The New MB&F Legacy Machine Split Escapement Variants Showcase Eddy Jaquet’s Masterful Engraving Expertise

A new eight-piece extension of the Legacy Machine (LM) Split Escapement series has been unveiled. For this, MB&F joined forces with Eddy Jaquet, a name to reckon with when it comes to artistic craftsmanship in the world of independent watchmaking. Inspired by the success of the Jules Verne series, the newly launched, one-of-a-kind timepieces celebrate literary classics. Each model depicts scenes from much-loved novels, such as Robinson Crusoe, The Three Musketeers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Jungle Book, The Call of the Wild, Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and Robin Hood (anonymous). All these classics have been instrumental in shaping the genre of adventure and travel literature as we know it today. 

The 44.5 mm stainless steel LM Split Escapement models are indeed unique. The new collection comes with a slimmer bezel and a crown at 2 o’clock. Every engraving is a complex tableau of sights and significant moments from the stories that are synthesised in the quintessential Jaquet style and specifically created to be interpreted with the LM SE movement.  The dial, which is actually the movement's base plate with a flat top surface, is the space allocated for engraving. Needless to say, the deep-relief engraving needed delicate artistry as achieving a uniform dial thickness with the intricate work was nearly impossible; care had to be taken to determine where the thinner areas were and prevent the artistic canvases from getting accidentally pierced. 

From the production side, several adjustments were made to the original LM Split Escapement to maximise the engraving space available and allow Jaquet to exhibit his savoir-faire to the fullest. New, black, openworked date subdials can be spotted at 7 o’clock and power-reserve subdials at 5 o’clock, along with wider dial plates on a white gold base plate. The bezel has been redesigned to be slimmer; the case dimensions have also been reworked in order to make space for the wider dial plate. Because the bezel and the case dimensions were changed, a new dial crystal had to be produced, with a less pronounced curve to the dome, since its diameter was now increased. Each timepiece is also presented with an original drawing signed by Jaquet.

Insofar as the engravings are concerned, in The Jungle Book version, Jaquet has created a scene with all the main characters, centred around Mowgli curled up in Rama’s paws and Raksha, Bagheera, Baloo, and Shere Khan keeping guard. In Treasure Island, the scene showing Jim jumping from the boat and escaping from the pirates was based on just two sentences from the novel. To develop the rest of the scene above the characters, they are mainly shown either seated or kneeling in the dial's foreground at 6 o'clock. Because some of the figures are so tiny, Jaquet had to add as much detail as he could to make them come to life. In the most detailed scene from The Three Musketeers, 10 young men are engaged in a sword duel with two small figures on the balcony.

Three tiny individuals sitting around a campfire in The Last of the Mohicans make up another impressive illustration. In Robinson Crusoe, one can find daily tally markings on a wooden cross that cannot be seen without magnification. Also, the power reserve subdial on the right reveals a telescopic view of a ship at sea. To help the owner of each watch fully understand the difficulty of translating concepts from a standard, two-dimensional piece of paper into a watch's dial in three-dimensional relief, each clock comes with the artist's original drawing. Each model has a designated push-button next to the date dial for quick adjustment of the date. At 12 o’clock is a time-viewing dial with Roman hour markers. The hour, minute hands and the subdial hands are in blue.

There is also a split escapement with the balance wheel suspended above the dial, with the anchor and the escapement wheel under the movement. Master watchmaker Stephen McDonnell created the manual-winding 72-hour-autonomous LM Split Escapement movement just for MB&F. The movement is exquisitely hand-finished in the 19th-century manner, featuring Geneva waves, polished bevels, and bevelled internal angles, just like other LM Split Escapements. The words ‘Pièce Unique’ and Eddy Jaquet's name are inscribed on each caseback. What’s more, a bespoke 14 mm balance wheel with traditional regulating screws is visible on top of the movement. The watches are finished on dark navy blue hand-stitched alligator straps, each with a stainless steel folding buckle matching the case.