Decommissioning The Spaceship

With the HM6 Final Edition, MB&F has put an end to a well-loved collection just four years after its debut. Jamie Tan takes a closer look at the watch, the series and MB&F’s penchant for limited production

MB&F has unveiled the Horological Machine No. 6 (hm6) Final Edition. This is the fifth in a growing list of the brand’s timepieces – which include the hm2, hm4 and Legacy Machine No. 1 (lm1) – to have got their Final Edition models. For the uninitiated, the announcement of a Final Edition for any Horological Machine or Legacy Machine signals the beginning of the end; no further iterations of a model will be produced after its Final Edition watches are sold and delivered. In other words, once the Final Edition of a model sells out, the secondary market becomes the only place to procure any of its references.

The hm6 Final Edition is offered in a limited run of eight pieces, which brings the number of hm6 watches produced to a final total of 100.

THE LAST SPACE PIRATE SHIP

The hm6 was first introduced in 2014 as the hm6 Space Pirate in titanium or red gold. It has since undergone different iterations sporting various materials, albeit with the same movement and general design.

The watch’s case is unusual to say the least, and clearly reminiscent of a spaceship. Indeed, it draws its inspiration from the biomorphic spacecraft featured in Captain Future, a late-1970s Japanese anime series. In the hm6, a central spherical “pod” is surrounded by four smaller ones, with curved surfaces joining them together into one cohesive whole. The closest two house the hour and minute indications that are printed on hemispheres oriented perpendicular to the movement’s plane. These two displays are driven by conical gears and rotate with the passage of time. The arrangement keeps the time visible at a glance, whatever the wearer’s wrist position.