INDIE Spirit

Independent brands are in the limelight for their creativity and craftsmanship in the contemporary watchmaking scene. Here are the hottest names to know, now and again.

- TAN SIOK HOON

MB&F 

Hailed as the “world’s first-ever horological concept laboratory”, MB&F (an acronym for Maximilian Büsser & Friends) was formed in 2005 by Maximilian Büsser, whose vision of creating 3-D kinetic art by deconstructing traditional watchmaking has burned a remarkable trail in the artistic and micro-engineering realms of high watchmaking. With this commitment to designing and crafting small series of radical concept watches in collaboration with horological talents and professionals, in 2007, MB&F unveiled its first Horological Machine, HM1.

This “machine” with a sculptured, three-dimensional case, paired with an immaculately finished engine (movement), tells the time. Boosting this concept with an architectural twist, the latest MB&F Horological Machine Nº11 Architect blurs the line between the two disciplines. Residing under its double-domed sapphire roof, a central flying tourbillon sits at the core, alongside a quatrefoil-shaped upper bridge echoing the shape of clerestory windows. From this spinning crux, four symmetrical volumes extend out to create the four parabolic rooms of the house, the embodiment of HM11 Architect. Armed with a grand tally of no less than 9 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève awards, MB&F’s acclaim speaks volumes about its remarkable Horological and Legacy Machines.

URWERK