This start of the year was already packed with new watches and news from independent maisons was not slow to arrive as well.
One of my favorite, if not my favorite independent maison, has unveiled its first new watch of 2023. To give you a hint of who we are talking about, I suggest you think of crazy, out-of-the-ordinary watches, or rather, to be precise, “Machines” on which a hypnotic balance wheel stands out in the center of the dial.
If you still haven’t figured out who it is, we are here today to tell you about a new creation from the genius of MB&F, which exactly 10 years after the first model, has decided to come up with a new version of the Legacy Machine N° 2.
La Legacy Machine No. 2
With the LM No. 2, which we have seen take shape with different materials and dials since 2013, MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser wanted to pay homage to the tradition of haute horlogerie by imagining what it might have looked like, a watch he conceived, if it had been born 100 years earlier.
A great admirer of the pocket watches of the 18th and 19th centuries, the period in which most of the complications known to us were conceived, Max Büsser has always succeeded in encapsulating tradition and innovation in his “Machines.”
Intent that we also find in full within Legacy Machine No. 2, which celebrates, along with historic double-balance wheels pocket watches by Abraham-Louis Breguet, Ferdinand Berthoud, Antide Janvier, the first double-balance wheels wristwatch created by Philippe Doufour.
Characterized by the futuristic look, almost as if it were a flying saucer, this concentrate of tradition, innovation and design is complemented by two flying balance wheels that can hypnotize anyone looking at the watch for hours.
To make the 44-mm-diameter case of the new version of the LM No. 2, MB&F decided to make use of a rare and little-used material in watchmaking, palladium.
Similar to platinum, as an aesthetic rendition, palladium gives the new Legacy Machine No. 2 much luster, which goes perfectly with the aquamarine sunburst dial with a sunburst finish and delicate light green, gray, and blue hues.
However, what I have just referred to as the dial, to be more precise, serves as the upper plate of the movement which is finely machined, plated and then hand engraved with the words “Legacy Machine” at the bottom.
Positioned in the center of the dial and suspended above it with the help of four arched arms are the two flying balance wheels that pay homage to the double regulating organ system.
Beneath them is the planetary differential, the real beating heart of the LM No. 2, which makes it possible to transfer energy to the two regulating organs, receive the time scan individually from each balance wheel and, finally, transmit this reading to the wheel train, where it manifests itself in the form of a time indication.
The time can be told by means of the white lacquered dial located at 12 o’clock, which, together with the blue hands slightly curved to follow the surface that is itself slightly domed, create a perfect contrast with the dial.
Then for goodness sake, if you were to have a Legacy Machines in your hands, I guarantee that the hour would literally go by the wayside because you would get lost for hours in admiring the flying rocker arms and B-side trim (and what a B-side!).
Ruotando l’orologio è possibile infatti vedere, attraverso il fondello in vetro zaffiro, quello che, dal mio punto di vista, più che un movimento rappresenta una vera e propria opera d’arte.
Powering the palladium LM N° 2 is a hand-wound caliber developed by Jean-Francois Mojon and his team, at Chronode. As icing on the cake we find stunning finishing done by what I consider to be one of the greatest watchmakers of our time-Kari Voutilainen.
Looking closely at the caliber with the unprecedented deep anthracite-colored NAC finish and decorated in Côtes de Geneve, one can see the signatures of the two creators of the movement.
Complementing the design of the palladium Legacy Machine No. 2 is a hand-stitched alligator strap (black, brown, or blue) with a Tang folding clasp in 18-karat gold, platinum, or titanium.
Price and availability
Limited to only 18 pieces, the palladium Legacy Machine No. 2 will be sold at a list price of EUR 165,000.00 (+ tax).
To learn more about MB&F visit their website and our dedicated section.
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