Creating and experimenting are the fundamental reasons for MB&F’s existence. The problem is not so much being under pressure to keep coming up with new ideas, it is in fact the opposite, i.e. how to find the time, energy and money to make all of our ideas come to life. Even though we have come out with six new Machines in the last seven years, we now have seven more in the pipeline! Only after sketching the piece do I usually realise where the inspiration for it has come from, and often it is my childhood dreams and fantasies that are instrumental – like many young boys, saving the world was my full time job !
After 7 years MB&F is now well established and its first M.A.D.Gallery in Geneva must be a dream come true. How did that idea come about and could you explain the concept ?
At MB&F we usually feel like aliens in a world of horological conformity and I realised that there were in fact many aliens like us out there defying practicality and common sense in their own worlds: artists, creators and designers who painstakingly created and crafted incredible “Machines” of their own that were often overlooked or misunderstood. At the M.A.D. Gallery we bring together many of these “orphans” in a happy and supportive family !
Owning an MB&F Machine brings with it membership of a small and exclusive community. Are there any traits that unite your collectors ?
You need courage to wear one of our pieces ! Interestingly enough, MB&F fans the world over do have some very strong characteristics in common. They are usually very confident and independent people who don’t care if others recognise what they are wearing and what others think of them – the complete opposite of the traditional luxury client who needs to be part of a group, recognised and accepted. They are also generally sophisticated watch connoisseurs who appreciate MB&F’s approach to craftsmanship and engineering as well as to kinetic sculpture.
The 2012 Horological Machine N°5 comes from a completely new creative source. What was the inspiration for HM5 ‘On the Road Again’ and where did that unusual name come from ?
If you had asked anyone in 1972 what sort of watch we would be wearing in 2012, they would never have answered ‘a classic, round mechanical watch’. We all thought that half our population would be living on the Moon or Mars by now and zapping around on our spacecrafts! ‘On the Road Again’ is the epitome of the 70s sci-fi age reinterpreted as a mechanical piece of art. I was as much inspired by the first digital sci-fi watches as by the legendary cars of that time, such as the Lamborghini Miura SV, Lotus Esprit and Lancia Stratos. And the “light convector” system came from the fact that every night before my father switched off the light in my room, I would quickly charge up the luminescence of my watch dial under the bedside table lamp.
