MB&F

Introduced in 2015, the MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual represents one of the manufacture’s most important technical achievements. Developed with independent watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, its perpetual calendar was conceived entirely from the ground up. Rather than assuming a 31 day month and mechanically skipping unnecessary dates, its ingenious “mechanical processor” takes 28 days as its starting point and adds the required additional days. The innovation was recognised with the Calendar Watch Prize at the 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

The complexity of the mechanism is placed spectacularly on display. Within the 44 mm pink gold case, white lacquered subdials appear to float above the exposed movement, displaying the time, date, day and month, together with a retrograde leap year indication and power reserve. Above them, MB&F’s enormous 14 mm balance wheel appears suspended in mid air beneath its polished bridge, transforming the perpetual calendar into a piece of three dimensional mechanical architecture.

At its heart is a fully integrated manually wound calibre conceived specifically for the Legacy Machine Perpetual. The calendar is therefore not a module added to an existing movement, but an integral part of its architecture, allowing McDonnell to rethink both the mechanics and the display of one of watchmaking’s most traditional complications.

Individually numbered 03 of just 25 pieces and accompanied by its full set of accessories, the present pink gold example beautifully combines the theatrical imagination of MB&F with serious mechanical innovation, reinterpreting traditional haute horlogerie in an entirely contemporary language.