A Must-See for Everyone! Horological Neophytes, All Industry Professionals (including Marketing/Communication/Admin), and Press, this talk by Stephen McDonnell is For You – Don’t Miss This!
by Ian Skellern
2023 is my sixth Dubai Watch Week and one of the highlights of the fair (the best on earth by far) is the Horological Forums, which range from discussion panels, interviews, debates, watch presentations, and personal life stories, to just plain fun.
I estimate I’ve seen – and have personally moderated 10 of them – around 80 of these ‘events’, and many have been very, very, good: either. But at the 2023 fair, I saw one that just blew me away (and I’m a jaded old industry veteran).
Stephen McDonnell at Dubai Watch Week 2023
It was a presentation by Irish movement constructor Stephen McDonnell, who among his many other accomplishments created the movements for the MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual, which won the prize for Best Calendar Watch in 2016, and the MB&F LM Sequential EVO Dual Chronograph, which took the GPHG’s top prize, the Aiguille d’Or, in 2022.
In his presentation, McDonnell walked us through how he developed the movement for the MB&F sequential from the first sketch to the finished watch. And if you think that’s something you are unlikely to find interesting, let alone compelling . . . trust me, you are wrong.
I know McDonnell, I have interviewed McDonnell for many hours, I wrote the press release for the MB&F Perpetual, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what goes into developing a complicated movement, and I arrogantly/conceitedly/naively (take your pick, there are no wrong answers) thought that I had a pretty good idea of what he would say. I couldn’t be more wrong.
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I know McDonnell, I have interviewed McDonnell for many hours, I wrote the press release for the MB&F Perpetual, and I thought I had a pretty good idea of what goes into developing a complicated movement, and I arrogantly/conceitedly/naively (take your pick, there are no wrong answers) thought that I had a pretty good idea of what he would say. I couldn’t be more wrong.
If you already love mechanical watches, you will love this presentation, if you just have a passing interest in mechanical watches you will love this presentation, and even if you have absolutely zero interest in mechanical watches you will love this presentation. It’s informative, deeply personal, fast-moving, and the only criticism I have is that it is less than an hour long. I wished that it went on much, much longer.
It was worth coming to Dubai Watch Week just for this one presentation. And that’s not just my opinion, McDonnell received an enthusiastic standing ovation and I can’t remember the last time (if ever) that happened.
If you are not so much into the technical aspects of movement development, I suggest starting the video at 34:40 where McDonnell goes into the more emotional stresses he goes through. And he ends with an excellent explanation of what’s the point of outdated high-end mechanical watches.
Enjoy!
If, after watching the presentation, you want a bit more, I also highly recommend Max Büsser’s talk with Wei Koh ‘Thinking Differently’ and if you want a laugh, Nicholas Foulkes and George Bamford debating ‘To Be Or Not To Bespoke’ moderated by Barbara Palumbo.
For more of the Dubai Watch Week Horological Forum discussions and presentations, please visit www.youtube.com/@DubaiWatchWeekChannel/streams
You might also enjoy:
Why Legacy Machine Perpetual Catapults MB&F Into The Big League
M.A.D.1 Friends Edition From (Not By) MB&F: Why I Bought It, Why You Can’t (Not Yet Anyway), And Why It’s A Marketing Masterclass – Plus Video of Max Büsser Explaining The Watch And Concept
Presenting ‘Making Time’: The Greatest Watch Film Ever Made (In My Extremely Biased Opinion)
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