MB&F

MB&F
Company type	Private
Industry	Watchmaking
Founded	2005
Founder	Maximilian Büsser
Headquarters	Geneva, Switzerland
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Maximilian Büsser; Serge Kriknoff;
Products	Watches, Clocks
Production output	350 pieces (2022)
Number of employees	48 (2023)
Website	www.mbandf.com

MB&F (Maximilian Büsser and Friends) is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer founded by Maximilian Busser in July 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland. MB&F specializes in small series of concept-type watches.^[1]^[2] MB&F's clocks have a futuristic style, and the company has collaborated with other artists and watchmakers.^[3]

History

MB&F was founded by Maximilian Büsser in July 2005 in Geneva, Switzerland.^[4] MB&F launched its first watch, Horological Machine No.1 (HM1) in 2007.^[5] MB&F has since launched more than 10 atypical 'horological machines'.^[6] In 2011, the brand presented Legacy Machine No.1 (LM1), the first in a collection of more traditional-looking, round-cased watches. In 2012, LM1 was awarded twice at the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG): Best Men's Watch and the Public Prize.^[6]

In 2018 MB&F was granted a patent for a perpetual calendar mechanism that automatically corrects at the end of months having less than 31 days.^[7]

In 2024, 25% of the company was acquired by Chanel for an undisclosed amount. Despite the new investment, Büsser, retains the majority ownership with 60%, while Serge Kriknoff hold 15%.^[8]

Notable models

In 2010 the HM4 Thunderbolt was awarded the Best Concept and Design Watch by the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève.^[9]

In 2012 the Legacy Machine No.1 was awarded both Best Men’s Watch Prize and the Public prize at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève.^[10]

The Horological Machine No.6 (HM6) features a rounded biomorphic case, flying tourbillon under a retractable cover, and automatic winding.^[11] It displays hours and minutes on separate semi-spherical aluminum indication domes, crown to open/close a central flying tourbillon shield. It features hour and minute indications on domes, automatic winding regulated by twin turbines developed exclusively for HM6 by MB&F.^[12]

In 2015 Horological Machine No.6 received a ‘Red Dot: Best of the Best" award – the top prize at the international Red Dot Awards.^[13]

In 2015, MB&F presented Legacy Machine Perpetual featuring a new perpetual calendar architecture.^[14] LM Perpetual has a large-diameter suspended balance with traditional Breguet overcoil suspended over on the dial from twin arches with the complete perpetual calendar complication visible on full display above the movement plate.^[15] It displays hours, minutes, day, date, month, retrograde leap year and power reserve indicators. It has a fully integrated perpetual calendar developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell, featuring dial-side complication and mechanical processor system architecture with inbuilt safety mechanisms.

In 2016 Legacy Machine Perpetual won the Best Calendar Watch Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).^[16]

In 2018, Maximilian Büsser was awarded an Entrepreneurship prize by the Gaïa Prix.^[17]

In 2019 MB&F presented the brand's first ladies' watch, the LM FlyingT^[18] It features a central three-dimensional tourbillon movement, much of which is visible above the dial. The time is displayed on an inclined subdial at 7 o'clock. Hours and minutes are displayed on a 50° vertically tilted dial with two serpentine hands. Its movement is a three-dimensional vertical architecture, with automatic winding, conceived and developed in-house by Maximilian Büsser and Friends, central 60-second flying tourbillon, and 100-hour power reserve.^[18] In 2019, LM FlyingT won Best Ladies Complication at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).^[19]

In 2020, MB&F launched HM10 Bulldog,^[20] which features an unusual power reserve indication displayed by the opening and closing of the ”bulldog’s” jaws at the bottom of the watch. Under a large domed crystal, a high central balance wheel oscillates between the hour and minute indicator domes.^{[citation needed]}

In 2022, MB&F presented LM Sequential EVO, a revolutionary dual chronograph. The movement features two column-wheel chronographs and a “Twinverter” binary pusher that enables multiple timing modes, including independent timing, split-second timing, sequential lap timer, and cumulative “chess match” timing. LM Sequential EVO won the top horological prize of 2022, the GPHG “Aiguille d’Or”.^[21]

M.A.D. Gallery

Büsser created the first MB&F M.A.D. Gallery in 2011 in Geneva,^[22] Switzerland. "M.A.D." stands for Mechanical Art Devices. Büsser considers his timepieces to be kinetic art^[23] and created his own art gallery to display his sculptured Horological Machines in the context of mechanical art by other artists.^[24]

In addition to Geneva, there are now M.A.D. Galleries in Dubai^[25] and Taipei,^[26] and smaller ”MB&F Labs” in Singapore and Paris.