MB&F - this Machine might raise some eyebrows ...

[Ernie Romers]

Every so often, the people at MB&F like to share their work with someone they admire, in a special co-creation exercise – they do this by asking an external creator to reinterpret one of their Machines.

You might remember the HM2.2 “Blackbox” designed with Alain Silberstein; the impressive “JWLRYMACHINE” by Boucheron; or the unique pieces MB&F donated to the “Only Watch” charity auctions, created with artists Sage Vaughn and Huang Hankang. They call these special co-creations “Performance Art”.

Today MB&F present their fifth Performance Art piece, with a new guest star. Another jeweller? A designer? An architect?

No – this time, they teamed up with… a watchmaker! Not your standard watchmaker though – a great talent who worked with the very best in Switzerland for 10 years, before returning to his native Finland :

STEPAN SARPANEVA !

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Under the Sarpaneva moon face: Maximilian Büsser and Stepan Sarpaneva

Stepan’s horological skills are matched by his amazing sense of design. If you’re familiar with the timepieces he has created since 2003, you’ll know one of his signature design elements: his iconic moon face. So when they gave Stepan their HM3 Frog to play with, he naturally transformed it into :

the MOONMACHINE

You’ll find the Sarpaneva DNA in this new series of Machines. The twin hand-finished moons indicate the moon-phase through a Korona-shaped aperture. The 22k gold and steel northern sky adds a stunning background: the stars are laser-pierced, allowing light to reflect from the movement underneath. And there’s a twist: this star-filled sky is in fact the revolving rotor, bringing not only metaphoric life to the MOONMACHINE, but also literally providing life as it generates power for the movement.



MOONMACHINE is 3 Limited Editions of 18 pieces each, in titanium, black titanium and red gold.

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MOONMACHINE in titanium, white gold moon faces, light blue sky

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MOONMACHINE in black-PVD titanium, white gold moon faces, dark blue sky

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MOONMACHINE in red gold, red gold moon faces, anthracite sky

Related link: MB&F - Maximilian Büsser & Friends - Horological Machines