Max Busser came to fame as the man who brought Harry Winston brand to the forefront of Horological technology with stunning peices such as the annually released Opus series, which collaborates with a different independant watchmaker each year.
After launching his own brand in 2006, MB&F (Max Busser & Friends), and following the same pattern of a single model each year he has now entered his third year and consequently, third model. The latest model is simply called the HM3: Horological Machine No. 3, and will be out shortly… Just to remind you guys how great beautiful his work is.. here are the Horological Machine No. 1 and No. 2:
Each watch is a limited edition of 30 pieces made per year, for a period of 3 years for a total of 90 peices. Movements alternate between In-House and modified Base movements each year and sell in $100K+ range. Now tell me… how cool would it be to be the only kid on your block with one of these sweet horological machines?
Can’t wait to see the HM3 when it comes out later this year 😀
With Baselworld and SIHH (Salon International de la Haute Horologerie) coming up all the watch houses and getting their new models up to show. Baselworld takes place April 3-10 and SIHH takes place on April 7-12. The WPHH (World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie) created by Franck Muller Watchland I do not know when that is, as I can’t find a date.
There are just too many new models to highlight, but some of the ones that really appeal to me:
Porsche Design Eterna World Timer:
Concord Tourbillon Gravity:
The style seems to be based on the Concord C1’s that came out last year and look really fantastic:
The Concord C1 Big Date Automatic is really cool. With the introduction of the bracelet for the C1 series, I am now likely to buy one when I get a chance to try one out. I had tried on the Rubber bracelet on the Concord C1 Chronograph, but As much as I love the watch, I can’t see myself putting on Rubber… the Bracelets haven’t been rolling out to stores very much as I could tell.. but once they do I will really consider buying one!
Another Zenith Tourbillon…
This one is a Zenith Defy Extreme Stealth Tourbillion:
Of course.. I likely can’t afford the nicest of these watches.. but if I could… i’d own ’em all. The Porsche Design from Eterna is reminiscent of the newer Eterna Kon-Tiki that came out not too long ago… a good direction for the typically curvy brand.
With the booming Swiss Watch industry there have been certain brands that are doing extremely well, among them, IWC is showing a very large increase in sales over the last few years according to the Richemont Group.
IWC has always been a player in the high end and midrange with their more affordable Aquatimer series of watches, which use modified ETA movements as well as their grand complications and tourbillons. IWC’s current lineup consists of: Portofino, Aquatimer, Ingenieur, Portuguese, Da Vinci and their Grand Complications. They also differ from much of the competition in that they only produce mens watches. There are one of very few watch companies that make that claim, whether or not it really is significant.
IWC Aquatimer Chrono
My passion for IWC first started with the new Aquatimer, and then the Ingenieur really caught my eye. I was also a sucker for the beautiful gentlemanly look of the IWC Portuguese Chronograph, and really would love to have one of the 8 day models with the display back showing the beautiful Pellaton rotor system.
IWC Ingenieur
When I found out that IWC was going to introduce a new Ingenieur in 2005 with a new 8000 series manufacture movement, I was quite happy. This meant that IWC would have a reasonably priced manufacture movement model. Unfortunately, the Ingenieur Chronograph did not also receive the same treatment and still uses a modified ETA/Valjoux 7750. Perhaps they will make a Chronograph version of the Ingenieur with an in-house movement soon. The good news is that this makes the current Chrono almost the same price as the standard model.
IWC has also expanded the Ingenieur series as I had mentioned in my other blog post on the Ingenieur. Hopefully they will follow suit with the rest of their watches and start introducing some in the 44-45mm size. I’d love to see a 44mm affordable Portuguese.
The new Da Vinci Chronograph with it’s unique Tonneau shaped case is definitely a beautiful piece for the more well-endowed WIS.
Whichever IWC you choose, they all have much to offer and the company is definitely moving forward quickly and picking up a lot of momentum in the process. My Favourites are the IWC Ingenieur, and Portuguese which I have just added to the collection. Look for a review soon.
Here’s one of my many videos, one that’s a Promo Video for the IWC Caliber 5000 movement:
Urwerk has been around for a while now, and their Urwerk 201 Model with the UR 7.01 Calibre movement is an extremely recognizable watch in WIS circles. The unique way in which it tells the time is only one of the things that makes Felix Baumgartner’s creation unique.
Felix started the company around 10 years ago and in the last few years it has taken off. The small manufacture only makes around 200 watches a year, and one of the most creative and useful features of the watch is on the caseback: The ability to regulate your own watch!
I personally would love to see this feature on other watches, because it could be really useful. At the same time I understand how that kind of thing would be confusing to the casual watch wearer so it may not be a good feature on say a Rolex, Breitling or Omega, but I would love to see it on an affordable and attainable watch (for a man of my modest reach).
Not only does it give you the ability to regulate your own watch without opening the case back, but it also has an “oil change†indicator which lets you know when you need to service the watch next, along with an age indicator telling you how long the watch has been running. Hopefully this type of technology ends up trickling down to watches in the sub-$10,000 range so more of us can afford it!
