MB&F Legacy Machines: 10th Anniversary Retrospective And LMX
MB&F isn’t your typical independent watch brand. From day one, MB&F has made a name for itself creating some of the wildest mechanical watches in the world – not with the intention of making watches, but rather horological machines that display the time.
This is a point that was driven home at the very beginning with MB&F’s the very first model, Horological Machine 1, or HM1 for short.
The first four models, HM1 through HM4, were each wilder than their predecessors with case and movement architecture unlike pretty much anything else in horology. It soon became clear that MB&F had no plans to make a boring, traditional, and, most importantly, round watch.
To this day, 14 years after the launch of the brand, this mantra remains true. Technically.
It can be said that MB&F has not made a boring, traditional watch ever . . . but round, that’s another story. Actually, it is this story, the story that begins with the fifth model MB&F launched, a watch that almost caused a mutiny but kicked off a totally new collection called Legacy Machines.
In 2011 MB&F launched Legacy Machine 1 (LM1), a watch based on the hypothetical question of what would brand founder Maximilian Büsser have designed if he had founded MB&F in the nineteenth century instead of the twenty-first century. There would be no inspiration from muscle cars, spaceships, or modern science fiction, replaced instead by Jules Verne, the steam age, and Victorian aesthetics, but still meshed with the desire to create outside the box.
So while Legacy Machine 1 is indeed a round watch, it has one foot firmly planted in the twenty-first century while the aesthetic inspiration is a mixture of tradition and cutting-edge science fiction of the nineteenth century. Over the next decade, MB&F released eight more Legacy Machines, with as much variation as we have come to expect from the brand, but also solidly within the Legacy Machine design language.
In 2021 MB&F celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Legacy Machine collection and, fittingly, a brand-new model to mark this milestone. While that watch is definitely increditastic, let’s first see how we got to this point by taking a journey through all the models, discussing the key points and how the concept has evolved over the years . . . before ending up with the brand-new anniversary piece, LMX.
MB&F Legacy Machine 1, 2011
This is the OG, the first, and for many still the best Legacy Machine ever created, introducing the flying balance wheel, vertical power reserve, and completely independent dual time zones, all while being stunningly attractive.
LM1 (and every Legacy Machine thereafter) was built around the massive 14 mm flying balance wheel floating high above the dial, supported by an absolutely gorgeous dual-legged arched bridge feeling loosely inspired by the legs of the Eiffel Tower.
LM1 set the tone for the collection with this balance setup. It inevitably limits the types of time displays since the balance wheel is always positioned front and center. In LM1 this resulted in two small dials flanking the central balance wheel and escapement, providing a nice separation the two independent time zone displays.
Following the hypothetical era of creation, the hands are blued and the numerals Roman, all finished to perfection.
The vertical power reserve indicator remains a big deal thanks to its unique function. Acting like one half of a drawbridge, the indicator pivots from the dial and sweeps across a tiny set of arched pillars with hashmarks indicating ten hours increments of the 45-hour reserve.
The look of the dial was clearly futuristic for the nineteenth century – and still groundbreaking in the twenty-first century.
The symmetry was par for MB&F as every Horological Machine and Legacy Machine would be symmetrically balanced until the release of LM101 (below) in 2014.
LM1 has a dial to make serious collectors giddy, but on the rear is where we find something that finally cemented MB&F in the school of serious watchmakers and silenced naysayers: the movement was developed in collaboration with two legends of the industry, Jean-François Mojon and Kari Voutilainen.
The movement looked like a pinnacle of pocket watch engineering, with suplerative hand finishing to boot, yet was a perfectly modern creation. This completed the victory that was LM1 and showcased how MB&F could simultaneously create the wildest creations of both today and more than a century ago.
Highlighting its broad appeal, the year after LM launched it won two awards at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
For a fun variation on the LM1 involving designer Alain Silberstein, see Shy No More: MB&F LM1 Silberstein.
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine 1
Case: 42.5 x 17 mm, 18-karat red or white gold, titanium, platinum, stainless steel
Movement: manually wound movement developed by Jean-François Mojon/Chronode and Kari Voutilainen with sapphire crystal balance bridge and 14 mm balance wheel
Functions: hours, minutes; power reserve indication, second time zone
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine Silberstein
Case: 42.5 x 17 mm, red gold, titanium, and black PVD-coated titanium
Movement: manually wound movement developed by Jean-François Mojon/Chronode and Kari Voutilainen with sapphire crystal balance bridge and 14 mm balance wheel
Functions: hours, minutes; power reserve indication, second time zone
Limitation: 12 pieces each in red gold, titanium, and black PVD-coated titanium
Price at launch in 2016: 79,000 Swiss francs (titanium), 88,000 Swiss francs (red gold) plus applicable taxes
MB&F Legacy Machine 2, 2013
Two years later MB&F returned with the follow-up to the LM1 named Legacy Machine 2, following the naming convention already laid out by the Horological Machines, which had already reached HM5 at this point.
I mention this because while the HM series continues with this numbering convention, this was the last Legacy Machine to be numbered with its release number.
Nevertheless the second Legacy Machine departs from the LM1’s mechanical architecture, instead featuring a double balance design with central differential inspired by Abraham-Louis Breguet, Ferdinand Berthoud, Antide Janvier, and even Philippe Dufour.
The dual regulator setup combined with the flying balance wheel design results in a stunning pair of arched bridges mirroring each other at 3 and 9 o’clock. Flanking the two balances at 6 o’clock is the visible differential mechanism, which averages out the rates of the two balance wheels for more consistent timekeeping, not to mention being a visually impressive creation.
Since LM2 uses twin balances, it does away with the dual time zone in favor of one larger dial at 12 o’clock, though still with the same aesthetic carrying the design of the Legacy Machine forward.
The dual balances also required a slight reduction in diameter of the balance wheels from 14 to 11 millimeters, though the effect is no less impactful. The movement is once again designed in collaboration with Mojon and Voutilainen, though the layout is much different thanks to the architecture required for the differential. This movement carries the same aesthetic but is much more symmetrical and seemingly more modern, showing a kinship to Horological Machine construction as well.
LM2 was a significant departure from the LM1 mechanically while maintaining a clear through line, and this would continue with the next release in the series.
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine 2
Case: 42 x 20 mm, 18-karat red or white gold, titanium, platinum
Movement: mechanical manually wound movement with planetary differential averaging rate of two flying balance wheels on top of movement, 45-hour power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes
Limitation: 18 pieces in titanium
Price at launch: $156,000 (gold); $190,000 (titanium) plus applicable tax
MB&F Legacy Machine 101, 2014
Legacy Machine 101 (LM101) arrived just a year later in 2014 and contributed a few major changes to the collection and the ideas of MB&F across the board.
LM101 introduced asymmetry, a size reduction to be more appealing to a wider range of collectors, and, most importantly, it was the first movement MB&F developed in house. More so, LM101 was intended to be the “entry-level” Legacy Machine launching with the lowest price for any MB&F up to that point, and was only beaten on price by HMX which debuted in 2015.
LM101 saw the return of the 14 mm flying balance but the bridge was rotated 60 degrees from 12 o’clock, making this watch dramatically asymmetrical compared to LM1 and LM2. The entire watch was reduced in size from 44 to 40 mm, and the incredible vertical power reserve of the LM1 was ditched in favor of a more traditional looking subdial. Located at 6 o’clock, the power reserve indicator asymmetrically flanks the flying balance opposite the main time display.
The dial is much larger and rests at 2 o’clock, overlapped by the flying balance like previous models. At that point in time, it was the most commercially conservative watch for the brand and it took a few years to be as successful as other pieces simply due to its, well, simplicity.
Büsser mentioned that LM101 was the least well received of the Legacy Machines upon launch, coming from a more conservative approach, which was normally anathema for the brand.
Yet now it has found its audience and is selling for a premium on the second-hand market, still showcasing how beautiful and amazing LM101 is. The movement also mirrors the original LM1 in aesthetic, unsurprising since Kari Voutilainen was still part of the development and finishing process.
It’s almost fitting that this is the watch preceding what came next, because what we didn’t know was what a groundbreaking watch was just up the pipeline.
For more on Legacy Machine 101 see LM101 By MB&F: Distilling The Very Essence Of Time.
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine 101
Case: 40 mm, 18-karat red or white gold with high domed crystal
Movement: mechanical manually wound movement with suspended balance, 45-hour power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes; power reserve indication
Price at launch: $59,000 plus applicable tax
MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual, 2015
The watch that came next was Legacy Machine Perpetual, a completely new and innovative perpetual calendar movement, which not only solved many of the problems with traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms, but was also the most complicated movement the brand had ever produced, redefining what Legacy Machine could be.
Developed by genius Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, this perpetual calendar reconceived how the complex date could be mechanically counted, resulting in a robust and nearly foolproof mechanism designed to last for centuries.
Previously, all perpetual calendars were based on 31 months and skipped the days for months with fewer than 31 days. LM Perpetual took the opposite approach by starting with a 28-day standard month and using a patented mechanical processor to add in days for every month with more days than (standard) February.
This protects from setting and manipulation errors and allows for setting forward and backward, something not seen on many perpetual calendar mechanisms. Even better for MB&F fans, the perpetual calendar mechanism is on full display, all anchored around the now iconic 14 mm flying balance wheel. Due to power requirements, the LM Perpetual uses two barrels for a 72-hour power reserve, adding more than a day and a half to the previous movements’ reserves.
The display is once again very well balanced and features a subdial at 3 o’clock for the day of the week, a subdial at 6 o’clock for the month of the year, and a subdial at 9 o’clock for the date.
Squeezed between those three are the retrograde power reserve indicator (though still not vertical like the LM1) and a retrograde leap year indicator. All of this provides the base to the dial while the time display takes a prominent position at 12 o’clock, completing the perfectly balanced yet extremely complicated visual aesthetic.
Legacy Machine Perpetual was also the first time that MB&F had made a true horological contribution to watchmaking by reinventing an age-old mechanism. Prior to this, the brand focused on innovative architecture, which is definitely no small feat. But to come up with an entirely new perpetual calendar mechanism was something most would not have expected from MB&F and it was a stunning release.
While I know now that it would not be the last groundbreaking invention for MB&F (because I live in the future), the next entry into the Legacy Machine collection returned to the roots of Legacy Machines.
For more Legacy Machine Perpetual, please see Why Legacy Machine Perpetual Catapults MB&F Into The Big League.
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual
Case: 44 x 17.5 mm, 18-karat white gold or platinum 950
Movement: manually wound, integrated perpetual calendar with complication on top of base plate, 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph frequency, 72-hour power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes; perpetual calendar with day, date, month, retrograde leap year, power reserve indicator
Limitation: 25 pieces in red gold, 25 pieces in platinum
Price at launch: $145,000 in red gold or $176,000 in platinum
MB&F Legacy Machine Split Escapement, 2017
Legacy Machine Split Escapement debuted in 2017 on the heels of the LM Perpetual and it immediately seemed like the brand was trying to do something simple and perhaps commercially successful. Of course, it should be apparent by now that nothing MB&F does is strictly for the purpose of taking it easy, and the Split Escapement is no different.
This watch saw the introduction of – you guessed it – the split escapement in which the iconic flying balance wheel is still suspended above the dial, but to clear up space for other features the escapement was relocated to the back of the movement, making for an extremely difficult technical challenge and assembly process for what appears to be a simple watch.
The entire dial, subdials, and movement were constructed around the as-yet-to-be-assembled balance wheel, as it stretches all the way through the movement and is supported at the extremes. So while it is visually simple, it was still quite a technical challenge for its designers and watchmakers.
The movement is absolutely lovely and in the same vein as previous models, and the visual aesthetic of the dial is reminiscent of LM101 but retains the symmetry so well known across the brand’s watches.
The flying balance is once again in the center but flanking it at 4 and 8 o’clock are the traditional power reserve and date display dials as usual, but still absent is the vertical power reserve only seen on LM1 (in fact, it was unique to LM1 until LMX in 2021).
LM Split Escapement is another watch Büsser said took a while to become fully appreciated thanks to its simplicity: the wild and crazy will always be what most come to MB&F to find. Regardless, it was another stellar addition to the LM family and would be the last “relatively simple” member of the Legacy Machine lineup, at least through the present day.
What came next, however, is something that once again broke the mold for MB&F in a whole variety of ways.
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine Split Escapement
Case: 44 x 17.5 mm, white gold or titanium
Movement: manual winding Caliber LM SE developed by Stephen McDonnell, 72 hours power reserve, 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz frequency, split escapement with balance suspended above dial and anchor and escapement wheel under the movement; twin spring barrels
Functions: hours, minutes; power reserve indicator, date
Limitation: 18 pieces per edition
Price (at time of launch): CHF 79,000 plus applicable taxes
MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT, 2019
Legacy Machine FlyingT was designed as MB&F’s first women’s watch: not a smaller version of an already existing watch, not something intended to be unisex, and not something intended to get the masculine treatment. Instead, FlyingT was the beginning of a new aesthetic offshoot for the Legacy Machine collection, marking another pivotal moment for the brand.
This was the first time I think that the Legacy Machines and Horological Machines cross pollinated in an obvious way. FlyingT was the first automatic Legacy Machine (most HMs have been automatic – except for HM4 and HM9), it is the first Legacy Machine to incorporate a flying tourbillon (as seen on HM6 and HM7), and thanks to the 50-degree inclined time display aimed at the wearer it could technically be called a driving watch, a feature that could be used to describe most of the HM machines aside from the first two.
FlyingT is designed around a central flying tourbillon assembly that basically rises above the main dial that surrounds it like the ocean surrounds an island. No words, names, or details are found on this main dial, only the expanse out to the edge of the case. The time display dial is at 7 o’clock and, as mentioned, it is inclined at a 50-degree angle. This combined with the position at 7 o’clock allows it to perfectly face the wearer’s gaze when they are resting their hand on a table, steering wheel, or the railing of a private box at the symphony orchestra.
The hour and minute hands are typical serpentine style while the time display feels very classic – the entire watch feels more traditionally MB&F than the Legacy Machines usually do. The large flying tourbillon assembly and inclined dial also resulted in a vaulted dome of sapphire crystal topping the watch and creating a very three-dimensional shape.
The FlyingT is wound by the crown at 9 o’clock and set using the crown at 3 o’clock, the two crowns keeping symmetry that is only broken by the slightly off-center, inclined dial. When you flip it over for the first time, instead of the classically designed and finished movement you find the winding rotor, a stylized depiction of a golden sun.
The result is a watch that won the Women’s category at the 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, reaffirming that MB&F knows how to break its own molds to create incredible timepieces.
For more on the Legacy Machine FlyingT, please see MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT: A Sensational Ladies Watch Both Technically And Visually Scintillating
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT
Case: 38.5 x 20 mm, white gold, set with brilliant-cut or baguette-cut diamonds
Movement: automatic caliber with three-dimensional vertical architecture, central flying 60-second tourbillon, four-day power reserve, 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph frequency
Functions: hours, minutes
Price at launch: CHF 108,000 (black lacquer dial); CHF 135,000 (pavé diamonds); CHF 298,000 (baguette-cut diamonds), all prices excluding sales tax
MB&F Legacy Machine Thunderdome, 2019
In the second half of 2019 MB&F followed up Legacy Machine FlyingT with a world record when it released Legacy Machine Thunderdome: inside, supported beneath an updated version of the iconic arched bridge, is the world’s fastest triple-axis tourbillon (dubbed the TriAx) developed with genius watchmaker and movement engineer Eric Coudray. The triple-axis tourbillon has an outer cage rotating in a speedy 20 seconds and an inner most cage that hums along making one revolution every eight seconds.
If that was all it would be more than enough, but there’s more: the balance is not a wheel but a hemispherical cage around a cylindrical hairspring inside the assembly. Basically, the triple-axis tourbillon has combined so much awesome in one ball of metal that it astoundss anyone seeing it.
The form factor of the triple-axis tourbillon has another side effect, it takes up a lot of space and requires a large domed sapphire crystal to contain it, meaning LM Thunderdome follows in the footsteps of the FlyingT with a minimal aesthetic. It also features an inclined dial, however this one is inclined at 58 degrees and directed straight toward 6 o’clock.
Since the FlyingT and the Thunderdome were developed roughly at the same time, though the FlyingT was first, it’s hard to deny they share details that clearly mark them as relatives, including guilloche base dials and giant domes.
But there are more than enough differences to make it clear that each is its own watch. A big one is that Thunderdome is a manual wind with movement architecture designed with Kari Voutilainen on top of Coudray. Visually, the movement feels very in line with what has come before but it also is obvious that this is something brand new.
The rear of the movement finds a large sweeping power reserve indicator and a decidedly non-symmetric layout. Little details go a long way, and include winding mechanism wheels with retaining plates bearing gold chatons and jewels and skeletonization to highlight a feature underneath.
One may gloss over these, but mechanically I had never seen any detail like this and it reminds me once again why MB&F always seeks out the best in the industry: Büsser and his team don’t just want to make cool watches, but the coolest watches!
Thunderdome is definitely a cool watch, but it wasn’t the last.
For more on Legacy Machine Thunderdome, please see MB&F Legacy Machine Thunderdome: The World’s Fastest Triple-Axis Tourbillon – You Can’t Miss It! (Plus Videos).
Quick Facts MB&F LM Thunderdome
Case: 44 x 22.2 mm, platinum or tantalum
Movement: manually wound Thunderdome caliber with TriAx triple-axis tourbillon revolving at 8, 12 and 20 seconds; triple spring barrels, 45-hour power reserve, 3 Hz/21,600 vph frequency, 413 components
Functions: hours, minutes; power reserve
Limitation: 33 pieces in platinum with light blue guilloche dial; 10 pieces in tantalum for The Hour Glass, 5 with aventurine dial and 5 with dark blue guilloche dial
Price at launch: CHF 270,000
MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO, 2020
In 2020 – “the year where nothing happened” – MB&F released Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO, an update to LM Perpetual that did what no other Legacy Machine had done before: imagine a Legacy Machine for the modern era.
LMP EVO saw the aesthetic direction of the case, subdial rings, movement finishing, and strap all receive a makeover that effectively turns this into Legacy Machine Inception as a modern designer imagines what they would design 150 years ago and then what the evolution of that would look like in the modern era.
It’s an awesome update to LM Perpetual, but thematically it is the most unique among the LM pieces since, in case it wasn’t clear, it looks nothing like a watch that could have been designed in the nineteenth century.
But since when did MB&F play by the rules, even the rules that it made in the first place?
EVO isn’t just an aesthetic update, however, there were small tweaks to the movement architecture and, more importantly, a new movement support ring developed that acts as a dampening shock absorber for the perpetual calendar movement.
The FlexRing is machined from a solid block of stainless steel into a skeleton structure that provides shock protection in both vertical and lateral directions, isolating the movement from the case just enough to make the LM Perpetual EVO a much sportier piece.
When combined with the integrated rubber strap, 80 meters of water resistance, and a lightweight zirconium case, the Perpetual EVO might be the most sport-oriented watch that MB&F has made up until this point. That is not something you would have guessed to be saying about a new MB&F watch, especially a Legacy Machine, but here we are.
And lest you worry that the Legacy Machine ideology is at risk of slipping away, the newest launch celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Legacy Machine is a distillation of the last decade’s worth of ideas and design.
Quick Facts MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO
Case: 44 x 17.5 mm, zirconium
Movement: manually wound, integrated perpetual calendar with complication on top of base plate, 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph frequency, 72-hour power reserve
Functions: hours, minutes; perpetual calendar with day, date, month, retrograde leap year, power reserve indicator
Limitation: 15 pieces each with orange or blue CVD plate or black PVD plate
Price at launch: $167,000
MB&F LMX, 2021
LMX doesn’t stand for “Legacy Machine 10” (it is not the tenth model, it’s number 9), the X marks the tenth year since the introduction of the Legacy Machine concept.
Büsser said that for LMX he did something he rarely does: went back to the LM1 and re-envisioned that watch as if he, the Max Büsser of today, was designing it as Max Büsser from a decade ago.
So basically, LMX returns to the roots with a completely independent dual time zone display, a now extra-tall flying balance wheel, and reintroducing the vertical power reserve display, only this time it’s kind of insane. The dual time zone dials are both inclined, inspired by the FlyingT and LM Thunderdome, but symmetrical with one aimed toward the wearer and the other mirrored on the right side of the dial.
Between them, the escapement is dial side again and specifically in a place of honor right up front. With the inclined dials, the flying balance now sits even higher and has a visually dramatic balance staff, though still not even close to what the Split Escapement would have seen. The dials are driven by conical gears, something developed from the Horological Machines, the FlyingT, and the Thunderdome.
Behind the dials we see the two gear trains meeting up with triple mainsprings offering seven full days of power reserve. How exactly is that power reserve indicated? Well, by a rotating sphere with a spiral groove that the power reserve pointer rides in as it rotates repeatedly over an entire week.
Instead of building just another power reserve differential mechanism, this new concept is my favorite implementation of a power reserve that I have ever seen.
The rear of the movement now features a triad of mainspring barrels and a central tri-finger ratchet wheel, a perfectly balanced set of parts that again returns to the core of what the Legacy Machine collection is. But it also marches forward, ever progressing with no desire to stand still and become stale.
This is probably the reason why I love brands like MB&F, which don’t deal strictly in tradition or consistency but in ideas and experiments.
The LMX isn’t a finale for Legacy Machines, nor is it a reboot. It is just the next step in what looks to be a healthy line of ideas moving forward, while just taking a small moment to glance back and see where it came from.
There is a lot more to dig into with LMX, but if you only take one thing away from the anniversary piece it should be that the Legacy Machine concept is both alive and thriving at MB&F. With all the new pieces currently in various stages of development, it’s clear we will have exciting new Legacy Machines for years to come.
For more information, please visit www.mbandf.com/en/machines/legacy-machines.
Quick Facts MB&F LMX
Case: 44 x 21.4 mm, red gold or grade 5 titanium
Movement: manual winding LMX caliber with three spring barrels, 168 hours (7 days) power reserve, 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz frequency
Functions: hours, minutes, second time zone hours and minutes; hemispherical rotating vertical power reserve
Limitation:18 pieces in red gold, 33 pieces in titanium
Price: $112,000/CHF 98,000/€92,000 (titanium); $128,000/CHF 112,000/€105,000 (red gold)
You may also enjoy:
LM101 By MB&F: Distilling The Very Essence Of Time
LM101 Frost By MB&F: It’s Surprisingly Warm
Why Legacy Machine Perpetual Catapults MB&F Into The Big League
MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT: A Sensational Ladies Watch Both Technically And Visually Scintillating
Hands On & Live Photos: MB&F x H. Moser LM101 And H. Moser x MB&F Endeavour Cylindrical Tourbillon
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