Dear Friends,

What an insane year 2020 has been! You may have seen my post a few weeks ago on LinkedIn - but if not, I have more or less repeated my words below.

When Covid-19 struck, we braced for the worst. The consequences of the virus continue to be devastating for many people – in the watchmaking industry alone, dozens of companies are suffering. I am well aware of this.

Nonetheless, these critical times have had an unexpected – and surprisingly positive – impact on our horological lab. They have forced us to be even more agile than before, to adapt quicker, to dare more and to embrace change. They have pushed us to take even better care of our relationships, focusing on our best partners – who in return have offered us incredible creativity, flexibility and hard work. I am so grateful to them!
 
These strange times showed us that, like any enterprise, there are real risks – but that we have also built powerful assets over the last 15 years. The outstanding results of our 2020 launches – HM10 Bulldog, the collaborations with H. Moser & Cie and Eddy Jaquet, LM Perpetual EVO to name a few – all surpassed our wildest expectations.
 
I finished my LinkedIn post by thanking our clients, our partners, our suppliers, our supporters, our staff – in short, thanks to you, our Friends. I am so proud of what we have created together.

The year ended on an amazing number: our sell-out rate increased by 30% in 2020! That's 260 pieces going to the wrists of final customers - including a few launches during the last weeks of the year. Read on :)

At the beginning of November, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of one of our most important Horological Machines: the HM3 Frog. Back in 2010, “The Frog” shocked the watchmaking world by pushing the limits of three-dimensional horology; it rapidly became one of our most recognised and well-liked Machines.
 
Fast-forward 10 years later, to the HM3 Frog 'X.' For this anniversary edition, we decided to trade the Frog's previous metallic skins for a case entirely crafted in sapphire crystal.

Inside the transparent case, the HM3 engine conceived for MB&F by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, built on a Girard-Perregaux base. Unmistakable thanks to its upside-down construction showcasing the oversized winding rotor, spinning rapidly under the Frog’s eyes: the revolving hour and minute domes.

Our website will give you the full HM3 Frog story. The first pieces started shipping last month, so if you’re interested in acquiring the FrogX, please contact your favourite retailer or go to our M.A.D.Gallery eShop.

First launched in 2019, the Legacy Machine FlyingT was our first-ever Machine dedicated to women. My intention was to pay tribute to the women in my family, favouring elegance and vitality over the softer conventions of womanhood… and as you may recall, I was terrified about how it would be received. To my delight, the welcome was amazing… climaxing with the prize for Best Ladies’ Complication at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

The launch versions in 18k white gold were joined in early 2020 by limited editions in red gold and platinum, featuring guilloche dials. In December, we added a sixth edition: the LM FlyingT Lapis Lazuli, featuring a dial plate and subdial in the deep blue gemstone, in an 18k white gold case set with diamonds.

This new Lapis Lazuli edition picks up on a little tradition I had as a young boy with my father: when he returned from his business trips, he would sometimes bring me back a semi-precious stone. In the same way, this is the first of a series of gemstone editions, which we will announce once a year.

Lapis Lazuli was an obvious first choice for me: it was one of the all-time favourites in my collection! I love the intense, deep blue, enhanced by the gold flecks (which are actually Pyrite). During the Renaissance, it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments.

Powering this new edition, the soaring vertical structure of the FlyingT movement, topped by a 60-second flying tourbillon. The sun-shaped winding rotor ensures the automatic movement is fully wound, offering 100 hours of power reserve. The time is displayed thanks to delicate serpentine hands on a tilted subdial placed at 7 o’clock, visible only to the wearer of the watch; an unconventional layout underlining the intimate, personal nature of the LM FlyingT.

The LM FlyingT Lapis Lazuli is available as of now at our retail partners, or available online at our eShop.

I wish you an excellent New Year, with first and foremost the best of health and - hopefully! - a rapid return to normality, with many occasions to meet again in person. We'll be kicking off 2021 with a new launch in just a few days, on January 21st - and as always, the best way to get the news first is via our Instagram or Facebook accounts.