MB&F, Jean-Francois Mojon & Kari Voutilainen. A rare and very unusual 18k white gold dual time-zone wristwatch
Legacy Machine No.1, No.50W24834, assembled in December 2011
Estimate: £40,000 - £60,000
Auction: 22 May 2025 from 14:00 BST
Description
Manually wound 23 jewel movement with vertical power reserve and suspended balance, dual white enamel dials with Roman numerals, blued steel hands, 18k white gold circular case with domed crystal, sapphire reverse secured by screws, with 18k white gold MB&F buckle. Case, dial and movement signed MB&F, movement additionally signed by collaborators Jean-Francois Mojon & Kari Voutilainen.
Dimensions
Diameter 44mm.
Provenance
Accompanied by a futuristic MB&F presentation case and MB&F Minimilans special-edition collectable white character with head resembling the LM1 model.
Footnote
The Legacy Machine Number 1 made its debut in 2011 and remains the only model to feature the signatures of such horological nobility as MB&F, Jean-Francois Mojon & Kari Voutilainen.
Max Busser is famously creative and as you look at his watch creations prior to the Legacy Machine, you can see just how much of a step this model was. I know from personal experience as I attended the famous watch show previously held in April each year in Basel where manufacturers release their latest editions in 2011. Fate had me join my friend from New York, CEO of the popular watch website Hodinkee, Ben Clymer. Ben invited me to join him on his round of meetings and although I don’t recall who else we met with that day, our meeting with Max I recall vividly. Stepping behind the curtain, Max was all smiles as he unveiled his latest creation, the Legacy Machine No.1, what was so remarkable about our reaction was how ‘normal’ it looked, unlike his radical and daring previous generations, this was a watch you could wear. Of course, this being Max, it was like anything else on the market and used a vertical power reserve indicator that rose as it was wound, heavily domed crystal and the balance hung over the dial, for him, it was a tribute to traditional 19th century watchmaking. It was a remarkable and striking creation, and still is.