In the landscape of independent brands, MB&F—for Max Büsser & Friends—has occupied a very particular niche for the last five years. More than any other watchmaking start-up (a term that Max Büsser will immediately refute), MB&F is setting out on an original path that seeks to give mechanical watchmaking a radically new stylistic dimension.
How could we define it more precisely? From one model to another, each is different and yet each is immediately recognizable from the touch of a certain creative hand. Between the first Horological Machine (the HM1 in the shape of a large eight) and more recently the HM4 Thunderbolt (that takes the form of a stealth bomber), while passing by the HM2 (a large sapphire table) and the HM3 (with its two protuberances that are transformed into the eyes of a frog in the HM3 Frog version) or the jewellery delight of the recent Jwlrymachine created with Boucheron, the forms, functions, appearance and the feeling that emanate from each of these timepieces are each quite particular.
The great strength of these Horological Machines (developed by Max Büsser who, as we recall is the creator of the concept for the Opus series for the Harry Winston Rare Timepieces, which he directed for seven years) is that they totally escape from the contingencies of the dominant trends by proposing ‘bachelor machines’ that are stylistically autonomous, freed from the confines of current aesthetics— a little like something made by a single artist. The art practiced by Max Büsser, however, is more like that of an orchestra leader.
The other remarkable particularity of Büsser’s global concept is to have excluded, from the beginning, all vague desires for verticalization or for becoming a manufacture. Rather, he chose to work in total transparency with only a large circle of ‘Friends’. These Friends are external creative collaborators and include, among others, the designer Eric Giroud (the loyal first violin) as well as high-level suppliers such as Agenhor and Les Artisans Horlogers, which are the subjects of portraits in the article, Master Mechanics, in this issue. This is another way of demonstrating that he is the ‘son’ of no man but the friend of many—a form of declaration of independence and of difference that is inscribed even in the name of the brand itself.