MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO
Having not so long ago reinvented one of watchmaking’s true Grandes Complications, in that inimitable style which is unique to MB&F, for its latest creation the brand has gone and pretty much reinvented its own reinvention, and dreamed the whole thing up all over again, this time in a dramatic and tough as nails new version called the Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO.
For over fifteen years now, MB&F have blazed a trail across the landscape of high end watch manufacturing with its always spectacular creations, which have become icons of contemporary avant-garde watchmaking, through their flamboyant, other worldly designs and immaculately executed horologic concepts which shimmer as they beat behind sculpted sapphire windows.
Working with the most fearless designers and intrepid independent watchmaking innovators, the kind of people who relish (or dread) the challenge of translating the unfiltered visions of Max Büsser into actual, zoetic mechanical entities, the MB&F portfolio lines up like a fleet of gleaming futuristic space transporters, lifted straight out of the pages of the most fantastical science fiction comic strip, and it’s hard sometimes to determine whether the primary objective is to steal hearts with swashbuckling swagger, while displaying time and the innovative nuances associated with it in totally unnecessary but utterly irresistible works of ticking art, or the other way around.
Whatever it is, it’s a formula that has worked out well for the charismatic visionary and his collective, and as is evident even in this most trying of years, in which his organisation has unveiled no fewer than four new time machines, either in house or in collaboration with others, one that seems to be proving robust enough to endure and indeed thrive in these uncertain times. Add into the mix a clever and inclusive commerce model which helps its retail partners by showcasing any rare or officially sold out models through the parental e-shop and MB&F do seem to have all of the obvious bases covered.
For its latest creation the company has taken a step back to revisit what is its most elaborate and complex model, and if maybe not reinventing its own reinvention of the classical perpetual calendar, the new Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO is certainly a remaster of one of the brand’s greatest hits.
Presented in a thoroughly redesigned case of hard wearing and lightweight zirconium, which comprehensively redefines the original iteration, the LMP EVO has a cool, sporty appearance, with a number of styling modifications to equip it for the great outdoors, and with added internal reinforcements too, which are hopefully resistant to whatever else 2020 might have left up its sleeve to throw at us.
Measuring 44mm across, and at 17.15mm tall, a whole .4mm slimmer than the original, the case features a sculpted recess around its waist, giving the upper and lower bezels a pronounced lip, and where previously the calendar’s settings were adjusted via small round pushers at the 2, 4, 7 and 10, on the EVO these have been updated with rectangular, chrono-style pushers, which add to the sporty presence. Externally the other immediately noticeable tweak is the rubber strap which seats snugly against the case.
As there’s really no bezel to speak of, the sapphire glass is almost edge to edge, and its pronounced domed curvature accommodates the architecture of the spectacular three dimensional mechanism, which quite literally appears to breathe beneath it. Dominated by the huge 14mm suspended balance wheel which sits centremost under the swooping curves of the wishbone-like bridge, its constant oscillations are irresistible to the eye and the first thing to catch it.
With four displays which appear to float beneath that captivating spectacle of the central balance, the layout of the dial is familiar yet somehow even more dramatic than the original Perpetual, which itself is no shrinking violet. Adopting a more edgy, cool persona, the LMP EVO might be similar, but it’s a different beast throughout. Gone are the classical nuances of grand feu enamel, blued steel hands and pointers, gold dial rims and luxuriant coloured dials, and in come black dials and indications, luminous tipped pointers, with vibrant orange and powerful blue CVD or black PVD dial plates providing the backdrop to Stephen McDonnell’s extraordinary mechanism.
The hours and minutes are prominent at the twelve o’clock position on the largest of the four black galvanic displays, and a solid round disc has slender baton indices, with luminous tipped arrowhead pointers to provide legibility in low light environs. At the three, six and nine the weekdays, months and date are displayed on rings, their numerals and lettering also treated with Super LumiNova, with the power reserve and leap year indications at the five and seven respectively.
Stephen McDonnell’s association with MB&F goes right back to the brand’s origins and the Horological Machine No.1, and he has been referred to as Max Büsser’s secret weapon; the genius inventor with the unique ability to take his client’s most flamboyant visions to reality, including the LM Spilt Escapement, which is also a feature here. Addressing all of the classical complication’s shortcomings, including reversible setting correction which does not damage the mechanism, his Perpetual Calendar is a profoundly innovative piece of mechanical ingenuity.
Unchanged in principle from the classical thinking behind the perpetual calendar complication, which sets out on the premise of a thirty-one day month, and a solution which, depending on the month and indeed year advances the date past the 31st (or in the case of February, past the 29th, 30th and 31st, except of course in the leap year), it also does not lend itself favourably to reverse corrections, or adjustments at the wrong time of day, with the risk of costly damage a potential consequence of attempting to address a simple setting overshoot, or manually interfering via the crown while the calendar was in mid-change.
The Belfast watchmaker viewed these inherent issues as being somewhat crude, clumsy, and indeed unnecessary: they were glaring problems on what was essentially an outdated approach to the calendar. In his mechanical engineering mind’s eye, McDonnell could see the solution from a different perspective entirely, and so instead of basing his creation on a fact which only applied to certain months, he set about reworking the complication based on a fact which applied to every month, regardless of length, and that was that every month had at least twenty-eight days.
The absolute beauty of this idea allowed for a blank sheet and complete rethink, although such an ambitious undertaking was not without its own problems in the development stage, such as the chaos of a little pin which did not want to behave, and which almost brought the concept to an abrupt end and the watchmaker to the brink of insanity, in the end, after a year of mental torment, a flash of inspiration led to the creation of a tiny toothed hook which would put manners on the rebellious pin, and ultimately proved to be the single factor which enabled the entire concept to function.
Comprising no fewer than 581 individual components, each of which have been beautifully finished, the hand winding movement boasts seventy-two hours of power reserve from its two barrels, and beats at a graceful 18’000 vib/hour.
As the EVO series is designed to endure a fairly active existence, between the movement and the case an annular dampener FlexRing provides an element of anti-shock protection, preventing the mechanism from harmful knocks. MB&F have produced the LMP EVO in three variants of fifteen pieces in each, with orange, or blue CVD dials presented on black rubber straps, with a black PVD dial option on white rubber.
Priced at CHF164’000 (€153’300) only a handful of pieces remain at the M.A.D. Gallery online shop at the time of publishing.
Fact File: MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO
Reference: LMP EVO
Manufacturer: MB&F
Gender: Mens/Unisex
Case: Zirconium
Case dimension: ø 44mm, H 17.5mm
Dial: Orange or blue CVD, Black PVD
Movement: MB&F manual-winding by Stephen McDonnell, 18’000 vib/h
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, month, leap year, power reserve
Power reserve: 72 hours
Caseback: Sapphire glass
Water resistance: 80m
Bracelet: Integrated stainless steel bracelet with folding clasp
Warranty: Two years manufacturer
Price: CHF164’000 (€153’300)
Also, for an absolutely unmissable, and uniquely informal but technical conversation with the maestro Stephen McDonnell, we recommend you check out this memorable episode of In The Metal when he joined Johnny and Dan Spitz.
