After a successful introduction of two editions in 2023 – with white or green body panels, the latter limited to 33 pieces – the HM8 Mark 2 comes back with a new 2024 limited edition featuring glossy sapphire blue bodywork, limited to 33 pieces. Thanks to their metallic pigments and a translucid material, the blue body panels recall luxurious car paints, both technically and aesthetically
MB&F’s connection to cars runs deep, starting in 2012 with the HM5, followed by the HMX in 2015, and the HM8 in 2016. Each of these iterations is linked by its instantly recognisable speedometer-style display on the side of the case that recalls the daring and futuristic design of the 1970s. A decade after the first automotive-inspired MB&F Machines, MB&F revealed the supercar-inspired HM8 Mark 2 in 2023.
To fully understand MB&F’s link to the car world, we need to step back in time to 1985 for a moment. MB&F’s Founder Maximilian Büsser spent the majority of his childhood dreaming about becoming a car designer. He was so smitten with the idea that from the age of 4 to 18, cars were the only thing he would sketch and draw. But financial constraints were in the way and as everyone kept telling him he would make a very good engineer as he was so good at maths, he signed up for the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), and that could have been the end of the story, only it wasn’t.
He found inspiration in a crazy design by Amida, called the Amida Digitrend, a watch that was unveiled in 1976, just before the company went bankrupt. Working on a similar idea, MB&F employed a sapphire prism that would allow the jumping hours and sweeping minutes to be indicated vertically, when they were actually flat as a pancake on top of the movement. The time was indicated in a window that resembled an old-style speedometer on the front of the case that could also be easily viewed while driving, no less. Unlike the Amida, with its discs next to each other, the MB&F HM design features discs that are one on top of the other, maximising the size of the digits and therefore the legibility.
Making the numerals look almost digital or electronic was achieved using sapphire disks that were coated with a black metallisation, leaving the numerals clear. Super-LumiNova was then added underneath the sapphire disc, so that the luminescence would be completely flat, not bulbous as it appears when it is applied to the dial. It is interesting to note that the numerals had to be created back-to-front as they get reversed in the prism. This system came to life in the HM5 with opening and closing slats that allowed the light into the movement to charge the luminescence. These slats were inspired by Marcello Gandini’s design for the Bertone Lamborghini Miura with its louvres on the rear window that gave the car its futuristic aesthetic.
The HM8 ‘Can-Am’ with a sapphire crystal allowed a view on the spinning rotor. It was this movement, based on a Girard-Perregaux calibre, that is also providing the base for the brand-new HM8 Mark 2. The HM8 took its design cues from Can-Am cars (hence the nickname) from the famous Canadian American Racing Championship. The cars’ unusual design and distinctive roll bars became the inspiration for the watch’s two titanium roll bars. The HM8 Mark 2, on the other hand, with its distinctive “double bubble” sapphire crystal, finds inspiration in the design of some of the most iconic supercars.
Not only did the design codes of these timepieces find their inspiration in the automobile world, but the construction did too. The HM5 and HM8 Mark 2 are built from an independent water-resistant chassis to which the body panels of the watch are added, while the HMX and HM8 favoured a monobloc construction. For the HM8 Mark 2, this coachwork first came in a choice of white or British racing green CarbonMacrolon that has a matt finish on the top and a high polish on the sides. The white version was paired with a green CVD rotor and light green minute markers, while the British racing green version came with a red gold rotor and balance wheel and turquoise minute markers and was limited to 33 pieces.
After these first launch editions in 2023, MB&F has decided to pursue its homage to the automotive world with a new model limited to 33 pieces only. The HM8 Mark 2’s deep yet sparkly sapphire blue is obtained from metallic pigments of mineral origin, the same as those found in metallic car paint. Thanks to its beautiful and unique blue body panels, the timepiece comes back with a bang. The piece is completed by a sporty and comfortable white calfskin strap.
