Ask any watchmaker to list the top ten or even top five watchmakers in history, and chances are that Abraham-Louis Breguet is on that list. Breguet’s contribution to watchmaking cannot be overstated. After all, he is the inventor of the tourbillon and he also popularized the Breguet-style numerals and hands. And this month, we have a real treat for you, as we get up close with, not one, but two pocket watches and a clock that were made by Breguet himself in the early 1800s.
Since we are on the topic of antiques, we were also introduced to a special watch safe that is made using an antique medieval safe also dating to the 1800s. Leaving the realm of the antiquities, MB&F recently released a brand new Horological Machine watch – the HM6 Space Pirate – and we were there to check out Max Büsser’s latest masterpiece. Another piece of high-end horology that we spent time with recently is Ulysses Nardin’s Freak Cruiser. Even though the Freak was introduced some thirteen years ago, its design remains fresh and exciting today.
Finally, we find out more about exciting new watch escapements that are in development. We also investigate the growing trend of complicated female watches, and also how the watch industry is engaging the traditional arts to create exciting and artistic new pieces.
1. How One Guy Made A Shockingly Good Urwerk UR-202 Watch Homage
While titanium models exist, most MB&F watches are created from precious metals, which is the case with most previous Legacy Machine 1 watches. Steel is a favorite metal by collectors for its durability and non-pretentious nature. MB&F has two kinds of products – those which are strict limited editions and those that aren’t – but still produced in limited amounts. After the MB&F LM1 was originally introduced, it had been part of their core MB&F collection, which means that the brand could ostensibly produce as many as they like without stopping production. Though, given that the brand’s production limitation of roughly 300 watches per year, there are only a lot of timepieces they have the bandwidth to create. A last Edition is a last set of watches produced by MB&F when they’re entirely ceasing production of a particular model. About six years after the original introduction of the MB&F Legacy Machine 1 watch, MB&F said they produced “about” 435 LM1 watches in complete. Including a couple of limited-edition models, along with a few non-limited versions. Therefore, the total production of all MB&F LM1 watches – even with the limited Final Edition LM1 taken into consideration – will only be approximately 450 bits total.The MB&F Legacy Machine No. 1 Final Edition will be limited to 18 bits and is, by my accounts, a very attractive watch. It’s certainly more subtle than other LM watches with eye catching blue dials or other intriguing colours. Rather, the LM1 goes out in a trendy bang using a bit intended to go with earth-tone suits and other attire.
There is a saying that goes, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” In the world of horology, we could tweak that a little, and say, “If you can afford it, make it yourself.” This is certainly true in the case of François-Paul Journe, who famously made his own tourbillon watch when he was young, since he figured that he could not afford one. Following in Journe’s footsteps (somewhat), is a young engineering student called Karel, who fell in love with the Urwerk UR-202, but found its astronomical price tag to be a major hurdle to ownership (Karel, you are not alone in this). And so he decided to do the next best thing: put his engineering skills to use, and create a Urwerk UR-202 homage. The results, as I’m sure you will agree, are pretty good.
How can I keep from writing a full on review for aBlogtoRead? To a lot of people the capability to tote around an MB&F is a dream. It symbolizes the pinnacle in indulging a luxury lover’s gadget – to wear an extremely complex, superbly made creation which is a wearable statement of one’s values and appreciation for the more avant garde nice things in life. It is a statement as much as it’s a love of art. Max Busser has resolutely captured a market section of the luxury wrist watch market, and provides no evidence of letting go.MB&F actually started as Max built the Opus watch set at Harry Winston. A ‘one mad watch annually’ notion that place Harry Winston on the map to watch lovers. Business-wise that the Opus collection was a mixed bag. The high complication timepieces were very expensive to make, and didn’t have the profit margins which quartz-based bead decorated women’s watches did. But quartz diamond watches just are not that interesting to folks like people, are they? After Harry Winston Max built MB&F and proceeded to continue his concept of the one crazy watch a year idea. The Horological Machine # 3 was the next major creation for the new, and showcased exactly what MB&F can perform. While The HM1 and HM2 were fantastic timepieces, the HM3 really saw Max bending his layout muscles. Obviously, the HM4 Thunderbolt takes that even further.All the tech specs and items like that you are going to want about the HM3 can be found here. I have no desire to write all that. This guide is about wearing the watch. Though for dimensional functions I will remind you that the opinion is large, and assembled out of 18k rose gold and titanium, or like here, in 18k white gold and titanium (titanium mainly for the caseback). The watch is all about 47mm x 50mm in size. For my small wrists, even on the smallest size, the watch strap was a bit large in fit. If you’ve got small wrists you may have to lets MB&F understand so they may make a particular, somewhat smaller strap for you.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
2. Savoy Watch Winder Safe No. 3 Mixes Modern & Vintage Parts For $825,000
If you have a watch collection worth millions, it might be wise to invest in a special watch safe, perhaps one that was designed specifically for watches and comes with built-in watch winders. It should also be a little special to match the status of your watches. If that is the kind of safe you want, the Savoy Safe No.3 is just for you. Made out of an antique safe from from the early 1800s, it is massive and immensely heavy (500kg) and also features an intricate locking system, which uses multiple keys and hidden releases.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
3. Historic Breguet No. 3519, 4111 Pocket Watches & No. 2655 Carriage Clock Hands-On
I personally wouldn’t need to utilize the HM3 (or any MB&F) Mb&f Watch Copy Replica all the time. Why? Since I want to keep the novelty powerful. Many people who have these watches consider them highlights of their collection. Their secret weapon when trying a very remarkable watch (to impress not only others, but themselves). Do you really need that to be something you over-use? Items such as this are best maintained as occasional treats to keep your taste buds crisp. If you’ve got a watch like this, I suggest keeping it about, looking at it frequently, and once in a while setting it on and showing off it. That is the best method of featuring this little mechanical thing in your life. I would happily put the cash down for an MB&F watch when I had the way. Together with the original Legacy Machine No. 1 view discontinued (the LM1 Final Edition finished the series), Swiss MB&F now presents the Legacy Machine Split Escapement, which debuts in four styles. His technical and aesthetic prowess was shown from the MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual Calendar (hands-on), and the “Split Escapement” system was really more or less developed from the movement McDonnell created for its Perpetual Calendar. For practical reasons, he had to divide the balance hair and wheel spring out of the anchor onto a lot arbor.
No list of top watchmakers in history would be complete without Abraham-Louis Breguet. Although he is most famously known as the inventor of the tourbillon, Breguet also popularized the use of Breguet-style hands and numerals, guilloche decorations and also invented the gong springs used for repeating watches. Here is a look at a clock and two pocket watches manufactured by Breguet himself that date back to the early 1800s. One of them even fetched a whopping $2.7 million at a Christie’s auction in 2012.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
4. Giuliano Mazzuoli Contagiri Watch Hands-On
Even though the case is rather large at 53.8mm broad and 21.3mm thick, the majority of the mass really sits up above your wrist, making it quite comfortable. When paying the big bucks for something such as an MB&F, you know for certain that you’re investing in both design and ergonomics – seriously.Even the action of rotating the bezel feels easy, with ensured clicks at every stop. This element of the watch feels no less well-engineered than the remainder, and that I can easily say that today that MB&F has made a rotating bezel, they did a pretty nice job. Functionally, the watch is rather straightforward, offering the hours and minutes through the rotating rings, along with the tourbillon cage or less doubles as the moments indicator. An electric blue line confronting the wearer is the place where you read the current moment. It’s really quite easy to see as soon as you get the hang of it.The nearer you look at the rotating bezel along with the rotating rings which tell the time, the more you realize all of the subtle nods to traditional diving watches – such as the Rolex Submariner, but not limited to it. The font used is exclusive to MB&F, but you can tell the numeral layout and design is thoroughly inspired by someone having spent years appreciating the look and feel of watches. Even the 60-minute index on the minute ring is an applied triangle using a lume pip, a design you’ll find on the bezels of many serious diving timepieces.MB&F pairs blue color accents together with the titanium version of the MB&F HM7 Aquapod and black accents together with all the 18k red gold model – each having a comparatively classic look given the overall state of this watch.
Giuliano Mazzuoli’s watches are heavily inspired by automobiles. The previously reviewed Transmissione Meccanica was inspired by the transmission, whereas the newer Contagiri, that we just had the chance to handle, is inspired by the tachometer. But this Mb&f Hm3 Frog Watch Price Replica isn’t just about the design, it also has a heavily modified ETA base movement that is single-handed and has a retrograde function – that means the hand jumps back when it cross 12:30. Furthermore, to ensure that it really looks as much as a tachometer as possible, Giuliano Mazzuoli has also done away with the crown. So how do you adjust the watch? This answer to this question and more are in our hands-on article.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
5. Ulysse Nardin Freak Cruiser Watch Review
The Freak from Ulysse Nardin is an icon. If this were the first time you saw it, you would probably never have guessed that the Freak actually debuted thirteen years ago, in 2001. Not only was its design unusual, it was also one of the earliest watches to use silicon in its movement. Over the years, Ulysses Nardin has improved and refined the Freak, leading to the model that you see here – the Freak Cruiser. What’s interesting about this model is that it uses silicon for the hair spring and also its dual escapements. See what else is cool about this watch in our review.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
6. MB&F HM6 Space Pirate Watch Hands-On Debut
Few watches reveal the automated rotor on the front of the watch, and not one that do, do it like the HM3. MB&F’s signature gold “battle axe” design rotor is well polish and probably the 2nd most obvious feature on the dial. So much so that it is easy to miss the date disc that goes about it. The date disk turns and can be read by means of a small indicator arrow to the instance. The sapphire crystal over the movement section isn’t merely an extremely high quality crystal (quantified by emotion), but looks almost transparent. It creates a gratifying effect. Together with of their playing around with sapphire crystals, MB&F are fast becoming serious experts on pushing the limitations on utilizing interesting sapphire crystal shapes.Winding the movement is very smooth. MB&F really enjoys twisting the movement to be as easy as could be. They actually prefer smoothness over efficacy. So they add an extra gear (at least in different versions) to create the twisting nice – although it can also decrease efficiency. That’s not much of an issue here as the HM3 motion is the automatic.So the true question for most, is how functional is it to put on a watch such as this daily? Well the really depends upon who you’re. You need to remember this is a valuable thing. Not merely are MB&F timepieces expensive luxury times, but there are not that many of these. If you damage them, servicing them isn’t cheap. So you want to make sure that you aren’t wearing them in cases where they could get ruined. That’s at least a concern for me. On the other hand, reading the timing is not that hard. It sure looks it initially, but I got used to telling time through the linear style cylinder indicators rather readily. This was especially true for the minutes. There is no darkness visibility, but in decent light you do not need to worry to hard to read the moment. Really.
A new MB&F watch is always something special and the latest HM6 Space Pirate is no different. Heavily inspired by the Captain Future anime that Max (the founder of MB&F) saw while growing up in Switzerland, the watch is, like all other MB&F creations, highly visual, unorthodox, and striking to look at. However, amongst all the HMs, the HM6 is probably the most visually exciting, thanks to the centrally mounted and raised flying tourbillon as well as the two regulating turbines. Find out more about this watch here.
Source: aBlogtoWatch
Next, our article picks from around the Web »