displays time via two highly luminous rotating cylinders around its case. Just as eye-catching is the unidirectional titanium and tungsten triple-blade rotor spinning quickly atop the watch. MB&F makes all this happen by fitting and re-engineering the watch’s Miyota movement upside-down in the steel M.A.D. 1 Red case.   

In addition to the new cherry red hue on this Red edition, MB&F has thinned the bezel and added a traditional winding crown (at 12 o’clock) to the watch. The crown on last year’s blue edition featured a folding protector that doubled as a winding aid.

MB&F is making these special editions under a new brand name, M.A.D. Editions, and has long-term plans for additional models. Collectors who have previously contacted MB&F about the earlier M.A.D. Edition watch, or who already own an MB&F watch (or are MB&F Friends) are first in line to purchase the new watch.

If you’re not among those categories, there’ still a path toward obtaining your own M.A.D 1 Red: MB&F is conducting a lottery for interested buyers.

“Once we have the confirmations of the priority orders, we’ll then take all the remaining M.A.D.1 Red pieces available, and allocate them thanks to a lottery, open to everyone,” explains MB&F founder Max Busser.

“If you’re interested in participating in the lottery, which is of course totally free of charge, please go to our eShop to obtain a lottery ticket – and relax, there’s no rush, you have the next two weeks to get a ticket. After two weeks we’ll then proceed with a random draw, and we’ll let you know whether the draw has been favorable to you – in which case you will be able to place your order.”

Given the price (CHF 2,900) and the pedigree of the new M.A.D.1 Red, expect very high demand.

Deliveries of the M.A.D.1 Red commence in April and continue throughout the rest of this year. While the first deliveries will go to collectors who wrote to MB&F previously, MB&F expects to start delivering watches to the lottery winners between September and December.

For additional details see the MB&F eShop at: https://shop.madgallery.ch/

 

 

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The Watches

Behold the Orb, an Eyeball-Shaped Eight-Day Clock

The latest desk clock to emerge from the collaboration of designers and technicians at MB&F and L’Epée 1839 looks like a polished eyeball. But when opened, the timepiece, an inventive 6.7-inch round desk clock called the Orb, takes the shape of either a blooming flower or a shiny beetle spreading its wings.

The new MB&F x L’Epee Orb, an eight-day desk clock.

The wings, or elytra, which is the technical word for a beetle’s protective wing covers, can be closed or opened. However they are posed, the wings frame and support a new, exposed hour-striking clockwork based on a similar mechanism L’Epée 1839 also fits into its carriage clocks.

The eight-day clock, which will chime each hour, can morph as desired as it rests on the owner’s desk. Placed on its stand, or ‘saucer’ (so it doesn’t roll away), the Orb can be displayed closed or with any number of its four ‘wings’ opened.

Those wings don’t simply open up however. They can also swivel to display the Orb in one of several other positions. Opening all four wings means the Orb’s gears and dial can perch high atop the wings, as if rising from the center of a black or white flower.

Aluminum sphere

MB&F explains that the Orb begins its manufacturing process as a solid block of aluminum that is then hollowed to create a sphere. “Once cut, the elytra are then coated with several layers of lacquer that are hardened in a kiln to create the brilliant finish,” according to MB&F. Artisans then solder hinges onto the wings and attach small magnets on the interior of each tip to keep the shape of a perfect sphere.

A beautiful L’Epée 1839 hour-striking clock movement can be seen below the Orb’s curved aluminum dial, which is covered by a domed mineral glass.

A beautiful L’Epée 1839 hour-striking clock movement can be seen below the Orb’s curved aluminum dial, which is covered by a domed mineral glass. The movement is powered with two barrels, one for the time and the other for the striking of the hours. The hour mechanism indicates the actual hour, mimicking a church clock. This function can also be repeated on demand via a button on the side of the clock, or turned on and off as desired.

The idea for the Orb comes from German designer Maximilian Maertens, who started his artistic career at MB&F as an intern before starting a design studio in Berlin. Maertens also worked with MB&F and L’Epée on the T-Rex clock.

MB&F is making the Orb available in limited editions of fifty pieces each in white or black. Price: CHF 28,000.

 

Specifications: MB&F x L’Epee Orb

 (A limited edition of 50 pieces each in white or black.)

Display: Hours and minutes, striking hour, repeated on demand via a button on the side of the clock, or turned on and off if required.

Body: Closed: Height: approx. 17cm by 17cm. Opened: 24cm by 30cm, weight is 1.9kg. Materials: Clockwork in palladium-plated brass and stainless steel. Elytra in aluminum and covered with handmade lacquer.

Movement: L’Epée 1839 in-house designed and manufactured movement, frequency is 18,000bph (2.5Hz), two barrels, power reserve eight days. Incabloc shock protection system, manual-winding: double-depth square socket key sets time and winds movement. Movement finishing: polishing, sandblasting, circular and vertical satin finishing and starburst decoration.

 

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The Watches

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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MB&F LM Perpetual EVO Now in Titanium

MB&F this week adds a vibrant blue-green color dial and a new case metal to the lineup of its Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO, which the pioneering independent watchmaker first launched in 2020. Seen initially cased in zirconium with an orange, blue or a black dial plate, the newest edition frames its new dial hue in titanium.

The new MB&F LM Perpetual EVO Titanium.

The Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO built its sporty chassis and new livery around the original GPHG-award-winning Legacy Machine Perpetual from 2015, devised for MB&F by watchmaker Stephen McDonnell.

McDonnell effectively redesigned the traditional perpetual calendar when he built the LM Perpetual in 2015 with a “mechanical processor” (a series of superimposed disks) that takes the default number of days in the month at 28 and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month. He also built in a safety feature that disconnects the pushers during the date changeover to eliminate any risk of damage to the movement when the date is changed.

For the 2020 EVO edition, MB&F added a series of technical upgrades to the watch that effectively toughened its resistance to shock and water. The EVO offers a redesigned, sleeker case, ergonomic double-sprung pushers, an integrated rubber strap, Super-LumiNova, a specially developed ‘FlexRing’ shock-absorbing system, a screw-down crown and 80 meters of water resistance.

MB&F will ship the new LM Perpetual EVO Titanium, with its all new green-blue dial, to its retailers around the world, though expect a few available at the MB&F eShop. Price: $176,000.

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