Messages: 4499 Location: New York
Registered: November 2003
Max Büsser introduces the Horological Machine no. 2
Wed, 07 November 2007 03:16
Tonight a select group of New York's secret elite collectors met with Max for dinner. Each member was carefully chosen for his or her skills. An international playboy who knows every hotel room in Las Vegas, Macau, and Monaco. An ex-Navy Seal and accomplished marksman. An Olympic Fencing gold medalist. A publishing magnate. An origami master. A world class chef. A world class eater who eats everything that chef makes. And more...
Teodora was the chosen venue for tonight and the guests started arriving promptly at 7 PM. A dark, cosy restaurant in midtown. We had a private room upstairs near the window so we could see passers by and enjoy the New York street life. But the action was entirely indoors and not many people looked out of the windows.
The top floor was empty except for a small secluded room by the window
The food was traditional northern Italian fare, with typical ingredients from the region.
When the guests arrived they had to present the password. Their sign that they belonged. The obligatory wrist-check. Trespassers were immediately taken to the back alley and dealt with. Luckily we did not have many of those.
We did not mess with this guy
Lange
Vianney Halter for Goldpfeil
Roger Smith
The best watch in the world
Chopard
URWERK TiAlN
HM1
F.P. Journe
F.P. Journe in titanium
Kobold
Rolex
Pure Mod
Jaeger-LeCoultre
When we had finished the admission formalities, we settled in. Some guests knew each other from prior events, and some drew frowns until everyone was introduced. All eyes turned to Max. We all eagerly awaited it, and Max knew this. He started off with a story to set the stage for it.
Thanks for all of you guys being here. I'm very touched... This is something that I'd like to become a tradition, so I'll try an amaze you every year with a new crazy product and we'll have a dinner in November every year if we can manage something like that. I don't want to talk... ehm... I really have a problem talking about my products, and I realize that every day.
Just an anecdote, some of you may have read it on my blog (click here for Max's Blog), the MB&F blog, which is very important for you to understand what we're doing - About five/six year ago I got interested in contemporary art because I was making a pretty decent living and like anybody in that sort of situation started looking around. And I met at the same time Eric Giroud, the designer... independent designer with whom I work with today. He's a phenomenal person, a violinist, an architect, an incredible collector of contemporary art, and a very modest person. So... I dragged him along to two/three different galleries, saying "I like this" or "I don't like that" and "what do you think of this?" and he was just not saying anything. Nothing. "umhum, umhum". So I did gather that he didn't really approve of my taste in contemporary art and at some point at the third gallery he said "look... can I take you somewhere? Can I show you something?". "Sure". So he takes me to this underground gallery, which we didn't even know existed in Geneva, and there's this exhibit of a... very uhm... how do I say it? (from the crowd: "graphic", "explicit", {laughter}) ... no, I mean, it was just somebody who must have had some pretty bad dreams before he created that art. And I told Eric it was very deep and warped. I told Eric, and I'm very ashamed of what I'm going to say, but I'm not going to put that in my sitting room! And he looked at me and he said "who gives a damn about your sitting room?" {laughter} And I said, well, what do you mean? "What you've been showing me up until now is not art... it's interior decoration... so of course you like to put it in your sitting room. Those commercial artists have created stuff because the bourgeois like to put it in their sitting rooms. So basically what I'm showing you is a guy who doesn't give a damn if you like it or not. He needs to express that. He needs to create this. He's not going to make it 5 cm larger there or a meter more there because he's going to make a thousand bucks more. He doesn't even think that way."
And that really went 'wham' in my head and I realized that maybe in my life and in a lot of what horology is about for the last many years... we are a lot of interior decorators. And we try to please the larger number, and don't take many risks. With MB&F, it's the ultimate risk for me, but it's also about creating products where I know... don't be sorry if you don't like what we do. 90% of the people, when they what we do will be either shocked, not like it, they usually will recognize that the craftsmanship it amazing, but say "I can't wear that". Now... that's fine with me. That is perfect with me. Because this is more of a life decision MB&F than a business decision. I'm lucky that we're doing very little numbers - that's why the whole model is sustainable. If we wanted to do 2000 watches a year we wouldn't exist. By doing 30 pieces a year of HM-1, 100-120 pieces of HM-2 a year, I think we're pretty well ok.
So, you've seen the movement of no. 2 here. I don't exactly know what to tell you about it, except that it's another machine. It's even much more of a machine compared to what no. 1 was. I designed it... let's say this - 15th of July of 2005 when I left Harry Winston, I had in pocket 3 watchmakers who said 'yes, I want to work with you' - Laurent Besse, Peter Speake-Marin, and Jean-Marc Wiederrecht. Jean-Marc with whom I did no. 2. I had half the capital necessary, and two designs, and that's all. Exactly two and a half years later we've delivered 22 HM-1s, we've got two working prototypes of HM-2. We believe we can deliver HM-2 in Feb/Mar next year (2008). We've got a distribution, we've got people that are happy wearing the watch - it's incredible!
No. 2 I created because I wanted to work with Jean-Marc, because for seven years I worked with him at Harry Winston. He's one of the most prolific watchmakers... at any time. He has created products and never had his name credited. He's done ........ {lots of watch gossip which can't be publicly shared, note: the guy has done *a lot*}......... His specialty is jumping hours and retrograde indicators. And why is he so good at what he does? He's developed and patented a wheel with asymmetric cut sawed off teeth which are in fact, teeth which enable him to have the gears of the wheels much closer together, because they're flexible. And therefore there is practically no backlash, which means that you can for example send an information from here to there and not lose any precision. So that's why he can do excentered movements, he can do retrograde movements, and he's developed an amazing technology. So I'll just stop there and I think the easiest is to show you the "baby". If you have any questions... {clapping}
It came out, and made its way around the table
At this stage dinner had arrived and we began enjoying our appetizers. A nice selection of tartare, piadina with meats, and a caprese.
As we ate, Max talked to guests around the table and explained the philosophy behind the watch and why he made the choices he made.
To one side, he passed the movement and a book with the press photos. To the other, the watch.
Examining the movement with the nerd light
Max and the origami master
The guests were pleased
Discussion flourished
Salad interlude to cleanse the palate
Photographs were attempted with inferior flash units
Wallets came out...
It was time to settle down once again for the main course.
Slow-cooked chicken breast in balsamic vinegar broth
Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
Crispy roasted salmon with spinach and potatoes
It was not the only watch being passed around the table. All pieces were talking points, and one in particular caught my attention, the URWERK with a special coating that makes it harder than hard. The 103.08 aka TiAlN.
We also discussed the technical aspects and merits of the Horological Machine no. 2. To spare you my misinterpretations, I will let you get the details from the MB&F press release:
Inspiration and Realization
MB&F is first and foremost about people and the key person behind Horological Machine No.2 is Jean-Marc Wiederrecht. It was 9 years ago, in Maximilian Büsser's former position as Managing Director of Harry Winston Timepieces, that Büsser first began working with Wiederrecht and found him to be imaginative, inventive and sharing in the same human values. Wiederrecht and his company Agenhor are world leaders in Retrograde and Jumping Hour mechanisms and Büsser conceived HM2's functions specifically to play to these strengths.
The case, with its flying buttresses, bolted portholes and sliding crown guard, was so complex - over 100 components go into its construction alone - that it could only be developed with an innovative modular method inspired by the Meccano sets of Maximilian Büsser's childhood. And in line with best engineering principles, this modularity also simplifies future refurbishment of the case should it ever be necessary.
Horological Machine No.2 is full of the tension caused by apparently incongruous elements co-existing side by side. There is tension between cutting-edge technology and sculptural art; tension between matte textures and mirror-polishes; tension between high-tech alloys and precious metals, and tension between traditional watchmaking and 21st century micro-engineering. Balancing all of this tension is an extremely risky endeavour, the slightest error and the complete design falls flat. However, in getting the delicate balance of tension ‘just right', MB&F have managed to bring HM2 alive.
While Horological Machine No.2 is a high-tech machine of the 21st century, the quality and hand execution of the fine finishing is a showcase of the very best in traditional craftsmanship. Light flashing off hand finished mirror-polished surfaces and immaculate bevelling brings vivacity to the rich combination of colours, materials, shapes and textures.
Technical Innovations
The principle technical challenge in developing the movement was ensuring that the jumping hour functioned both instantaneously and simultaneously when the retrograde minute flies back from 60 to 0. And not only instantaneously, but also without using excessive energy. The usual method of activating Jumping Hour indications is to store energy in the minutes before the change to power the jump; however, while this energy is being accumulated it takes power from the balance causing it to loose amplitude - an effect detrimental to time-keeping precision. Wiederrecht's solution was as brilliant as it was simple: he designed a ingenious mechanism so that when the minutes fly back, a snail on the minute mechanism hits the hour star causing the hour to jump. The hour jumps instantaneously with the minutes because it is triggered by the minutes and, as the jump is powered by the energy of the minutes flying back, it has virtually no effect on the amplitude of the balance.
The complication has another very special feature. Specific gears in HM2's movement are manufactured to extremely high precision using Mimotec's UV-LIGA technology. These gears mesh together with a virtually a no-tolerance/no-play engagement. Normally, gears interacting this tightly would bind; however, Wiederrecht's patented asymmetrical-split-tooth gear design ensures this does not occur. The high precision of this gearing enables very accurate time-setting and offers high reliability.
To maximize the efficiency of MB&F's already iconic double Hakken automatic rotor, one of the 22kt gold blades was machined down to a razor sharp edge of just 0.2mm - a dimension which pushed the very limits of micro-machining!
The innovative sliding crown guard clearly indicates its position (in or out) and facilitates access to time-setting and quick date correcting.
Architecture
The principal feature of Horological Machine No.2 is the holistic symbiosis between the three dimensional architecture of both the case and the movement. The sheer complexity of the case design necessitated a modular approach to construction. More than 100 components go into the assembly of the case alone - that is more parts than make up many complete movements! While extremely complex to fabricate, this bolted-not-welded engineering allows maximum flexibility in design and enables a rich variety of materials and finishes to be used.
Indications
Each of HM2's twin portholes allows the viewer a different perspective of time. On the right, the Jumping Hours and Concentric Retrograde Minutes reveals time up close and 'now', while the Retrograde Date and Bi-Hemisphere Moon Phase on the left dial allows the viewer to take a step back from immediacy and relax.
Technical Details
Movement
- Jean-Marc Wiederrecht/Agenhor designed functionality
- Regulated and powered by a Girard-Perregaux oscillator and gear train
- Balance oscillating at 28,800 bph
- 22 k rose gold Double Hakken automatic winding rotor
- Number of components: 349 including 44 jewels
Functions
- Left dial: Retrograde Date and Bi-Hemisphere Moon Phase
- Right Dial: Jumping Hours and Concentric Retrograde Minutes
Case
- 18k white gold/titanium or 18k red gold/titanium
- Limited edition of 125 pieces in each combination to be delivered over 3 years
- Dimensions (exclusive of crown and lugs): 59mm x 38mm x 13mm
- Water resistant to 30 meters (3 ATM)
- Number of parts: 102 (case only)
Sapphire crystals
- Dial side with anti-reflective treatment on both faces. Display back with anti-reflective treatment on single face.
Dials
- Silver and ruthenium
Strap & Buckle
- Black hand-stitched alligator with 18 carat gold and titanium custom designed deployant buckle
Presentation box
- Precision engineered aluminium and leather instrument case featuring an integrated Rüeger thermometer
Price
- USA list price is $59,000, delivery expected Q1 2008. Note: price subject to change, so just use this as a guideline. For dealers please visit the MB&F web site
However, as good as the press photos are, like all watches there is no substitute for seeing and playing with it in real life.
The different positions of the crown
The two siblings
The HM2 wears much thinner than the HM1
It
The movement, the back of the case is in titanium
Under the cuff
Similar heritage but very different execution
The press book
The moon phase and jump hour markings (seen here in blue) are applied to the crystal
The three dimensional dials
Max did not have the box with him, but he had some photos he could share on his mobile. The box is inspired by vintage HiFi equipment, and has a thermometer in front.
Guests enjoying the horological machines
HM2 movement
HM2 movement
Dessert was served. Some people thought the dish was best not shared
Parting shots in the glow of the candle light
A man with a vision
I hope you enjoyed the show and I would like to thank Max again for a great evening. Also, Max loves feedback, so please post and let him know what you think of the watch. For more information on MB&F check out their web site (click here)
- felipe