Dear Friends,

In typical MB&F fashion, these past months have seen alternating releases of both Horological and Legacy Machines: a new limited edition of the aerodynamic HM8 Mark 2, followed by an impressive evolution of the LM Sequential - now including a Flyback function. In parallel, we also announced the first collaboration on our more accesible label, M.A.D.Editions. You missed some of the action? Catch up with the full stories below.
Last year we announced a new chapter of our automotive saga: the HM8 Mark 2, with launch editions in white and green. We followed up two months ago with a new Limited Edition for 2024: the HM8 Mark 2 Blue, limited to 33 pieces – with sapphire-blue body panels recalling luxurious car paints, both technically and aesthetically.
This new Mark 2’s deep, iridescent sapphire-blue is obtained from metallic pigments of mineral origin, the same as those found in metallic car paint. They come as a powder that is incorporated into the translucent resin according to a very specific (and secret) protocol involving incorporation time, mixing temperature, mixing speed and duration.
As you know, the connection between MB&F and automotive design runs deep: it goes back to my childhood, when I dreamt of becoming a car designer. I turned to watchmaking instead… but that dream has pushed me to create a series of Machines inspired by sports cars. The HM5 took cues from the legendary supercars of the 70’s - as you'll see in the video below. The HMX was our 10th Anniversary piece and just had to be car-inspired as well; and the HM8 ‘Can-Am’ paid tribute to the racing cars of the Canadian-American Racing Championship.
The HM8 Mark 2 is a “best of” from those predecessors: HM5’s supercar styling, HMX’s compact size, and HM8’s very apparent mechanics. We've combined those elements in an aerodynamic sandwich of CarbonMacrolon, grade 5 titanium and hyper-complex sapphire crystal; the result is the HM8 Mark 2, a true supercar for the wrist.
Needless to say, all of those creations were not just inspired by automotive design, they are actual drivers’ watches – featuring lateral time displays that allow you to check the time while keeping your hands firmly on the steering wheel.
Like its predecessors, the HM8 Mark 2 Blue is powered by a unique combination of mechanical and optical engineering: the automatic movement’s hour and minute discs, which lay horizontally, are optically magnified and projected 90 degrees to the vertical display thanks to high-precision prisms crafted in sapphire crystal. The video below will give you a glimpse of what the dashboard-like display looks like in action.
The LM Sequential EVO - launched in orange or black, as shown in the photo below - was conceived by the one-and-only Stephen McDonnell. It was our first-ever chronograph: a ground-breaking dual chronograph that not only fixed the inherent flaws of conventional chronograph design, but also offered a combination of timing modes that was absolutely unique. Widely recognised by professionals and collectors alike, it went on to win the most coveted prize in watchmaking, the GPHG “Aiguille d’Or” rewarding the best watch of 2022.
But this was apparently not enough for my good friend Stephen. In his mind, that unprecedented combination of timing modes – independent, split-second, lap-timer and cumulative – was not quite complete without an additional option: Flyback mode. Mission accomplished with the release of the LM Sequential Flyback Platinum, limited to 33 pieces.
If you're not familiar with flybacks, pressing the flyback button while the chronograph is running will stop the chronograph, return it to zero, and start it again, all in one go. A single press of the button rather than fumbling through three separate clicks on two different buttons.
A particularly practical function when you are dealing with successive predefined times, and you need to stop and restart the chronograph instantly – typically flight legs for aviators, for whom flybacks were originally created in the 1920s. But also, for example, if you're working out at the gym and need to time several successive exercises with predefined durations - and no pause in-between.
Stephen has not only added this extra flyback functionality to the already impressive capabilities of his Sequential calibre; he has also made sure it is executed in a perfectly efficient way, using patented jewelled rollers to ensure the flyback action runs smoothly.
In contrast to the 2022 launch editions that were executed in our sportier EVO case, this new LM Sequential Flyback Platinum adopts the more classic Legacy Machine style: domed dials in stretched white lacquer, blued hands, sky blue dial plate, platinum case with screwed lugs and a leather strap... the video below will show you how those features play with the light.
You’ll also notice that the hours and minutes dial has been tilted towards the wearer thanks to conical gears, offering more 3-dimensionality and legibility. Overall, this more classic aesthetic was how Stephen had imagined his Sequential from the beginning - as he explains in the video below, along with some of the technical challenges he had to go through.

In my previous newsletter, I reminded you how the M.A.D.Editions project started in 2021: an experimental, limited initiative to thank those who made MB&F possible. After the initial M.A.D.1 Blue 'Friends and Tribe' version, followed by the RED and GREEN editions (including a 'Lucky Clover' version for unlucky raffle participants!), we presented our first collaboration on this more accessible label: the M.A.D.1 'Time to Love', with one of my creative heroes: Jean-Charles de Castelbajac!

The M.A.D.1 Time to Love was limited to 999 pieces and is entirely sold out, but the M.A.D.Editions adventure continues: we'll be releasing an entirely new version of the M.A.D.1 towards the end of the summer. If you're interested and haven't signed up for updates on our raffles page, and you aren't following the M.A.D.Editions Instagram page, I strongly recommend you do :)

I look forward to catching up with you in person, somewhere in our network of retail partners - or at our just-refurbished M.A.D.Gallery in Geneva. By the way, will you be in our hometown at the very end of August? We'll be a part of the fast-growing but still super-relaxed Geneva Watch Days. Like previous years, during the show we'll be based at the Hotel Beau Rivage, in the middle of the action, right on the lakefront. See you there!
Very best regards,
Maximilian Büsser
Owner & Creative Director