Dear Friends,

It’s been a little while since I sent you a newsletter focused on our timepieces, for good reason: our M.A.D.Gallery has been hyperactive over the last months, with presentations of amazing artists like Chicara Nagata, Frank Buchwald and Marc Ninghetto. But rest assured, our Horological hearts continue to beat as strong as ever! You’ll be seeing a lot of watchmaking action in the months ahead…

In the meantime, allow me to come back on the recently-launched MoonMachines, plus some of our latest news from around the world.

The MoonMachines are part of our ‘Performance Art’ series – those very special occasions, when we ask an external artist or designer to reinterpret one of our existing Machines. You might remember the HM2.2 ‘Blackbox’ designed with Alain Silberstein, the Boucheron JWLRYMACHINE, or the ‘Only Watch’ unique pieces we co-created with various artists.

Each of those special projects was lots of fun, but the MoonMachines with Stepan Sarpaneva were probably the smoothest collaboration of all, thanks to his great talent and personality. A true watchmaker, but not a conventional one, Stepan worked with the very best in Switzerland for 10 years before returning to his native Finland. His horological skills are matched by his acute sense of design. If you’re familiar with his timepieces, you’ll recognise his signature design element: an iconic moon face.

Sarpaneva’s DNA has been injected in this new series of Machines, based on our HM3 Frog. The twin hand-finished moons indicate the moon-phase through a Korona-shaped aperture. The 22k gold and steel northern sky adds a stunning background: the stars are laser-pierced, allowing light to reflect from the movement underneath. And there’s a twist: this star-filled sky is in fact the revolving rotor, bringing life to the MoonMachine as it generates power for the movement.

MoonMachine is three Limited Editions of 18 pieces each, in titanium, black titanium and red gold..

As you may have heard, we just opened our very first MB&F Boutique – in Beijing, in collaboration with our local retail partners Ray Union and Europe Watch Co. The official inauguration is set for early December – and on the same occasion, we will unveil an exclusive, limited-edition Horological Machine created especially for this first boutique.

The store is located in the state-of-the-art ParkLife Beijing Yintai Centre, in the heart of the city’s business district. The centre houses luxury brands, exclusive bars and restaurants and a landscaped roof garden. Stay tuned for the Grand Opening in December!

Our team is growing… with the recent arrivals of Alexandre David as Chief Commercial Officer and Hervé Estienne as Manager of the M.A.D.Gallery, we’ve reached the dizzying number of 14!

I’d like to introduce you to one of our key Friends: Didier Dumas, who joined MB&F in 2008 as our Head of Watchmaking. Didier started his career at the wise age of 12 – taking apart his parents’ pocket watches. After watchmaking school (EHA), he had his own business for 10 years and made a name for himself restoring clocks… until he accepted a position at Franck Muller in 1997. He stayed there 7 years, ending up in charge of production. In 2005 my team at Harry Winston recruited him as Head of Watchmaking, and we got to know each other… before I left to start MB&F the same year. Three years later I asked whether he would consider leaving his comfortable job to join our horological rebellion… and to my delight he said yes! In his own words, “to live another crazy challenge”.

As our Watchmaking Guru, Didier leads our three in-house watchmakers. His focus is to ensure quality, from the initial conception of our Machines – in which he participates actively – all the way to final assembly. His other passions are music and golf… and one of his greatest assets is his sense of humour, which you’ll get a taste of, after just a few minutes talking to him :)

The watch show season has started! We kicked it off at the beginning of October with a great show in Mexico – SIAR, Salon Internacional Alta Relojeria – and we continue in a couple weeks with SalonQP, at the beautiful Saatchi Gallery in London (8-10 November).

On 22-25 November we follow-up with Salon Belles Montres in Paris, at the Carrousel du Louvre. Don’t hesitate to come visit our booth if you’re in town!

When the Spanish-designed Ossa 250cc motorcycle came third in the World Championship in 1969, it raised a few eyebrows: it was a good 20hp weaker than its rivals, but it was also 20kg lighter thanks to its revolutionary monocoque frame. It was also more rigid than conventional frames, making the Ossa a more agile player on the track.

Skip forward to the present day… Barcelona-based design studio Art-Tic have spectacularly reinterpreted the Ossa 250cc with their Monocasco Concept Bike, including a few contemporary and curvaceous twists. Find out more about this two-wheeled e-wonder on our weekly blog, A Parallel World.

Thanks for your continued support of MB&F. I am constantly surprised by the interest our small creative laboratory generates, in large part thanks to word-of-mouth – through Friends like you. We will soon reach 20,000 ‘Likes’ on our Facebook page, and each one was gained the hard way, one by one – unlike many Facebook pages, we refuse to artificially boost our ‘Likes’ by purchasing them. Thanks for making this adventure an authentic one!

With our very best regards,

Maximilian Büsser
Owner and Creative Director

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