For the Performance Art collection, James Thompson – aka Black Badger – has reinterpreted not just one but two Machines: HMX, first launched in 2015 for MB&F’s 10th Anniversary, and Starfleet Machine, MB&F’s first table clock, created with L’Epée 1839.
Black Badger's specialty is working with high-efficiency lume – an exclusive material that comes in solid blocks which he mills by hand or machine into the desired shape. The lume is extremely efficient at storing and releasing light, and its solid form means that it shines brighter for longer. The three available colours – Radar Green, Phantom Blue, and Purple Reign – are eye-catching by day, but it's when the sun goes down that they really come out to party.
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Thompson redesigned the "rocker covers" of HMX's engine, visible under a sapphire crystal, milled from his signature solid blocks of brightly coloured, high-efficiency lume.
Thompson added his exclusive lume under the external ring running around the Starfleet Machine movement, to the inside of the spaceship's landing legs, and on the indication domes and hands.
Powerful lume in three edgy colours. While normal light sources will more easily charge the ‘Radar Green’ and ‘Phantom Blue’ versions, an ultraviolet light is needed to charge the ‘Purple Reign’ variant.
For more live pics, wristshots and other cool images, check out our Instagram account.
Creativity comes from a multitude of sources, but for ‘Black Badger’ founder James Thompson the fount of his creativity was rage – a rebellious fire was lit when he felt brushed aside as a student by an unfair administrative decision. Like MB&F, Thompson is an outsider doing his utmost to buck the system – and he is fighting with the most unlikely of weapons: luminescent material. Thompson mills three-dimensional objects from solid light!
James Thompson was born in 1976 in Ottawa, Canada and grew up in Vancouver. He studied industrial design at college, but did not graduate due to a disconnect between the courses on offer and his own interests. In 2002, this led him to apply successfully for a master's degree course in industrial design in Lund, Sweden. Unfortunately at the time – but beneficial in the longer term! – Thompson was ejected from his master's program after 18 months due to an administrative change in treating international students. This being "brushed aside" through no fault of his own generated a sense of rage and injustice that largely motivated his later success.
A year later Thompson created his own design studio called Black Badger Advanced Composites. The name derived from the fact that the badger will not back down no matter how much larger and stronger its adversary. Thompson moved to Gothenburg in 2008 to complete his master’s degree at the HDK design school. In 2009, Thompson started creating jewellery using solid blocks of lume, carbon fibre, and titanium. He hasn't looked back since.
L’Epée 1839 has been a prominent clockmaking manufacture for 185 years. Today, it is the only manufacture in Switzerland to specialize in the production of high-end clocks. Founded in 1839 by Auguste L’Epée in Sainte-Suzanne, France, the company originally focused on producing music boxes and watch components. Even at this early stage, the brand was synonymous with entirely handmade pieces.
Starting in 1850, the manufacture became a leader in producing escapements and began to develop special regulators for alarm clocks, table clocks, and musical watches. It gained wide recognition and filed numerous patents for special escapements, particularly for use in its anti-knocking, auto-starting, and constant force systems. L’Epée 1839 became the principal supplier of several famous clockmakers and went on to win many gold medals at World Fairs.
Today, L’Epée 1839 is based in the Swiss Jura Mountains (Delémont), under the direction of CEO Arnaud Nicolas. The manufacture still upholds this incredible know-how in the passionate creation of unique horological sculptures manufactured entirely in-house.
In 2023, L’Epée 1839 wins the “Mechanical clock” award at the Grand Prix de L’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) with Time Fast II in chrome, a creative and technical challenge.
www.lepee1839.chBoth the HMX Black Badger and Starfleet Machine Black Badger are available in limited editions of 3 x 18 pieces with lume in Radar Green, Phantom Blue, or Purple Reign.
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