MB&F Legacy Machine No. 1 Silberstein

MB&F has made its outsized imprint on current independent watchmaking energized by the singular artistic vision of its founder Maximilian Busser and his ability to enthuse and inspire talented individuals, his Friends, who inform that vision. But well before Busser founded his eponymous firm eleven years ago, another independent designer, Frenchman Alain Silberstein, was creating timepieces that betrayed his own unique style with create quirky, colorful timepieces with angular shapes, squiggly hands, bright colors and a defiance of classical dial or case design.

When the two independent watch designers collaborated for the first time in 2009, the resulting MB&F HM2.2 Black Box Performance Art piece combined Silberstein’s color and geometry with Busser’s Avant Garde HM2 rectangular case to create a limited run of timepieces Silberstein said reminded him of miniature box cameras of the 1940s.

Today Silberstein and Busser announce a second MB&F Performance Art collaboration, the MB&F Legacy Machine No. 1 Silberstein, that again melds the creative visions of these two designers. The new piece adds Silberstein’s trademark red, blue and yellow accents to the retro-futuristic MB&F LM1, with its large balance languorously rotating high above dual-time dials and a vertical power reserve indicator.

Those familiar with Silberstein watches replica may recall that they are known for his signature use of three bright primary colors, red, blue, and yellow, as well as simple shapes like the triangle, square or rectangle, circle and often a three-dimensional shape such as a pyramid, cube or sphere. Silberstein delightfully weaves these elements onto the dial and strap of this new gold, titanium or blackened titanium LM1 case. Here the LM1’s unusual dial acts as a palette for Silberstein’s colorful and angular signatures, in effect bolstering the sensation of three-dimensions on an already multi-level LM1.

Clear sapphire
A clear sapphire balance bridge clears the way for that vision, however. Three years in the making, the sapphire bridge, which replaces the original LM1’s dual polished steel bridges, allows the eye to immediately spot these colorful time indicators.

This bridge is not the first such large-scale sapphire design from Silberstein. His 1997 Kronosaphir was perhaps the first all-clear sapphire-cased high-end timepiece (it featured a skeletonized ETA Valjoux 7750 chronograph), debuting years before Richard Mille’s RM 056 in 2012 and the more recent sapphire-cased watches replica from Hublot, H. Moser, Rebellion, Bell & Ross and others.

As MB&F’s Charris Yadigaroglou explained during Baselworld, where he previewed early examples of the new LM1 Silberstein timepiece, Silberstein felt strongly that since the balance is the heart of the timepiece, nothing should break the view of the dial side balance or block what Silberstein calls “eternal time” from reaching the time indications. Silberstein also thought that as graceful as the LM1’s original dual bridges may be, they took too much visual attention from the indications.

That certainly won’t be a problem with this watch’s triangular red hour hands, straight blue minute hands and yellow quarter-hour indications. As the hour is generally the first hand typically checked on any watch dial, Silberstein made the hour hands brighter and larger than the thinner blue minute hands.

Furthermore, the dials themselves are concave, not convex as on the original LM1.

The concave subdials also symbolize Silberstein’s ethos, Yadigaroglou explains, as they welcome the “eternal time” of the universe into the movement, where it is displayed as two independent time zones. Likewise the hands are also concave to complement that inward curvature. Silberstein also added his trademark to the vertical power reserve indicator at the 6 o’clock position, which he has transformed into a playful geometric totem pole that rises and falls as the mainspring winds and unwinds

Silberstein and Busser seem to share many of the same aesthetic instincts, particularly regarding shapes and multiple-level displays. Even the watch’s two crowns feature distinctive six-pointed star shapes formed by dual overlapping triangles meant to “make winding a tactile pleasure,” Yadigaroglou adds.

Silberstein explains a bit of the working relationship for this piece in the MB&F press release: “It was a pleasure to work from such a creative timepiece as LM1 because the suspended balance and arched bridge made it feel like working on the set of a science fiction film.” A more telling hint may be seen on the case between the watch’s lugs. Engraved in French is a paraphrased quote from Gustave Flaubert: “Le vrai bonheur est d’avoir sa passion pour métier” – which translates roughly as, “Making a profession of your passion is true happiness.”

From the back of the new watch we see the same richly decorated LM1 three-dimensional, slow-beat movement developed for the original model for MB&F by Jean-Francois Mojon/Chronode and Kari Voutilainen, with its single mainspring barrel and golden coating.

The 42.5 mm MB&F LM1 Silberstein is a limited edition of twelve pieces each in red gold, titanium, or black PVD-treated titanium. Prices: $83,000 (titanium and black titanium editions); $92,000 (red gold).

SPECIFICATIONS

Movement: Developed exclusively for MB&F by Jean-Francois Mojon/ Chronode and Kari Voutilainen. Manual winding with single mainspring barrel, power reserve 45 hours, transparent sapphire crystal balance bridge, bespoke 14mm balance wheel with four traditional regulating screws floating above the movement and dials, balance frequency of 18,000bph, gold chatons with polished countersinks and superlative hand finishing throughout respecting 19th-century style.

Functions: Hours and minutes; completely independent dual time zones displayed on two dials; unique vertical power reserve indicator, crown at 8 o’clock for setting time of left dial; crown at 4 o’clock for setting time of right dial and winding.

Case: Available in red gold, grade 5 titanium or grade 5 titanium treated with black PVD

Dimensions: 42.5mm wide & 17mm high

Water resistance: 30 meters

Strap & buckle: Black hand-stitched calfskin strap with black topstitched seams with red gold case, or red topstitched seams with both titanium cases.