In 2011, MB&F launched its round-cased Legacy Machine collection. These more classical pieces –pay tribute to nineteenth-century watchmaking excellence by reinterpreting complications from the great horological innovators of yesteryear to create contemporary objets d’art. LM1 and LM2 were followed by LM101, the first MB&F Machine to feature a movement developed entirely in-house. LM Perpetual, LM Split Escapement and LM Thunderdome broadened the collection further, as did the LM FlyingT dedicated to women. The maverick maison is back this year with a Stainless Steel edition of the Legacy Machine Perpetual
First launched in 2015, the LM Perpetual, which won the Best Calendar Watch Prize at the GPHG in 2016, has since been crafted in various materials. In 2023, the LM Perpetual Stainless Steel carrying a rich salmon-coloured plate joins the family. The new edition also inherits the ergonomic corrector pushers first seen on the LM Perpetual EVO editions.
LM Perpetual features a fully integrated 581-component calibre – no module, no base movement – with a revolutionary new system for calculating the number of days in each month. It also places the full complication on dial-free display underneath a spectacular suspended balance.
LM Perpetual uses a “mechanical processor” instead of the conventional space-consuming grand levier (big lever) system architecture. The mechanical processor utilises a default 28-day month and adds extra days as required. This means that each month always has the exact number of days required; there is no fast-forwarding or skipping redundant days. And while the leap year can only be set on traditional perpetual calendars by scrolling through up to 47 months, LM Perpetual has a dedicated quickset pusher to adjust the year.
While its open dial reveals the full complication and suspended balance, take note of the eye-catching balance hovering on high that is connected to the escapement on the back of the movement by what is likely to be the world’s longest balance staff. The sub dials appear to “float” above the movement with no visible attachments. The skeletonised sub dials rest on hidden studs, which is technically impossible with traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms because they would block the movement of the grand levier.
Taking a clockwise tour of the dial, at 12 o’clock we see the hours and minutes nestled between the elegant arches of the balance; day of the week at 3 o’clock, power reserve indicator at 4 o’clock, month at 6 o’clock, retrograde leap year indicator at 7 o’clock, and date at 9 o’clock.
