MB&F is back with new machine editions
Horological concept laboratory MB&F is back in the news with two new editions of its Machines; while the Legacy Machine No.2 Red Gold Blue is limited to just 12 pieces, the HM7 Aquapod Platinum Red is a limited series of 25 pieces
Legacy Machine N°2 Red Gold Blue
Back in red gold, the material of one of its launch editions, LM2 frames its hypnotic engine in a case that is discreet yet precious. Following the sleeker balance bridges of the redesigned LM2 Titanium, the LM2 Red Gold Blue offers a more elegant take on the original industrial aesthetic of the first LM2s. The sunray-finished dial plate gets its hue via the process of chemical vapour deposition (CVD), which evenly coats the surface with a rich, deep blue.
Oscillating on high, the exalted double balance wheels of LM2 pay homage to one of the rarest mechanisms in the history of watchmaking: the dual regulator. The average rates of LM2’s dual regulators are transmitted by a differential to a single gear train, where the majority had two separate movements.
On display under a domed sapphire crystal cupola, the dial of LM2, which is actually the top plate of the exquisitely finished movement, is an object lesson in symmetrical simplicity. Top to bottom: the white stretched lacquer sub dial at 12 o’clock, with its blued gold hour and minute hands, is visually balanced by the large, raised differential at 6 o’clock. Left to right: the two flying balances and their escapements are identical mirror images, right down to the position of the stud holders pinning their balance springs.
The movement of Legacy Machine No.2 was developed to MB&F’s specifications by award-winning watchmaker JeanFrançois Mojon (Best Watchmaker at the 2010 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) and his team at Chronode. Acclaimed independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen ensured that the movement’s aesthetic style was consistent with high-quality traditional timepieces of the 19th century and for specifying the superlative hand-finishing.
Legacy Machine No.2 was launched in 2013 in 18k red gold, 18k white gold, and a limited edition of 18 pieces in platinum 950. Legacy Machine No.2 Red Gold Blue is the latest of the series, limited to just 12 pieces.
HM7 Aquapod Platinum Red
Having captivated the world with its soaring tourbillon and perfect symmetries over the last two years, the jellyfish-inspired HM7 Aquapod emerges from the depths for a new outing in 2019, this time in the most precious of metals and an arresting new shade – along with three-dimensional, “floating” hour and minute numerals.
Platinum makes its debut in HM7, its bright silvery-white hue an emphatic counterpoint to the vividly crimson unidirectional rotating bezel. HM7 Aquapod Platinum Red comes from the deepest recesses of the horological ocean, with free-floating numerical appendages and unprecedented transparency surrounding its beating heart: a 60-second flying tourbillon.
Unlike previous incarnations of Aquapod, which indicated the hours and minutes via rotating rings with transferred numerals, HM7 Platinum Red features three-dimensional numerals sculpted in titanium. The metal was specifically selected for its lightness, in order to have as little additional marginal load on the engine as possible. However, this mechanical advantage came at a cost, since titanium is exponentially denser and stronger (which is to say, harder to machine) than the aluminium that made up the time-indication rings on previous Aquapod versions.
The stems attaching the hour and minute numerals to their respective mounting rings are rendered black with a coating of DLC (diamond-like carbon), completing the ethereal floating effect that one associates with the sight of a jellyfish drifting with the ocean currents.
One of the most startling visual aspects of a jellyfish, almost alien in how far it is from the mammalian systems with which we are familiar, is its transparency. How can something so diaphanous and seemingly insubstantial be alive? HM7 Platinum Red homes in on this point, replacing the battle-axe tourbillon bridge of previous Aquapod versions with a clear sapphire component. The flying tourbillon of the HM7 engine is revealed like never before, highlighted by a halo of high-luminosity AGT.
Because, of course, HM7 Platinum Red is aglow with luminescence, just as any fascinating creature of the deep should be. Apart from the AGT ring surrounding the flying tourbillon, luminous material is found in the laser-engraved markings of the unidirectional rotating bezel and on the surface of the hour and minute numerals. These are untinted SuperLumiNova, which fluoresce white after exposure to light.
The self-winding, 391-component engine of HM7 Platinum Red was developed entirely in-house at MB&F. Fitted with a platinum case, bezel and buckle, HM7 Platinum Red will be made in a limited series of 25 pieces, each presented with three interchangeable straps (red, white and black) in aircraft-grade rubber.
