Text by Kien M. Lee | Photos from MB&F on Instagram

In 2011, MB&F unveiled the Legacy Machine N°1 (LM1) a symbolized tribute to the great innovators of traditional watchmaking and above all, an authentic three-dimensional MB&F Machine. The timepiece went on to win both the Best Men’s Watch Prize and the Public Prize at the 2012 Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve.

In 2013, the watch manufacture launched the Legacy Machine N°2 (LM2) a showcase of magnificent micro-engineering, deploying high precision and complex mechanical complication in one movement, using two fully independent escapements, and two balance wheels floated high above the dial. The pièce de résistance of this marvellous creation is a planetary differential which powers the regulators in the escapements, receives the timing rates from each individual balance wheel, and finally transmits the average rate to a single gear train to display the time on the dial, encased under a domed sapphire crystal cupola.

The highly-successful LM1 had found inspiration from 100 years ago, and for the LM2, the horological genius of MB&F went 250 years back to the age of Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807), Antide Janvier (1751-1835) and Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) in the 18th century, when the three horological grand masters first worked with dual balance wheels within a timepiece.

In 2014, MB&F extends upon the Legacy line, producing the newest iteration, the Legacy Machine 101 (LM101), capturing the very essence of the watch collection in a classically-sized 40mm case, with one pristine-white subdial accentuated by strikingly-blue hands for the time and another for the 45-hour power reserve indicator.

On the centerstage is its unique flying balance wheel, essentially the heart of the wristwatch as it maintains precision, regulates power usage, and tells the time.

Like its Legacy Machine predecessors, a domed sapphire crystal cupola protects the fine sunray-engraved movement top plate, creating the illusion that the eye is directly viewing the mechanism without impediment, as if the hand could touch the pulsating movement.

Both drawing upon the finest in watchmaking craftsmanship and traditions, MB&F's Horological Machines are derived from an imagined future, whereas the Legacy Machines are inspired by a re-imagined past.

For the first time in its collections, the LM101 showcases the very first hand-finished movement conceived, designed and developed entirely in-house by MB&F.

Observing from the back of the timepiece, the Geneva waves, hand polished bevels, gold chatons and countersunk blued screws along with the curved plates and bridges, pay homage to the heritage and technical supremacy of pocketwatches of a bygone era, over a hundred years ago.

Founder Max Busser and designer Eric Giroud took the lead in the overall design of the LM101, whilst award-winning independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen was enlisted to contribute to the aesthetics of the movement, including the styling of the bridges and definition of the finishing.

With the LM101, MB&F has truly raised its game and in no uncertain terms, taken the quantum leap.

LM101 is crafted in an 18k red or 18k white gold case with only 30 pieces of each manufactured per year, priced at S$85,200 and available at select The Hour Glass locations in Singapore.