We've seen some pretty interesting timepieces from MB&F (Maximilian Büsser & Friends) over the years, including the airplane-aping Horological Machine No. 4 (HM4) "Thunderbolt" and utterly distinctive HM6 "Space Pirate". The latest effort – released to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary – is no less stunning, offering an automotive theme and suitably unusually method of display.
The timepiece is inspired by various sports cars, echoing company founder Maximilian Büsser's early aspirations of being a car designer. It's constructed from a combination of grade 5 titanium and stainless steel with 223 individual components, and features a mechanical movement with automatic winding and a 42-hour power reserve.
So, other than its distinctive looks, what makes the HMX such an interesting piece? Well, it's all in the display. Rather than having the wearer look down at a conventional face, time is instead told through two windows on the side of the case, showing jumping hours and minutes.
Those displays are powered by a pair of circular disks that rotate flat on the top of the movement. Mirror image numerals are printed around the disks, reflected and magnified by two triangular sapphire crystal prisms. Light enters the case from the top and side, providing plenty of illumination for reading the time.
The piece is somewhat reminiscent of the Romain Jerome Subcraft that we saw at Baselworld 2015. Like the HMX, that watch displayed the time to the wearer through a window in the side of the case, though only the hours were shown in this manner with the Romain Jerome piece.
Turning back to the HMX, there's one last automotive touch in the form of oil caps on the valve rocker covers. According the MB&F, these are actually functional, and will need to be unscrewed during servicing to oil and lubricate the movement.
The watch will be available in four limited editions – Lotus Black, Ferrari Red, Bugatti Blue and British Racing Green – each with a production run of 20 pieces. It's priced at US$30,000.
You can take a look at the video below for a closer look at the MB&F HMX anniversary timepiece.
Source: MB&F
