Silberstein’s creative interpretation of MB&F’s Legacy Machine

What happens when you make a profession of your passion and two such creative forces meet up? Sheer, simple genius or an LM1 Silberstein is the result of the teaming up of the MB&F brand – whose founder Maximilian Büsser left the security of being the CEO of a well-known brand to found his own niche creative lab – and French watch designer Alain Silberstein

It all started in 2009, when MB&F had called on Silberstein, who left the safety of working in his trained profession as an interior designer to found his own watch brand, to create its very first piece of ‘Performance Art’ – reinterpretations by external artists and designers of existing MB&F Machines. The result was the HM2.2 ‘Black Box’, followed by a long list of collaborations with other creators.

The latest in the line is the new Performance Art series, where Silberstein has taken MB&F’s classic Legacy Machine N°1 and imbued it with his unique flair for the unconventional. His use of his three bright signature colours and shapes: red, blue and yellow; and the shapes – triangle, rectangle and circle for the hands and dial markers – three-dimensionally translated as a cone, cube and sphere for the power reserve, catch the eye as they contrast against the more subdued movement plate below.

However, it is the concave curve of the subdials that highlights the artist’s philosophical approach most. While the convex sapphire crystal dome and balance bridge offer protection from outside forces, the concave subdials attract and welcome the “eternal time” of the universe into the movement, where it is transformed and displayed as two completely independent time zones. Naturally, the hands are similarly concave so that they seamlessly complement the curvature of the dials.

Silberstein felt strongly that, as the balance is the "beating heart" of the timepiece, nothing should break the view of the dial side regulator or block "eternal time" from reaching the time indications. He also thought that as graceful as the dual arcing bridges of the original LM1 were, they took too much visual attention from the indications. Two years of development were required to create the transparent sapphire crystal balance bridge to the incredibly tight tolerances required to support the balance wheel.

The colours and shapes of the concave hands highlight Silberstein’s meticulously practical approach to artistic design. When reading the time, the hour is generally the first bit of information required. So the hour hands are a brighter colour (red) on a larger surface area (triangle) than the thinner blue minute hands.

The three primary colours found on the subdials – red and blue hands, yellow index markers – are echoed in the three shapes – blue cone, red cube, and yellow sphere – of the three-dimensional power reserve indicator.

The six-pointed crowns (comprising two overlapping triangles) also reinforce the collaborative aspect of this Performance Art piece: the shapes and colours of the crown are pure Silberstein, while the battle-axe logo represents MB&F.

Engine: LM1’s ingenious three-dimensional movement was specifically developed for MB&F from Maximilian Büsser’s sketches by Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode together with independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. The balance wheel and spring at the very heart of any mechanical watch movement are responsible for regulating timekeeping accuracy. Büsser has long been fascinated by the large slowly oscillating balance wheels of antique pocket watches –18,000 bph compared with the 28,800 bph common today – so it is no surprise this was the starting point from which to let his fertile imagination roam free. What is surprising, though, is just how radically he has re-interpreted tradition by relocating the balance wheel to not just the top of the movement, but floating above the dials!

While this may be considered avant-garde, ‘tradition’ is upheld by the large 14mm diameter balance wheel with regulating screws specifically developed for MB&F, balance spring with Breguet overcoil, and mobile stud holder.

Another very special feature of the LM1 movement is the ability to set the two time zones completely independently. The vast majority of dual time zone movements only allow the hours to be independently adjusted, a rare few offer setting to the half hour. Legacy Machine N°1 allows both hours and minutes of each dial to be set to whatever time the user wishes.

The world’s first vertical power reserve indicator on LM1 is driven by an ultra-flat differential with ceramic bearings allowing for a slimmer complication and a more robust and longer-wearing mechanism.

Dial and indications:The rate keeping of the twin dials is controlled by the same regulator (balance and escapement) so that once set, the two times stay perfectly synchronised with each other. Both the hours and minutes on both dials can be set to any time desired via their respective crowns.

Complementing the three-dimensionality of the balance floating in space, the dual concave dials with their brightly coloured hands float above the top of the movement. To ensure aesthetic purity of the dials, a sophisticated fixation system underneath negates the necessity of visually obtrusive screws.

Fine finishing and historical legitimacy: Acclaimed master watchmakerKari Voutilainen assumed responsibility for ensuring the historical accuracy of the style and finishing of the Legacy Machine N°1 movement. Exquisite historical fidelity is seen; both in the shape of the elegantly curved bridges, and the traditionally wide space between the bridges and between the perimeter of the bridges and the case.

On the back of the movement, oversized ruby jewels set in highly-polished countersunk gold chatons provide striking visual counterpoints to the frosted, sensually curved bridges. While providing historical links with the large jewels seen in high-grade antique pocket watch movements, the ruby bearings have a practical application in reducing wear and increasing longevity by accommodating large diameter pinions and holding more lubricating oil.

The LM1 Silberstein comes as a limited edition watch of 12 pieces each in red gold, titanium, or black PVD-treated titanium.