The Legacy Machine LM101 MB&F by H. Moser watch hands-on

Due to the coronavirus, companies, and entrepreneurs from the watch industry, too, had to slow down, rethink their business, and be more creative than ever before. We’re slowly getting back to business as usual, at least in Italy and Europe, and we welcome those ideas and products capable of lifting our spirit high. It is precisely what Maximilian Busser and Edouard Meylan did when they announced, and revealed, their latest collaboration earlier this week.

What they achieved went, in my opinion, far beyond their expectations too, and rightly so considering how original and outstanding are the two new collabs collections. On this occasion, we’re going to describe the MB&F Legacy Machine 101 by H.Moser, a Moser‘s take on the Legacy Machine 101.

The relationship between MB&F and H.Moser & Cie. is a close one: Precision Engineering AG, a sister company of H.Moser & Cie., supplies high-quality springs to MB&F, but if you look at a Moser and an MB&F altogether, no doubt they’re sitting the opposites of the spectrum. The former is all about minimalism, classic lines, and a kind of Zen approach to watchmaking, whereas MB&F is synonymous with staggering innovation, unusual time display, and visionary products. Please bear in mind the brand’s motto is: “A creative adult is a child who survived.” If you’re looking for an MB&F, which looks virtually closer to a Moser watch, across the MB&F catalog, the Legacy Machine is the preferred choice.

Designers and watchmakers at MB&F re-worked their Legacy Machine 101, turning it into the purest, stripped-down MB&F watch ever built, namely the MB&F Legacy Machine 101 by H.Moser & Cie. Where does the “H.Moser & Cie.” factor stand in this latest addition to the Performance Art collection? Just take a look at the dial, and you’ll notice something you won’t often see on an MB&F; the superimposed registers have been removed, replaced by a smoked dial whose DNA, purity, and craftsmanship are inextricably Moser. The time display and the power reserve indicator keep standing where you expect them to be on a Legacy Machine, but now offer a 100% Moser feel. Let’s put things into context while playing with our fantasy: if you equally love these brands, but can afford just one, this is a chance to get an 80% MB&F plus a 20% Moser.

Designers combined various smoked dial options with a redesigned and simplified bridge to enhance readability and minimalism. The mechanical movement is unchanged. Powering the MB&F Legacy Machine 101 by H.Moser & Cie. is a hand-wound caliber engineered in-house but designed and finished by master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. Again, the double Straumann® spring sitting right below the curved sapphire glass comes from Precision Engineering AG, as highlighted above.

The MB&F Legacy Machine 101 by H.Moser & Cie. is 40mm wide and 16mm high, yet these specs, alone, deserve less attention than anywhere else, so is this timepiece different from anything else. Crafted in four color variants, and 15 pieces each, this limited edition “hybrid” MB&F celebrates the 15^th anniversary of MB&F, and 15 years since H.Moser & Cie. hit the market once again too.

This project reaffirms Indie watchmaking’s creativity and vision. MB&F and H.Moser & Cie. have given the term “collaboration” a new meaning, and the outcome looks, in either iteration, like a new brand appeared, taking the best out of them.

Each stainless steel new MB&F Legacy Machine 101 by H.Moser & Cie., for a total of 60 pieces, retails for 53,000CHF. I thank GMT Great Masters of Time, official retailer MB&F, for providing the live pictures you see in this article.

(Photo credit: GMT Great Masters of Time)

Gaetano C @Horbiter®