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Dear Friends, Happy New Year! The entire MB&F team wishes you a joyful, healthy and creative 2015. Last year was already incredibly busy for us, but guess what – 2015 will be even more intense. Maybe because this is our 10th Anniversary year (yup, already!), we have something like 17 launches planned over the next 12 months - a nice steady flow of MB&F and M.A.D.Gallery novelties that will keep us busy. So stay tuned! 
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What's the ultimate colour for a sports car? Sure, red looks fantastic on a Ferrari, there’s something irresistible about an orange or green Miura from the 1970s, and a true Jaguar should be racing green… But black always looks great – there’s something utterly cool and sleek about it, and it never goes out of style. So I guess black was a natural next step for our supercar-inspired HM5, nicknamed ‘On the Road Again’. For this specific timepiece however, because the HM5 case features a lot of exposed surfaces and bold angles, we wanted to avoid the usual PVD treatment which covers most black watches on the market today. Those PVD treatments are in fact a thin black coating, applied over a metallic case… and when you scratch that coating, the material below appears in a rather unsightly way. |
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We therefore searched for a material that was not just black on the surface, but black throughout. We also wanted light weight, high density, strength and hardness. Even more importantly, it needed to be compatible with the various finishings we apply to our Machines – brushed, polished, satin-finish... The problem was, that material didn’t exist. So we decided to develop it. That’s where a new Friend comes in. Together with a very innovative developer of polymers, Injector SA, we came up with ‘CarbonMacrolon’. The second half of that name comes from Makrolon®, a revolutionary polymer invented in 1963 by Bayer – and used in certain watches from the 1970s. But we added carbon nanotubes… and those tubes are what make this material much tougher and harder – comparable to stainless steel – and allow us to apply those finishes we cherish. The result is a much harder, robust, richer-looking case. It’s not boring matte black, but emits a range of black hues by capturing and reflecting light in various ways, much like the bodywork of a beautiful sports car. |
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This new edition retains the features which have made HM5 a success : an automatic movement combining mechanical and optical engineering, with the time displayed vertically thanks to a sapphire-crystal optical grade prism ; a dual-case construction comprising external bodywork plus an internal water-resistant compartment ; and the famous « light convector » flaps. These allow you to increase the amount of light flowing into the case, to charge the Super-LumiNova on the jumping hour and minute discs. |
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By the way, this CarbonMacrolon limited edition (66 pieces) is in fact the Final Edition of the HM5 series, which first hit the road in 2012 with the original Zirconium variant, followed by the ‘RT’ (Red gold and Titanium) edition in 2013. You may wonder why we’re stopping a successful Machine? Simply because creativity is what drives us at MB&F – and we therefore always put our Machines to rest after a few years, to concentrate our forces and resources on creating the next ones ! |
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I usually leave it to my colleague Juliette to tell you about our M.A.D.Gallery artists in her newsletters (by the way, don’t hesitate to register if you’re not already signed up). But since we’re talking of sports cars, and because I love this new series so much, I can’t resist mentioning the latest photo exhibition on show at our gallery in Geneva. If like me, as a child you were convinced we’d be driving around in flying cars by the year 2000, then ‘Air Drive’ will definitely make you smile. French photographer Renaud Marion has made that childhood dream of flying cars a reality… But rather than featuring the usual fictional, high-tech vehicles you would expect, he’s added a retro-futuristic twist : Marion has put some of the most iconic vintage automobiles in levitation mode. A Porsche 356, some of the most legendary Mercedes and Jaguars, an Aston Martin DB5, a Chevy and Lincoln… Please do come and have a look if you’re in Geneva, or check them out online on the M.A.D.Gallery website. |
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We kick off the year in a few days with one of the most important annual watch fairs : the so-called “Geneva Wonder Week”. From this Saturday, January 17th to Friday, January 23rd included, our team will be meeting retailers, journalists, collectors and other watch professionals from around the planet. At MB&F we’ll be giving a sneak preview of our next launch, due end of February, but also launching an amazing new clock created with one of our most talented M.A.D.Gallery artists : Frank Buchwald from Berlin, the creator of the stunning ‘Machine Lights’. The clock itself is extraordinary, and the story behind it is even better – a bit like a James Bond movie… If you feel you need an appointment, don’t hesitate to contact us fast. The agenda is practically full but we’ll make sure we find some time for you ! |
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We haven’t had much snow in Switzerland so far this year, but our latest Parallel World article focuses on amazing macro-photography of snowflakes – and the surprisingly-low tech equipment used by photographer Alexey Kljatov in Moscow. Believe it or not, these beautiful images are shot with a compact Canon Powershot camera, using its standard built-in lens – combined with a reversed Helios lens from an old Zenit camera dating back to the Soviet era. The two lenses are held together thanks to a wooden board and a plastic bag! Discover these surreal images on our weekly blog, A Parallel World. |
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That’s all for now… As mentioned you can expect a healthy number of introductions this year, so the frequency of our newsletters will certainly increase a little. If you feel we’re putting too much pressure on your inbox please do let us know – we’re always open to constructive criticism and certainly don’t want to overload you :) |
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