MB&F unveils the Legacy Machine FlyingT Onyx edition
The first ever MB&F Machine inspired by women, now in an18K yellow gold case and featuring an onyx dial plate,
“The last thing I wanted to do was to take a masculine timepiece, resize it, put a different colour on it and call it a ladies’ watch.” Maximilian Büsser, Founder and Creative Director – MB&F.
MB&F – short for Maximilian Büsser & Friends – has recently unveiled the Legacy Machine (LM) FlyingT Onyx edition. Onyx is a deep black gemstone, and this version features an Onyx dial plate in an 18K yellow gold case.
MB&F
MB&F was founded by Maximilian (Max) Büsser in 2005. With a resume that includes a career at Jaeger-LeCoultre (JLC) and Managing Director at Harry Winston Timepieces, Max resigned from the latter to found Maximilian Büsser & Friends or MB&F.
MB&F’s “resolutely unconventional” Horological Machines (HM) and “historically inspired” Legacy Machines (LM) took the horological world by storm. Categories such as Performance Art and Co-creations came later. In an industry that was (and still is) shrouded in secrecy, Max brought in transparency, hence the “Friends” in the name. Every individual or company – be it an artist, watchmaker, designer, manufacturer, and supplier in the horological ecosystem (for example case, hands, sapphire crystal, components, straps, buckle, presentation box, sales, photography) – who work on an MB&F creation are given credit for that creation.
Inspiration and Design
“I wanted LM FlyingT to reflect the personality and qualities of the women of my family, particularly my mother. It had to combine supreme elegance with tremendous vitality. The column-like structure of the flying tourbillon was very important to me as I felt very strongly that women form the pillar of humanity. At the same time, there is another layer of meaning coming in from the sun-shaped rotor, which incorporates the element of life-giving, a source of sustenance which we gravitate towards and around.” Max Büsser.
First launched in 2019, the Onyx edition joins the LM FlyingT family, which includes editions in Baguette diamonds, Pavée diamonds, Guilloché dial plates (no diamonds), and Black Lacquer, Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Tiger Eye, Cœur de Rubis – all with diamonds.
Reputed watch designer Eric Giroud, owner of Through the Looking Glass, is responsible for the LM FlyingT product design. He is among the “Friends” of MB&F, having collaborated with them on other projects.
Design Features and Functions
– The LM FlyingT Onyx edition has a round case crafted in 18K yellow gold, which features a “steeply cambered bezel and slender, elongated lugs.”
– Its sapphire crystal is a high convex dome and attached to the bezel.
– Its dial plate is crafted from onyx, a deep black gemstone.
– Its engine – “a cinematic flying tourbillon” – rises like a column above the dial plate through an “asymmetric ventricular opening.” It stops short of the highest point of the convex dome. A gold-plated brass border divides the onyx dial plate with the opening.
– A smaller dial, featuring an onyx plate encircled with a gold-plated brass border, and serpentine design hours and minute hands, is present at 7 o’clock, and tilted at an incline of 50°. Both the hands are crafted in 18K yellow gold.
– The position and tilt of the smaller dial is done intentionally, “so that the time can be read only by the wearer, an intimate communication that highlights the personal nature of LM FlyingT.”
– The crown on the right side of the case at 3 o’clock is for time-setting, and on the left of the case at 9 o’clock for and winding the engine.
Engine
“In a departure from most modern watch movements, which take a radial and co-planar approach to movement construction, the LM FlyingT engine utilizes a vertical and co-axial approach. The cinematic flying tourbillon, which boldly projects beyond the dial-plate of LM FlyingT, is a visually stunning example of the rotating escapement and stands in stark contrast to other flying tourbillons, which usually do not venture past the confines of their surrounding watch dials.”
The LM FlyingT Onyx edition is powered by an automatic winding engine or calibre that features a “three-dimensional vertical architecture” and imagined and developed in-house by MB&F. It features a 60-second flying tourbillon. A single large diamond, attached to the top of the tourbillon cage, rotates together with the flying tourbillon.
It comprises of 280 components, has 30 jewels, beats at a frequency of 18,000 vph or 2.5 Hz, and has a power reserve of 100 hours or about 4 days.
Its automatic winding rotor crafted in 22K red gold, resembling a “three-dimensional red gold sun with sculpted rays”, is visible on the caseback.
Case, Strap and Buckle
The LM FlyingT Onyx edition’s case is crafted in 18K yellow gold. Its dimensions are 38.5 mm * 20 mm. It comprises of 17 components and is water resistant up to 3 ATM / 30 metres / 90 feet.
On the dial side, it features a high convex domed sapphire crystal that has anti-reflective coating on both sides. On the caseback side, there is a sapphire crystal.
It comes with a black alligator leather strap with an 18k yellow gold pin buckle.
Concluding Thoughts
Calling the LM FlyingT Onyx edition a gorgeous timepiece is an understatement. Its FlyingT design, clothed in an 18k yellow gold case with deep black onyx dial plates, makes it unlike any other timepiece in the world. It is bold, unconventional, and a fabulous addition for any female or male collector who appreciates the confluence of art and horology.
Not everyone will be bold or brave enough to wear it, but if you appreciate great art, design, and horology, and are fortunate to be able to afford it, grab it. It is a concoction of Art, Horology, UFO, Museum Exhibit, Heirloom, Visual Spectacle, and few others I am sure I have missed. If this were a multiple-choice test, all would be correct answers. The Onyx edition once again proves that Max and his “Friends” are among the greatest artists of our times.
Availability and Pricing
Name: Legacy Machine Flying T
Price: Swiss Franc (CHF): 123,000
MB&F will craft 6 pieces this year.
Website: www.mbandf.com/en/machines/legacy-machines/lmflyingt
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