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Dear Friends, It seems like we just finished the Geneva Wonder Week… and we’re already heading to Basel! This Wednesday, MB&F returns for the 7th time to the most important watchmaking fair of the year: 9 nonstop days (and late evenings) of intense encounters with retailers, journalists, collectors and other watch professionals from around the world. But before hitting the road to Basel, please join me for a rapid flashback to what was our most successful launch ever: the introduction of the HM6 ‘Space Pirate’. |
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What could an American sci-fi comics hero, a “biomorphic” designer from Germany and a Japanese TV anime series possibly have in common? |
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Well, they all contributed some of their genes to our sixth Horological Machine. The sci-fi hero was called Captain Future, a space-traveling scientist and adventurer – originally published in American pulp magazines in the 1940s. He cruised the universe in a spaceship called the Comet… and somehow reappeared a few decades later in a Japanese anime series. If like me, you were a kid growing up in the late 70s and 80s, watching just a little too much television, you were probably a fan. Especially if you were living in a French-speaking country, where Captain Future became “Capitaine Flam” and was a huge hit. Align two of Flam’s spaceships side-by-side and you’ll start to see where the shape of HM6 comes from… For the final touch, add a good dose of 1970’s “biomorphic” design, championed by ground-breaking designers like Luigi Colani – and the HM6 materialises. |
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Those diverse influences explain the very unusual shape – even by MB&F standards – of this Horological Machine. Contrary to our previous pieces, HM6 Space Pirate is nothing but curves; you’ll need to look carefully to find a flat surface or a straight line. An engineer’s nightmare that makes the manufacturing of the case, milled from two solid blocks of grade 5 titanium, particularly challenging. All those curves also make the finishing much more complicated… and to make things worse, the case includes what must be a record of 10 sapphire crystals! |
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As if that weren’t enough, the HM6 engine is quite simply our most complicated movement to date: a total of 475 components including 68 jewels. Developed entirely from scratch, the totally unconventional calibre delivers 72 hours of power reserve, generated by a single barrel and powerful mainspring, regulated by a flying 60-second tourbillon. On one side, hours and minutes are displayed vertically on revolving spheres, thanks to complex angular gear trains – difficult to manufacture, but much more efficient than standard gears in terms of precision and transmission of energy. On the other side, driven through multiplying gearing by the automatic winding rotor in platinum 950, twin spherical turbines spin horizontally, automatically regulating the winding system in case of excessive speed to reduce stress and wear. |
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Last but not least, you may have noticed HM6 features two crowns. One is for setting the time and manual winding if required. The other crown actions the… retractable hyperspace shield. Yep, when this spaceship enters hyperspace mode, we recommend protecting the cockpit against space hazards by deploying a titanium curtain over it. More seriously, because of its position elevated above the case, the flying tourbillon is very exposed. When closed, the shield blocks the sun’s harmful UV rays from prematurely oxidising the regulating system’s lubrication oils. |
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Have a look at the video to see HM6 in action – you’ll see what we mean by “kinetic sculptures for the wrist”. The HM6 Space Pirate is a limited edition of 50 pieces in grade 5 titanium. There will only be 100 HM6 movements in total. |
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As mentioned, on Wednesday we head northeast a few hundred kilometres to the city of Basel, where the most important watchmaking fair of the year takes place: Baselworld. From Wednesday, March 18th to the following Thursday, March 26th, our team will be meeting watch professionals from every corner of the Earth. At our booth situated at the entrance of the Palace Hall (booth P02), we’ll be showing our latest creations like the HM6 Space Pirate , LM1 Platinum and MegaWind Final Edition… We’ll also be giving a sneak preview of our next timepiece – and launching the very first of our 10th Anniversary pieces, “Melchior” (see below). Our agendas are already bursting with appointments, but if we should be meeting and don’t already have a time slot scheduled with you, please contact us right away! |
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MB&F was founded in 2005, so 2015 marks our first decade… How time flies! We’ll be celebrating those astounding 10 years under the leitmotiv “A creative adult is a child who survived” – that theme has inspired two Anniversary pieces, the first of which is Melchior… and we just can’t wait to present him to you! Come to Basel to be among the first to meet him in person, or watch this space on March 18th… |
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A glowing orb in the azure sky floods a sparsely decorated room with seemingly natural sunlight… These images might look like still life paintings by Edward Hopper, but they are in fact undoctored photographs demonstrating the brilliance of a brand new kind of skylight: CoeLux.
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Looks good, you might think, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But this isn’t just any kind of skylight. CoeLux is an artificial skylight which could radically change the way we design and experience our work, living and public spaces that are under ground level or used at night. Scientists at Insubria University in Italy took the best part of a decade to develop CoeLux, which manages to cleverly replicate the visual appearance of the sun and sky through a solid layer of nanoparticles that produce Rayleigh scattering – the scientific process that makes our sky look blue.
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The effect looks so authentic that CoeLux has been hailed as being almost indistinguishable from the real sun in the real sky. Find out more on our blog, A Parallel World.
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As always, I welcome your feedback, in whichever form you prefer. In person is obviously always best, but until teleportation or cloning become standard, not always possible… so in the meantime, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone, zip me an email or connect via your favourite social media. Our Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram accounts continue to grow, and we recently revamped our YouTube channel as well – I recommend you subscribe if you don’t want to miss out on our latest videos. Looking forward to your news! |
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