Mechanical Marvel: MB&F Unveils Legacy Machine N°2

Before we discuss the latest MB&F offering in detail, let’s go back in time for a while. In the 18th and 19th centuries, when pocket watches were the trendiest timepieces, Abraham-Louis Breguet, Ferdinand Berthoud, and Antide Janvier created two regulatory organs for better precision. Berthoud averaged two regulators while Breguet and Janvier utilised resonance for the double regulators. This technique was later used by watchmaker Philippe Dufour for the Duality timepiece, which was the world’s first watch with two regulators. 

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Maximilian Büsser, founder of MB&F, created the first ever Legacy Machine (LM) N°2 in 2013 in collaboration with watchmakers Kari Voutilainen and Jean Francois Mojon. It was limited to 18 pieces in platinum. To mark the 10th anniversary of LM2, MB&F has just unveiled a collection of 18 timepieces in new materials. 

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The watch sports an aquamarine sunray dial with tones of pale green, grey and blue. At 12 o’clock lies the white lacquer subdial that shows the blue-coloured minute and hour hands pointing to Roman numerals in a simple display — this enhances legibility. One can easily read time on the subdial. 

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The regulatory mechanisms can also be seen on the dial through the domed sapphire crystal. At 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock are the flying balances that are laid above the dial, having identical escapements with their planetary differential lying at 6 o’clock with three gears and five pinions that transfer the average rate of balances to the single gear train. 

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The model is based on Breguet’s design of averaging the rate of two balances by eliminating the effect of resonance with a calculated distance between them. The curved arms ensure that the suspended balance wheels are in place. The V-shaped arched bridges support the suspended balance wheels as they oscillate above the stretched, white-lacquered dial with Roman numerals and blued hands.

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The back of the 44 mm case clearly shows the movement with gold chatons and oversized rubies and Geneva waves travelling through the curved bridges. The watch boasts 19th-century-inspired hand finishing, polished bevels and countersinks. What’s more, it exhibits hand engravings that are visible through the sapphire caseback. 

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This timepiece offers water resistance for up to 30 metres and comes with a hand-stitched alligator strap in ​​black, blue or brown colour. It has a power reserve of 45 hours.

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