Cool Hunting

The new company Max Büsser & Friends is really more of a commune for wayward horological geniuses.

The first watch from the brand, the HM1 or more specifically, Horological Machine #1 was conceptualized by Büsser, designed by Eric Giroud, a former architect and built by movement engineers Laurent Besse and Peter Speake-Marin. The known and unknown talent will be assembled and rotated from machine to machine where everyone involved is given credit for their hand in the project.

Like a horological Malcolm Mclaren, Büsser has matched some of the most unique talent to create timepieces unlike anything ever seen before. (It's Büsser who I believe is responsible for leading this new age of independent watchmaking, mostly due to his previous time-bending series of Opus watches for Harry Winston Rare Timepieces.)

With the HM1, MBandF has reinvented the traditional flat hands-on-dial timepiece by creating a multi-layered three-dimensional time "machine." Timing has been deconstructed by separating the hours from minutes into two overlapping dials, much like a splitting egg. But Büsser's "Friends" are close to splitting atoms with the level of technical intricacy. The dials feature transverse mounted floating sapphire subdials connected by a raised central flying central tourbillon and four massive mainspring barrels fueling a seven-day power reserve. The two beryllium gear trains run in parallel to reduce torque of each mainspring, improving synchronization between them. The entire watch caliber is built from scratch.

Only 30 HM1s will be built per year, limited to a total of 100 models ever made and prices exceeding $100,000. According to Büsser himself, upcoming Horological Machines will pass the baton further with each lap. The next Machine is slated for an October release—be sure to check here for any advance looks and go here for more images of the HM1.