Since its introduction in 2015, the MB&F LM Perpetual has been crafted in red gold, platinum, white gold and titanium. This year, MB&F welcomes a new variant featuring 18k yellow gold case with striking blue dial. This new model is available in a limited edition of 25 pieces.
With the Legacy Machine Perpetual, MB&F and independent Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell have completely reinvented that most traditional of horological complications: the perpetual calendar. The result is Legacy Machine Perpetual, featuring a visually stunning in-house movement – developed from the ground up to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional perpetual calendars.
The fact that the new complication looks sensational and can be fully appreciated dial-side is just one of the many benefits offered by the new movement, controlled by a mechanical processor (patent pending).
LM Perpetual features a fully integrated 581-component calibre − no module, no base movement − with a revolutionary new system for calculating the number of days in each month. And it holistically reinterprets the aesthetics of the perpetual calendar by placing the full complication on dial-free display underneath a spectacular suspended balance.
The perpetual calendar is one of the great traditional complications, calculating the apparently random complexity of the varying numbers of days in each month − including the 29 days in February during leap years. But traditional perpetual calendars do have a few drawbacks: dates can skip; they are relatively easy to damage if adjusted while the date is changing; and the complications are usually compromises of modules powered by base movements.
The fully integrated, purpose-built movement of Legacy Machine Perpetual has been designed from scratch for trouble-free use: no more skipping dates or jamming gears, and the adjuster pushers automatically deactivate when the calendar changes.
Traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms use a 31-day month as the default and basically “delete” superfluous dates for the months with fewer days – by fast-forwarding through the redundant dates during changeover. A traditional perpetual calendar changing from February 28 to March 1 scrolls quickly through the 29th, 30th and 31st to arrive at the 1st.
LM Perpetual turns the traditional perpetual calendar system on its head by using a “mechanical processor” instead of the conventional space-consuming grand levier (big lever) system architecture. The mechanical processor utilises a default 28-day month and adds extra days as required. This means that each month always has the exact number of days required; there is no fast-forwarding or skipping redundant days. And while the leap year can only be set on traditional perpetual calendars by scrolling through up to 47 months, LM Perpetual has a dedicated quickset pusher to adjust the year.
With its open dial revealing the full complication and suspended balance, it’s the harmonious mechanical beauty of LM Perpetual that really steals the show. And in an interesting technical twist, that eye-catching balance hovering on high is connected to the escapement on the back of the movement by what is likely to be the world’s longest balance staff.
Using an innovative system developed especially for Legacy Machine Perpetual, the subdials appear to “float” above the movement with no visible attachments. The skeletonised subdials rest on hidden studs, which is technically impossible with traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms because they would block the movement of the grand levier.
Taking a clockwise tour of the dial, at 12 o’clock we see the hours and minutes nestled between the elegant arches of the balance; day of the week at 3 o’clock, power reserve indicator at 4 o’clock, month at 6 o’clock, retrograde leap year indicator at 7 o’clock, and date at 9 o’clock.
The Legacy Machine Perpetual won the Best Calendar Watch Prize at the GPHG (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) in 2016.
Technical details
Model: Legacy Machine Perpetual
Versions
Legacy Machine Perpetual is available:
– in platinum 950 with blue face (limited to 25 pieces);
– in 18k red gold with grey face (limited to 25 pieces);
– in 18k white gold with purple face (limited to 25 pieces);
– in 18k white gold with dark grey face;
– in grade 5 titanium with green face (limited to 50 pieces);
– and now in 18k yellow gold with blue face (limited to 25 pieces)
Engine
Fully integrated perpetual calendar developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell, featuring dial-side complication and mechanical processor system architecture with inbuilt safety mechanism. Manual winding with double mainspring barrels. Bespoke 14mm balance wheel with traditional regulating screws visible on top of the movement. Superlative hand finishing throughout respecting 19th century style; internal bevel angles highlighting hand craft; polished bevels; Geneva waves; hand-made engravings.
Power reserve: 72 hours
Balance frequency: 18,000bph/ 2.5Hz
Number of components: 581
Number of jewels: 41
Functions/indications
Hours, minutes, day, date, month, retrograde leap year and power reserve indicators
Case
Material: 18k5N+ red gold, 18k white gold,18k 3N yellow gold,platinum 950, grade 5 titanium.
Dimensions: 44 mm x 17.5 mm
Number of components: 69 components
Water resistance: 30 m / 90′ / 3 atm
Sapphire crystals
Sapphire crystals on top and display back treated with anti-reflective coating on both faces
Strap & buckle
Black, grey, brown or blue hand-stitched alligator strap with gold / platinum / titanium folding buckle matching case material.
Friends responsible for Legacy Machine Perpetual Yellow Gold Watch
Concept: Maximilian Büsser / MB&F
Product design: Eric Giroud / Through the Looking Glass
Technical and production management: Serge Kriknoff / MB&F
Movement design and finish specifications: Stephen McDonnell and MB&F
Movement development: Stephen McDonnell and MB&F
R&D: Ruben Martinez, Simon Brette and Thomas Lorenzato/ MB&F
Wheels, pinions, movement, axis component: Paul-André Tendon / Bandi, Daniel Gumy / Decobar, Le Temps Retrouvé and Swiss Manufacturing
Balance Wheel Bridge and plates: Benjamin Signoud / AMECAP
Balance wheel: Andréas Kurt / Precision Engineering
Balance spring: Stefan Schwab / Schwab-Feller
Bridges: Rodrigue Baume / HorloFab
Perpetual calendar parts: Alain Pellet / Elefil
Hand-engraving of movement: Glypto and Eddy Jaquet
Hand-finishing of movement components: Jacques-Adrien Rochat and Denis Garcia / C-L Rochat
PVD-treatment: Pierre-Albert Steinmann / Positive Coating
Movement assemblage: Didier Dumas, Georges Veisy, Anne Guiter, Emmanuel Maitre, and Henri Porteboeuf / MB&F
After-Sales service: Thomas Imberti / MB&F
In-house machining: Alain Lemarchand and Jean-Baptiste Prétot / MB&F
Quality Control: Cyril Fallet / MB&F
Case: Alain Lemarchand and Jean-Baptiste Prétot / MB&F
Gold ingots CoC (Chain of Custody): Nathalie Guilbaud / Cendres et Métaux
Case decoration: Bripoli
Dial: Hassan Chaïba and Virginie Duval/ Les Ateliers d’Hermès Horloger
Buckle: G&F Chatelain and Nathalie Guilbaud / Cendres et Métaux
Crown and correctors: Cheval Frères
Hands: Isabelle Chillier / Fiedler
Sapphire crystals: Martin Stettler / Stettler
Strap: Multicuirs
Presentation box: Olivier Berthon / Soixante et Onze
