Thirty-three years ago, in the fall of 1990, one of the watch world’s legendary friendships was born.
Maximilian Büsser, the founder of the avant-garde watchmaker MB&F, was “a penniless student” (his words) at the time. He met Laurent Picciotto, owner of the Chronopassion store in Paris, and spent two hours learning about the retailer’s passion for fine watchmaking. What Büsser couldn’t foresee is that in 2005, Picciotto, an ambassador of independent watchmaking, would play a key role in MB&F’s burgeoning success.
As one of six retailers who agreed to place orders for the brand’s Horological Machine No.1—two years in advance, 30 per cent upfront—Picciotto helped make it possible for MB&F to complete its first timepiece and go on to rewrite industry history with its pioneering collaborative approach to watchmaking.
To mark that friendship, MB&F has just come out with the LMX ‘Paris Edition’ in an 18k white gold case with a purple sunray dial plate. Limited to just 15 pieces, the watch retails for €122,000 (about RM609,000) and is exclusively available at the Parisian MB&F LAB on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, one of the first MB&F LABs in the world, which Picciotto opened adjacent to his boutique last fall.
“If I were to give a name to the LMX Paris Edition, I would undoubtedly call it the ‘LMX Deep Purple’ in reference to the famous 1968 rock group,” Laurent Picciotto said in a statement. “This piece is definitely rock ’n’ roll!”
MB&F introduced the original LMX model in 2021, on the 10th anniversary of its Legacy Machine N°1, which featured a central flying balance wheel and two dials housed in a traditional round case (at least when compared with the ultra-contemporary casing of the brand’s Horological Machines).
The LMX “was essentially a supercharged version of the first Legacy Machine, an LM1 on steroids,” according to the brand. “The LMX features the same signature flying balance wheel, along with two dials of stretched white lacquer, each with its own fully independent time display—but unlike the first Legacy Machines, both dials are tilted at an angle, requiring the transfer of energy from horizontal to vertical planes thanks to conical gears.”
Previously published on Robb Report.
