Dear Friends,
2010 is already in full swing and is shaping up to be a seminal year for MB&F. January began strongly with the launch of the amazing HM2-SV at our Geneva exhibition and we are busy preparing for our exhibition at Baselworld 2010 in March. In this newsletter we are very pleased to welcome Lussori as our 14th retail partner and Friend of MB&F; we introduce Horolobot, our new mascot; and our Blog - A Parallel World - features the incredible NASA Puffin.
During the Geneva Watch Fair we unveiled the incredible HM2-SV ! SV for Sapphire Vision. HM2-SV is a very limited edition of just 25 pieces, with a transparent sapphire case that allows the owner to discover the intricacies and subtleties of the hand-finished movement and the construction of the titanium case.
Honestly, when you have the piece in your hand it is simply astounding. Revealed in its naked three dimensionality, the movement looks just like a futuristic city suspended in space.
Why did we take so long to develop HM2-SV, and why only 25 pieces? Well the major difficulty lay in creating the 3.6mm thick sapphire top plate. This was a true technical achievement and only one sapphire manufacturer, Stettler in Lyss (Switzerland), was brave enough to attempt the challenge … and actually managed to do it! Each sapphire base plate takes at least 55 hours to machine and polish . . . even then, three out of four pieces break during the process! The rejects are mainly due to the drilling of the holes for the screws (near the edge) which induces tension and cracks.
The bright blue water resistance gaskets were developed specifically for the HM2-SV and match the hue of the blue disks and the 22k winding rotor on the back.
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It is our great pleasure to have Lawrence Kosick and his store, Lussori, as Friends of MB&F. Our Horological Machines are currently available at their beautiful location on the main street of Carmel, California, and soon to be at their new store opening in Los Altos, Silicon Valley. |
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Might 2010 see the Rise of the Machines? At MB&F the answer is a resounding yes! Alban Thomas from GVA Studio in Geneva surprised us with this amazing Robot created with our first three Horological Machines. He immediately became our official mascot and was named HoroloBot! You can download him (yes he is a him) in high-resolution or as a wallpaper. |
To stay up-to-date with everything happening in the world of MB&F, we invite you to join our nearly 4,000 friends and become a Fan of MB&F on Facebook and you can also follow us on Twitter.
This week our Blog A Parallel World features the incredible NASA Puffin. While the electrically powered Puffin looks like the kind of fantasy jetpacks scientists have been promising for years, NASA intends to demonstrate a 1/3rd scale Puffin within the next couple of months. It is predicted to fly up to 80kms/50 miles at speeds up to 230kms/hr140mph - or nearly 500kms/hr hitting boost mode! – and at an altitude of 10,000m/30,000'. What could possibly go wrong? That seems like a very, very long way up if the battery goes flat!
MB&F is pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at Baselworld 2010 March 18-25 with 'The Dream Factory' - a collaboration of MB&F, URWERK, Speake-Marin and Christophe Claret - at the Baselworld Palace (opposite the Ramada hotel). To arrange an appointment please contact Estelle Tonelli.
We hinted in the last newsletter that 2010 would be the most creatively exhilarating year to date. So please stay tuned as we will be unveiling one amazing project after the other.
Thank you so much for following us and till next time, all the very best,
With our warmest regards,
Maximilian Büsser
Owner & Chief Creative Officer
