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Dreams to Reality: a Horological Sculpture by MB &F and Sage Vaughn

“We wouldn’t be sitting here today if I hadn’t been an only child who was very often alone,” says Maximilian Büsser. “I built an incredible imaginary world. My father, who was very Swiss-German, and my teachers at school always used to tell me to stop dreaming. I studied micro-engineering because that was what my father wanted me to do.”

Büsser was fortunate in having encountered some amazing people during his early career, one of them being Henri-John Belmont, then head of Jaeger LeCoultre, who invited Büsser to join him in relaunching the brand. After seven years with JLC, Büsser was then offered the opportunity to be managing director of Harry Winston Timepieces. During his seven years there, which led to an impressive tenfold growth, his father passed away. “That unhinged something and I decided I needed to give a meaning to what I was doing,” said Büsser. “I had to create something I believed in, even if nobody understood what I was doing.”

He started dreaming of his ideal company – small, with a maximum of 10 employees. Then he fell in love with his idea. “Just like true love, it was completely irrational,” said Büsser. “It became an obsession and I just had to do it.” The first designs were developed with one of his friends, independent designer Eric Giroud, and MB&F was created after Basel 2005.

The approach of MB&F (Maximilian Büsser and Friends) is somewhat different to most watch companies. Every year Büsser assembles a crew – a dream team, the unsung heroes of the watch industry. “It’s just like Mission Impossible,” says Büsser. “My approach is to say, ‘Guys, I would like to create this amazing piece, will you accept the challenge?’ The enthusiasm generated is incredible.”

Every year Büsser brings together a team to create what he calls an amazing “Machine”, which are crafted in very limited numbers. He calls them machines because they are more than just wristwatches, they are mechanical sculptures: works of art in three dimensions.

MB&F’s first machine, Horological Machine No1, was unveiled at the start of 2007 and a year later they presented HM2, a highly sophisticated micro-mechanical work of art that looks like a space station! In the 1970s sci-fi films, earthlings used to live under domes, and the whole idea of the machine is that it is like a space platform, and under the domes you have life – the activity of the time teller. “As far as I’m aware this is the most complicated watchcase in the history of watchmaking,” says Büsser. “There are 102 components that go into the assembly of the case alone.”

Two domes shelter the instantaneous jumping hour, retrograde minutes, retrograde date and northern and southern hemisphere moon phases. “The jumping hour doesn’t use up any energy,” says Büsser. “It is the energy of the minutes flying back which powers it, and that’s why it’s totally synchronized and has close to no effect on precision. It’s an extremely well regulated timepiece.” There are 349 parts in the Jean-Marc Wiederrecht created movement.

“I’ve known Luc Pettavino for a long time and I admire his courage and determination,” said Büsser. “When I saw the film he had made about his son Paul, I was extremely moved. If we were going to create a piece for Only Watch, it needed to convey the same emotion I had felt – to create something that has meaning even if it is going to shock.”

Büsser linked up with Sage Vaughn, an artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. “Sage has gone through a lot in his life,” said Büsser. “Seven years as a heroin addict, which nearly killed him several times. He is back from the dead and his art is his redemption. His message, though often disturbing, is clear: it is the tension between the innocence of childhood – the child he was – and the harsh reality of life. That really strikes a chord with me in the context of children suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.”

Sage Vaughn had rarely worn a watch in his life and when the project was explained to him he was at first slightly puzzled, but once he understood the worthy nature of the cause he readily agreed to donate his creative talents to the project. “I showed him the HM2 and explained my idea, which was that he create a work of art encompassing the movement,” said Büsser. “Something that sends a very clear message.” Büsser explained what was technically possible and Vaughn created a sketch. From the sketch MB&F created a three-dimensional drawing and sent it back to Vaughn for approval before creating the absolutely unique work of art which is today the MB&F Only Watch 09 piece.

The piece is based around the amazing HM2 engine. The case top has been opened up for the first time to reveal the 365 parts of the movement through a sapphire glass. Sage has imprisoned the movement with handmade gold barbed wire – a symbol of the illness that captures the body – and trapped in the barbed wire is a butterfly, one of Sage’s favorite motifs, representing innocence and hope.

The butterfly, crafted of blued gold, sits on the bridge with its wings slightly clipped, a representation of the duality of hope and destiny in the life of DMD children.

The titanium case back, signed by the artist, is engraved “Only Watch – Piece Unique” and reveals the specially blued 22k gold “double ax” rotor.

“The HM2 has been softened, making it less machine-like and much more emotional,” said Büsser. “Technically the additional challenges were multiple, starting with the sapphire domes which needed to be brazed on to the sapphire plate, and of course the work of the craftsman who painstakingly wove the gold barbed wire and crafted by hand the gold butterfly. Sage’s art needed not only to be three-dimensional, but it also had to avoid interference with the mechanics of a complex movement.”

 

The tension between the innocence of childhood and the harsh reality of life

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For more information contact:
Ita McCobb
Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers SA
Tel +41 22 318 28 38
e-mail i.mccobb@patrizziauction.com

Audrey Baylac
Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies / Monaco Yacht Show
Tel +377 93 10 41 70
e-mail audrey@monacoyachtshow.mc