MB&F Horological Machine N°6 Alien Nation

Maximilian Büsser, founder of MB&F, in association with his horological friends presents the young luxury watch brand’s latest masterpiece, the Horological Machine N°6 Alien Nation. Inspired from the stories of extra-terrestrial world and UFOs, this new Horological Machine follows the same foot-steps first two series of HM6 Space Pirate (launched in 2014) and Sapphire Vision (launched in 2016) but carries more lively features than its elder siblings.

On a closer inspection, you can find six alien crews in the spaceship inspired Horological Machine: 5 of them are inside the movement and 1 on the case. Each of the six aliens is individually modelled and hand-sculpted in white gold by engraver Olivier Kuhn of Atelier-Création Kuhn. The arms and necks of the aliens are finer than grains of sand, each alien requiring up to 34 hours to complete.

Inside the machine beats the now iconic HM6 engine, a highly complex, totally unconventional mechanical watch movement having 496 finely-finished components. Topped by a 60-second flying tourbillon with retractable shield, the mechanism drives twin hour and minute domes rotating perpendicularly to the movement. Regulating turbines are coupled to the winding rotor.

The twin domes of the hour and minute indications on the HM6 engine are machined to paper-thin dimensions, an incredibly difficult process that is possible only through the prior expertise gained by MB&F in creating Horological Machine N°3. The domes rotate on a plane perpendicular to the rest of the movement, creating additional levels of mechanical complexity.

The HM6 engine was created over three years of intensive development by the MB&F engineering team together with the eponymous founder of David Candaux Horlogerie Créative.

Except for some titanium reinforcing elements, which also serve as strap attachment points, the case of Horological Machine N°6 Alien Nation is made entirely of sapphire crystal. Each case requires 12 separate blocks of sapphire crystal, which come together to present a seamless whole.

Highlighting the extreme transparency and smooth curves of the Horological Machine N°6 Alien Nation case are carefully placed bands of luminous material. At the top of the luminosity scale are the AGT (Ambient Glow Technology) Ultra strips that run along the inner peripheral edge of the case middle. Introduced by designer James Thompson (aka Black Badger), this high-tech material was previously used by MB&F in the HMX Black Badger and Starfleet Machine Black Badger editions.

For smaller areas in which precise application is required, Super-LumiNova is used. The upper surfaces of the turbine fins, dial markings, friction wheel, the MB&F logo and the upper tourbillon cage are lined with Super-LumiNova, coloured to match the corresponding hue of AGT Ultra in each piece.

There will be four unique pieces of HM6 Alien Nation, differentiated by their accent colours: green, blue, purple and turquoise.  There were 68 pieces of HM6 Space Pirate (50 in titanium and 18 in red gold/titanium) and 20 pieces of HM6 Sapphire Vision (10 each in red gold and platinum). Including the four unique pieces of the Alien Nation edition, there are currently only 92 pieces of Horological Machine N°6.

Technical details
Model: HM6 Alien Nation
4 unique pieces (blue, green, turquoise and purple)

Engine
Three-dimensional horological engine developed exclusively for HM6 by MB&F with David Candaux
Flying tourbillon with retractable semi-spherical titanium shield
Platinum 950 battle-axe automatic winding rotor matching the version: green for the green version, blue for the blue and turquoise and purple for the purple.
Twin aluminium turbines with Super-LumiNova driven by winding rotor
Power reserve: 72 hours
Balance frequency: 2.5 Hz / 18,000 bph
Number of components: 496
Number of jewels: 68

Functions/indication
Hours and minutes on separate semi-spherical aluminium indications
Left crown opens/closes tourbillon shield; right crown for time setting and winding
Dual turbines regulate the automatic winding rotor

Specificity of HM6 Alien Nation:
Aliens: manufactured in white gold. There are 5 different aliens inside the movement and 1 on the case.
AGT Ultra (Ambient Glow Technology): Internal circumference highlighted by the 4 slats in solid AGT Ultra.
Super-LumiNova: applied on the turbines, dials, friction wheel, the MB&F logo on the top of the movement and the tourbillon’s bridge battle-axe. Green Super-LumiNova on the green version and blue on the purple, blue and turquoise versions.
Gaskets: Gaskets matching the AGT Ultra colour. Blue gasket for the AGT blue, green with the AGT green, purple with the AGT purple, and light blue for the turquoise AGT.

Case
Complete sapphire crystal case with some reinforcing elements in grade 5 titanium.
Dimensions: 51mm x 50mm x 22.7mm
Number of components: 95
Water resistance: 30m / 3atm

Strap
Grey hand-stitched alligator strap with stitches matching the gasket’s colours. Custom designed folding buckle in titanium.

‘Friends’ Responsible For HM6 Alien Nation
Concept: Maximilian Büsser / MB&F
Product design: Eric Giroud / Eric Giroud Design Studio
Development and production management: Serge Kriknoff / MB&F
R&D: Guillaume Thévenin and Ruben Martinez / MB&F
Movement development: MB&F with David Candaux
Sapphire case: Sebastien Sangsue and Gregory Esseric / Sebal
Manufacturing of the aliens: Olivier Kuhn / Atelier Création Kuhn
Profile-turning wheel/pinion/axis: Dominique Guye / DMP and Yves Bandi / BANDI
Steel spring + turbine aluminium: Alain Pellet / Elefil
Tourbillon:  Dominique Lauper / Precision Engineering
Retractable shield: Benjamin Signoud / AMECAP
Plates and bridges: Rodrigue Baume / Damatec, Georges Auer / Mecawatch, Benjamin Signoud / AMECAP
Platinum winding rotor: Denis Villars / Cendresetmétaux, Pierre-Albert Steinmann / Positive Coating
Hand-finishing of movement components: Jacques-Adrien Rochat and Denis Garcia / C-L Rochat
Movement assemblage: Didier Dumas, Georges Veisy, Anne Guiter, Emmanuel Maitre and Henri Porteboeuf / MB&F
In-house machining: Alain Lemarchand and Jean-Baptiste Prétot / MB&F
Quality Control: Cyril Fallet / MB&F
After Sales Service: Thomas Imberti / MB&F
Buckle construction and production: Dominique Mainier / G&F Châtelain
Specific crown of the shield mechanism: Jean-Pierre Cassard / Cheval Frères SA
Metallisation of hour and minute domes: Roland Rhyner / Econorm
Semi spherical hour and minute: Natéber
Strap: Olivier Purnot / Camille Fournet
Super-LumiNova: Aurora Amaral Moreira / Panova
AGT Ultra: James Thompson / Black Badger
Presentation case: Olivier Berthon / ATS Atelier Luxe
Production logistics: David Lamy and Isabel Ortega / MB&F