The Legacy Machine FlyingT is the first of MB&F’s three-dimensional horological art pieces inspired by women. It was launched in 2019, in three editions, all in white gold and set with diamonds. These were followed by two limited editions in 18K red gold and platinum, shedding their diamonds but featuring guilloché dial plates.
Since 2020, the FlyingT collection has also hosted a special gemstone dial every year, with editions in Lapis Lazuli, Malachite, Tiger Eye and ‘Cœur de Rubis’ (anyolite). The series is joined this year by the sophisticated LM FlyingT Onyx edition, featuring the deep black gemstone encased in an 18k yellow gold case.
The design of LM FlyingT is replete with associations drawn from the feminine and maternal influences in MB&F Founder Maximilian Büsser’s life. He recalls: “I wanted LM FlyingT to reflect the personality and qualities of the women of my family, particularly my mother. It had to combine supreme elegance with tremendous vitality.
“The column-like structure of the flying tourbillon was very important to me as I felt very strongly that women form the pillar of humanity. At the same time, there is another layer of meaning coming in from the sun-shaped rotor, which incorporates the element of life-giving, a source of sustenance which we gravitate towards and around.”
The LM FlyingT features a round case in gold or platinum, with a steeply cambered bezel and slender, elongated lugs, often fully set with diamonds. A high, extravagantly convex dome of sapphire crystal rises from the bezel. Beneath the dome, a subtly curved dial plate in various finishes: liquidly black with layers of stretched lacquer, guilloché, vibrant gemstones or glittering with blazing white diamonds.
An asymmetric ventricular opening in the dial plate frames the heart of the LM FlyingT engine – a cinematic flying tourbillon that beats at a serene rate of 2.5Hz (18,000vph). The tourbillon projects high above the rest of the engine, a kinetic, dynamic column that stops just short of the apex of the sapphire crystal dome. Affixed to the top of the upper tourbillon cage is a single large diamond that rotates simultaneously with the flying tourbillon, emitting the fiery brilliance of the very best quality stones.
At the 7 o’clock position – another reference to the numeric theme that runs throughout LM FlyingT – is a dial of black or white lacquer (or gemstone) that displays the hours and minutes with a pair of elegant serpentine hands. The dial is inclined at a 50° tilt so that the time can be read only by the wearer, an intimate communication that highlights the personal nature of LM FlyingT. On the reverse, the automatic winding rotor takes the shape of a three-dimensional red-gold sun with sculpted rays, providing LM FlyingT with four days of power reserve.
The mechanical antecedents of Legacy Machine FlyingT lie mostly in the Horological Machine collection, namely with the HM6 series and HM7 Aquapod. As such, the LM FlyingT engine utilises a vertical and co-axial approach. The cinematic flying tourbillon, which boldly projects beyond the dial-plate of LM FlyingT, is a visually stunning example of the rotating escapement and stands in stark contrast to other flying tourbillons, which usually do not venture past the confines of their surrounding watch dials.
To display the time as precisely as possible on the 50° inclined dial, conical gears were employed to optimally transmit torque from one plane to another, a solution first used in HM6 and subsequently in HM9 Flow. The 280-component engine of Legacy Machine FlyingT has a power reserve of four days (100 hours), which is among the highest within MB&F.
“I created MB&F to do what I believe in, making three-dimensional sculptural kinetic art pieces that give the time,” says Maximilian. “I was creating for myself, which is the only way we could have made all these crazy and audacious pieces over the years. But at some point there came a desire to create something for the women in my family. I’ve been surrounded by their influence all my life, so I gave myself the challenge to do something for them.”
