The History of the MB&F Legacy Machines
In October 2011, Max Büsser, founder of MB&F, launched the first Legacy Machine watch which marked the start of a second line of watches along with the Horological Machines he was already creating. This first launch would catapult the line to 9 different calibers that he and his friends would release over the next 10 years. To mark the 10 year anniversary of this extremely popular line of watches, MB&F released the LMX. In honour of this launch, we are going to take a look back at all the incredible watches that have captured our imagination.
The Concept of the Legacy Machine Line
When Max launched his brand, he wanted to create mechanical pieces of art that did not conform to the typical watch designs that we all see on many peoples wrists. His first line of watches were the Horological Machines, of HM’s for short, which pulled on Max’s endless imagination and creativity to tell time. It would have been a-typical if Max released an HM that had the traditional round case shape, but some how the brand stumbled back to it.
The concept that brought about the Legacy Machine line was a question Max asked himself; what would MB&F be creating is they were around 100 years ago? Most watchmaking history and knowledge that is used today in modern watchmaking comes from that time period and so MB&F is celebrating the Legacy of the watchmakers of that time. But, MB&F also is focused on providing independent watchmakers who have a huge amount of talent, a platform to showcase what they can do. This is to make sure their legacy is marked in the history books. And so that is where the first Legacy Machine was born.
Legacy Machine 1 (LM1)
The LM1 was really the birth of the ideas mentioned above about creating and MB&F watch that was as if the brand was around 100 years ago. Max describes his childhood memory of time travel as a big inspiration behind the design of the LM1 in the launch video for this watch. The watch itself has a fairly striking design to it and really was the first of its kind.
The main focus of this watch is the giant balance wheel that oscillates above the dial. It is held up by a bridge that is designed to look like the Eiffel Tower. At the time of its launch, this 14mm balance wheel was extremely large for any watch. the innovation really did come with this watch which features a first-of-its-kind vertical power reserve indicator located at where 6 o’clock typically is. The inspiration of this power reserve indicator was the marine sextant used during the time period Max has gone back to for inspiration of this watch. And of course, we have to mention the two dials that display independent time zones that are a beautiful porcelain white reminiscing of the pocket watches of the inspiration era.
The two main creators for the LM1 were Jean-François Mojon and Kari Voutilainen who become familiar faces when it comes to the other watches MB&F produces. They were able to bring a very difficult vision of a watch alive and produce it with such high quality finishing with Geneva waves, highly polished gold chatons and beveled bridges. What is incredible about the movement that is displayed when you turn the LM1 over is it really feels like you are looking at an old pocket watch with how it was constructed.
LM1 was awarded the Public Prize (voted for by horology fans) and the Best Men’s Watch Prize (voted for by the jury) at the 2012 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève. To win awards at GPHG shows the impact that this LM made on the watch industry. And what is even more astonishing - this was only the beginning.
The watch came in a few different case metals and dial variations. It came in 18k red gold with a slate grey dial; 18k white gold with a dark grey dial; in 950 platinum with a blue dial that was limited to 33 pieces; in grade 5 titanium with a green dial which was a a limited edition of 13 pieces for the M.A.D Gallery Dubai, and then in stainless steel with a brown dial which was MB&F’s Final Edition of the LM1 which was limited to 18 pieces. Max has commented on doing a final edition for the LM1 and said he probably will not do it again for any other LM’s because he won’t be able to go back the LM1 design and do something different with it in the future.
Our coverage of the LM1 can be seen here
Legacy Machine 2 (LM2)
Building on Max’s love for the beating hearts of watches that is the balance wheel, MB&F released the LM2 in 2013. The watch continued the same design elements as the LM1 but this time, the LM2 is paying tribute to the legacy of a different era of watchmaking. In Hodinkee’s ‘Explained’ video, Charris Yadigaroglou, MB&F’s Head of Communications, went over the problem this machine was addressing.
As we mentioned before, the Legacy Machine line is looking to what MB&F is creating as if it was around 100 years ago. This machine is actually going back an additional 100 years to when Abraham-Louis Breguet, Ferdinand Berthoud and Antide Janvier were around. These watchmakers were trying to come up with solutions to many problems, one of those being the low precision of the manufacturing of their components. In order to address this problem, one thing they experimented with was using multiple balance wheels and escapements. One can see multiple balance wheels in watches all the way through the history of watches. The concept that is used in the LM2 is using two balance wheels, each oscillating at different rates and a differential that averages the two balance wheels to increase the accuracy of the watch. A famous example of this concept is the Philippe Dufour Duality that Max has said he personally saw and was amazed at.
The LM2 eloquently features two flying balance wheels on the dial side of the watch, both being held up by the Eiffel Tower inspired bridges from the LM1. The watch then has a differential between the two balance wheels and a porcelain white dial at where 12 o’clock typically is. Jean-François Mojon and Kari Voutilainen both worked on this piece as well and ensured high quality finishing and movement construction similarly to the LM1. When you turn the watch over, you can see different movement construction, obviously, with the differential being needed for this watch, but the finishing really looks very similar the LM1 in a 19th century style with Geneva waves and hand-made engravings.
The LM2 was launched with cases in 18k red gold with a silver dial, 18k white gold with a black dial, and 950 platinum with a blue dial that was limited to 18 pieces. Later it was redesigned in grade 5 titanium with a greenish blue dial that was limited to 18 pieces, 18k white gold edition with a purple dial that was limited to 12 pieces, and in 18k red gold with deep blue dial that was limited to 12 pieces.
Legacy Machine 101 (LM101)
When looking at the next Legacy Machine that MB&F released, it almost looks like this should have been the first LM that MB&F released. That is exactly what Max described in his interview with Watches TV. In the Launch video of the LMX, Max also went over the various LM’s over the years. When he was speaking about the LM101, he mentioned that he had received a lot of feedback where retailers and customers wanted a smaller version of the LM1. While this went against why Max started MB&F, he decided to turn it into a challenge.
The LM101 was released in 2014 and displays the main design elements on the LM’s we have seen so far as simplistically as possible. Max describes this watch as the prequal to the Legacy Machine line and the watch they should have really started with. In his interview with Watches TV, he explained that it is very easy to do something complication in watchmaking, while the task of making something simple and elegant is much tougher. So what they did was bring the LM down to its bare essentials and create a simplistic watch that was as elegant as it was complicated.
The LM101 has similar characteristics as the LM1, which a beautiful flying balance wheel, power reserve indicator and porcelain white dial with the time. But instead of having two independent time zones or two balance wheels, it only has one of each. Another noticeable change is the way the power reserve indicator was created; not a vertical power reserve indicator like on LM1, but another porcelain white dial that indicates the power reserve indicator. The LM101 was also much smaller than previous LM’s, coming in at 40mm. The movement for the LM101 was also MB&F’s first in-house movement developed with Kari Voutilainen, which is a fairly historic moment for any watch manufacture.
Interestingly, in the launch video for the LMX, Max recalled that initially when this watch was released, no one wanted to buy it and it was their worst selling machine for many years. They then released a version in palladium with a very interesting greenish-grey dial which sold out almost immediately. And after this release, the LM101’s became a super desired piece in the LM line up.
The LM101 came in 18k red with a silver dial, 18k white gold with a black dial, in 950 platinum 950 with a blue dial and was limited to 33 pieces, in 950 palladium with a greenish-grey dial that was limited to 18 pieces and in two frosted editions in 18k red gold (limited to 33 pieces) and 18k yellow gold (limited to 18 pieces) with frosted gold dials. MB&F also did a limited edition in collaboration with Hodinkee in 2015 which had a stainless steel case and brown dial. They also did a limited edition in collaboration with H Moser in 2020 and created four watches, all with stainless steel cases, each limited to 15 pieces with a funky blue, cosmic green, Moser red and aqua blue dials.
Legacy Machine Perpetual (LM Perpetual)
Now we arrive at MB&F’s first perpetual calendar that they produced. The LM Perpetual was released in 2015 and was a collaboration between independent Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell and MB&F. The watch that they created really revolutionized the way a perpetual calendar can be constructed and of course has the classical flair of the Legacy Machine line.
The really important part about this watch is the in-house movement that Stephen and MB&F created for this watch. In the release video, Stephen goes over how the traditional perpetual calendar movement bases the days of the month on 31 days. So the wearer is obliged to go through each day in order to use the watch. This actually makes it harder for the wearer because adjusting the watch at specific times can be hurtful to the movement. Well, the brilliant minds that went to work on this watch found a better way. Instead of basing the watch on a 31 day month, they based the mechanical processor on a 28 day month which adds days if they are required. This makes the movement a much more fool-proof system that protects itself from incorrect manipulation. And so no damage will come to the movement no matter how you manipulate the movement.
When you look at the dial of the LM Perpetual, it really shows true integration of the movement and the dial registers for the perpetual calendar complication. Of course you have the hours and minutes dial at where 12 o’clock typically is, the day of the week at 3 o’clock, the month at 6, and the date at 9. There is also a power reserve indicator between 3 and 6 o’clock and the retrograde leap year indicator between 6 and 9. And of course, a beautiful flying balance wheel that towered over the dial. But with all of these indicators and parts of the movement on the dial side of the watch, the team faced a problem with being able to fit the escapement on the dial side of the watch. Stephen managed to find a way to have the balance wheel on the dial side of the watch and the escapement underneath which is an extremely difficult thing to design, engineer and regulate making this a truly revolutionary piece.
The LM Perpetual came in a couple of variations. They have a 18k red gold version with a grey dial that was limited to 25 pieces, a 950 platinum version with a blue dial that was limited to 25 pieces, an 18k white gold version with a grey dial, an 18k white gold version with a purple dial that was limited to 25 pieces, a grade 5 titanium version with a blue dial that was limited to 50 pieces (nicknamed LM Perpetual Ti), and an 18k yellow gold version with a dark blue dial that was limited to 25 pieces.
In 2020, MB&F also released the Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO - their first sporty watch. MB&f describes the LM Perpetual EVO as ‘not a watch for sports, it is a watch for life’. In order to do that they took the perpetual calendar movement developed by Stephen McDonnell and created a Zirconium case. They then added a FlexRing that would provide shock protection for the watch movement. The watch also exchanged its strap for a rubber strap in all three editions. There was a blue dial version, an orange dial version and a black dial version that each were limited to 15 pieces.
Our coverage of the LM Perpetual EVO can be found here.
Legacy Machine Split Escapement (LM Split)
The next release from MB&F debuted in 2017, the LM Split Escapement. This legacy machine was a natural development from the revolutionary split escapement that was developed in the LM Perpetual by Stephen McDonnell. Again, this was a transition similar from the LM2 to the LM101 where the split escapement complication was implemented in something a bit simpler, yet so elegantly.
The watch has a simple dial layout, with an hours and minutes dial at 12 o’clock, a white porcelain dial at 7 o’clock for the date and a power reserve dial at 5 o’clock. The watch would be incomplete without a oscillating balance wheel above the dial. The movement that was developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell created a split escapement where the balance wheel was above the dial and the anchor and escape wheel was under the movement. The watch has two mainsprings which increases the power reserve and gives the movement a different look than other LM’s. What is really remarkable about this watch is that the split escapement makes the balance wheel look as if it was operating on its own. A real site to be seen.
In 2020, MB&F also did a collaboration with Eddy Jaquet, an extremely skilled engraver and artists to create 8 piece unique LM Split Escapements with dials depicting the famous novels by Jules Verne. Our coverage of these piece unique’s can be found here.
The LM Split escapement came in various case metals and dial colours. It came in 18k white gold with a yellow gold frosted dial that was limited to 18 pieces; an 18k white gold with a ruthenium frosted dial limited to 18 pieces, 18k white gold with a red gold frosted dial limited to 18 pieces, 18k white gold with a blue frosted dial that was limited to 18 pieces and a grade 5 titanium piece with a green CVD-treated dial that was limited to 33 pieces.
Legacy Machine FlyingT (LM FlyingT)
Following the incredible creation that is the split escapement, MB&F released their first ladies watch in 2019. This piece was a project that Max undertook where he wanted to make a watch for the women in his life who had the largest impact - his mother, wife and daughter. This was also the first LM where we saw a different dial layout that displayed the time a bit differently. The difference? About 50 degrees exactly.
In the LMX Launch live stream that Max hosted, he described this project as the one where his team had to deal with a ton of changes. Max wanted to create a watch that was essentially a love letter to the women in his life - but how does one do that? To take something from the idea or concept phase to a finished design is extremely hard to do. So after many different attempts, they finally found one that would go on to be the FlyingT.
The FlyingT certainly is unlike any other watch in the LM line. The most noticeable part of the FlyingT is the huge flying tourbillon in the center of the dial. The tourbillon sits very tall on the dial and has an incredible vertical architecture to it. The 60-second tourbillon was developed in-house by MB&F and is the first automatic winding LM that MB&F produced. The tourbillon also has a diamond that sits subtly at the top of the tourbillon case. Moving to the dial of the watch, the hours and minutes porcelain white dial almost looks like it is resting on the tourbillon movement as it is tiled at a 50 degree incline, making it very easy to read for the wearer. The dial also has serpent-like hours and minutes hands which is the first time these types of hands were used on an LM. When you flip the watch over, you see this beautiful sun like winding rotor.
One of the other key features of the FlyingT is the case materials used. There were a couple of different versions of the FlyingT, each with their own case material designs. There is an 18k white gold version, with a diamond-set case with lapis lazuli dial plate and hours/minutes dial which comes on a green strap. Another is in 18k red gold with a black guilloche dial plate and white hours/minutes dial that was limited to 18 pieces. A 950 platinum cased FlyingT was also made with a blue guilloche dial plate and white hours/minutes that was also limited to 18 pieces. An 18k white gold and diamond-set case was also produced with a black lacquer dial plate which has a ton of depth to the dial. MB&F also produced FlyingT’s with dials on the dial plate and the case. One was in 18k white gold with pavee diamonds on the dial plate and a black hours/minutes dial. The other was an 18k white gold case with a dial plate fully set with baguette diamonds and a white hours/minutes dial.
The reception for this watch was really great. Max recalled that the first day of the launch, one of MB&F’s retailer partners sold 11 pieces, when they had originally only purchased 2 or 3! The retailer partner explained to Max that from their perspective, women do not want tall, complicated watches. Well, clearly there was something different about the FlyingT. The FlyingT was awarded the Prix de la Complication pour Dame at the 2019 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
Our coverage of the FlyingT can be found here.
Legacy Machine Thunderdome (Thunderdome)
In 2019, MB&F comes out with the Thunderdome that continues the iterations that were made to the original Legacy Machine design. In a video MB&F created to describe the story of the Thunderdome, Max describes this piece as one of the most important projects of MB&F. This project does an incredible job of paying tribute to the legacy of the watchmakers before us, but also honouring the legacy of two incredible watchmakers around today. Oh, and it breaks a record as well so I guess it stamped the legacy of MB&F as well.
The Thunderdome was an MB&F project with Eric Coudray and Kari Voutilainen who are some of the brightest minds in watchmaking today. In the early 1990’s when Max worked for Jaeger LeCoultre, he met Eric Coudray who was working in the prototyping department who he got along with. They agreed to do something together in the future. Kari Voutilainen has obviously got an incredible relationship with MB&F and was a natural choice.
So when brainstorming what to come up with, Max gave Eric two ‘constraints’ - he was to create whatever he wanted, no matter how crazy or difficult, and that it could take up a large amount of space. This is one of the reasons for the huge domed case we see in the Thunderdome. These two watchmakers create the worlds fastest triple-axis regulating mechanism. The 3 axes rotate at different speeds and on different plans and rotate at 8 seconds, 12 seconds and 20 seconds. The result is this incredibly fast moving part that is held up by the Eiffel tower inspired bridge above the dial. In order to accomplish such speeds, a Potter escapement was used. The three mainspring barrel movement for this piece was created by Eric Coudray and smashed the record for size and speed of the regulating system. The Thunderdome has the typical white porcelain dial that is on many Legacy Machines. The dial does not lay flat like the first few LM’s, but instead is tilted up where 6 o’clock typically is at a 58 degree angle, similarly the the FlyingT. With two watches featuring the tilted dial, it seems that this is a design element of the LM’s going forward. The blued hands of the dial also go extremely well with he guilloché dial plate, but we’ll get to that next.
Kari Voutilainen then took this incredibly innovative movement and finished it to perfect. The dial base plate is hand guillochéd using Kari’s tradition workshop tools. If you want to know about perfect finishing, the Thunderdome really is just that. More subtly, Kari also finished the ratchet wheels on the back of the movement with his own proprietary finishing which gives the ratchet wheels a serpentine shimmer at different light showing a sigmoid wave pattern. On a more personal note, you really have to see this piece in person or in video to appreciate the tremendous speed and finishing of this piece. It truly is a whirlwind.
The Thunderdome has a couple of variations. The first is a 950 platinum piece with a light blue guilloché dial that was limited to 33 pieces. A tantalum version was also created with a dark blue guilloché dial that was limited to 5 pieces and was in collaboration with The Hour Glass. MB&F also did a tantalum version with a aventurine dial that was limited to 5 pieces in collaboration with The Hour Glass.
Our coverage of the Thunderdome can be found here.
Legacy Machine X (LMX)
And so finally, in 2021 after 10 incredible years of the Legacy Machine line of watches, MB&F releases the LMX to celebrate this incredible accomplishment. What better way to celebrate the accomplishments of the Legacy Machines than to go back to the root of all LM’s and create something new.
The LMX is described by Max as the LM1 on steroids. The watch has similar base design ideas with having two independent time zone dials, a power reserve indicator and a flying balance wheel above the dial. THe execution of these ideas though are an entirely new thing. MB&F created a completely new movement, as they always do with any new watch they release. They increased the power reserve massively by having three mainspring barrels to achieve a 7 day power reserve. The construction and finishing differ heavily between the LM1 and LMX, in colour and layout which really makes the LMX its own thing. The watch continues the 3D appeal of the hours/minutes dials by tilting them at 50 degrees towards the front of the movement.
One of the things Max wanted was to be able to see more of the movement on the dial side of the watch. So to do this, the escapement is located towards the front, in between the two dials so it is more visible to the eye. There are also two wheels located on the dial side of the watch that are the minute wheels of the two time zone dials which connect the wearer to the mechanical movement just a bit more. An important part of the watch also is the power reserve indicator which is on the back of the dial side of the watch. The watch has a unique hemispherical power reserve indicator that can be rotated to display the weekday or 7-day indication. This is the first ever rotating power reserve indicator to be developed.
The LMX was released in two versions - the first was in grade 5 titanium with a green dial that was limited to 33 pieces. The other was in 18k red gold with a ruthenium dial that was limited to 18 pieces. We checked to see if anyone of them were available a couple of days after the release, and that ‘waitlist’ button stared back at us… go figure.
Our coverage of the LMX can be found here.
Final Thoughts
It is pretty incredible to look back on ten years of Legacy Machines created by MB&F. Along the way there was so much innovation in the watches that were created without losing the beauty that so many watch lovers find in the mechanics and finishing of watches. All MB&F watches catch ones eye when one sees them, but the legacy machine pulls on some sort of romance we have with what appears to be classical watchmaking. The point of Legacy Machines was to pay tribute to the watchmakers that came before us and by creating these machines, their legacy will never be forgotten. What will also not be forgotten is the legacy of MB&F and the watchmakers they worked with to create the 8 calibers we now have. But what is most exciting about the Legacy Machines is that these watches have created a foundation of more to come. If Max has anything to do with it, who knows what we will see next.
Enjoy!
