Even in the rarified world of independent Swiss watchmakers, Maximilian Busser stands out on his own, from the likes of Philippe Dufour and Peter Speake-Marin. His company, MB&F stands for “Maximilian Busser and Friends,” because Busser believes that every creation from his house is the result of not just one person’s work, but collaboration between some very influential friends from the industry. As you’d expect, these busy and highly creative individuals spend a great deal of time and effort into each and every work of art they produce, which is why every creation from this young house is so highly anticipated and met with such great acclaim.
Unlike other watchmakers, though, Busser, doesn’t limit his creativity to just wristwatches. MB&F has previously brought the long-forgotten music-box back to life with the stunning Star Wars ship-inspired Musicmachine, an extremely complicated mechanical jukebox that belts out preset tunes. It harked back to an era before iPods and iTunes, and the few lucky ones that got their hands on one revere it as an art piece.
Now Maximilian Busser is back at it again, with a mechanical robot that serves one and only one function, tell you the time in the most elaborate and complicated way possible. Built in collaboration with L’Epée 1839, the Melchior is a celebration of MB&F’s first decade in haute horology, and it is a fitting one.
At first glance, the Melchior may appear to be a boy’s fantasy toy in his imaginary war with Darth Vader. But this Robot is in fact a majestic high-end table clock featuring jumping hours, sweeping minutes, double retrograde seconds and a 40day power reserve; a tribute to refined, classic clock- and watchmaking. The movement regulator features an Incabloc shock protection system, which minimises the risk of damage when the clock is being transported. This sort of shock protection is generally only seen in wristwatches. For clear reading of the hour, L’Epée developed a ‘slow’ jumping hour. This in-house complication sees the hour disc remain static for 55 minutes, then start to turn five minutes before the new hour so that the change of hour is smooth and subtle.
Christening this roboclock ‘Melchior’ – after a traditional forename in his family – Büsser developed the concept with designer Xin Wang, selecting a high-end L’Epée clock movement and reimagining it as the mechanical head and torso of a robot. Jumping hours and sweeping minutes on Melchior’s chest are displayed via discs bearing MB&F’s signature numerals – with pointers incorporated into the breastplate – while a dial on Melchior’s abdomen is the power reserve indicator. And this robot’s self-sufficiency is to be admired, for the finely-finished, highly-visible movement boasts a power reserve of 40 days – for most table clocks, it is eight days – thanks to five main spring barrels which help make up Melchior’s rippling torso.
The winding/time-setting key clips into Melchior’s left elbow joint socket. L’Epée needed to develop several new components: Machining, finishing and assembling a piece like the bulging glass dome forming Melchior’s skull was a first for L’Epée, as was crafting a stainless steel winding/time-setting key to resemble a Gatling gun.
The MB&F Melchior is limited to 99 pieces and is available in a monochromatic ‘light’ edition or a two-tone ‘dark and light’ edition featuring black PVD-treated components. Check out the piece in action below.
MELCHIOR – your new MB&F Friend – Baselworld 2015 from MB&F on Vimeo.
