Horological Machine 2 by MB&F
You realise at a glance why the latest novelty by Maximilian Büsser’s watchmaking group has all the makings of an exceptional timepiece. The case alone is enough: opening on two dials, its modular design required no fewer that 100 parts. Whichever way you look at it the HM2 is original, offering two different views of time through its twin portholes. On the right, the jumping hours and concentric retrograde minutes give time an immediacy, while the left dial shows retrograde dates and the phases of the moon with two hemispheres. This double indication of time is made possible by the symbiosis between the three-dimensional architecture of the case of the HM2 and is mechanisms. The self-winding movement with a twin-bladed “Double Harken” rotor in 22-carat rose gold is indeed innovative. The major technical difficulty in making the movement work, was to ensure that date jumps instantly as the retrograde minutes flies back from 60 to 0. This is achieved by a snail cam fixed on the minutes mechanism that engages the hours star when the minutes fly back to zero, thus making the dates advance. This is a real technical feat of the greatest ingenuity.

The Stellaire by Badollet
Among the one-of-a-kind watches, the Tourbillon Stellaire produced by Badollet plays with the laws of gravity while using some of the most ancient materials to dress the queen of complications: the tourbillon. The timepiece’s calibre BAD 1630 manually wound movement features a baseplate made of meteorite fragments and a haphazard setting of extra-terrestrial olivines on the bridge of the carriage. This watchmaking novelty confirms the unique aspects of this watch. Its 44mm case in white gold or palladium holds a skeleton dial in brown jade, black or white mother-of-pearl, lapis lazuli or onyx, that reveals the movement’s components and the meteorite baseplate. A sapphire-crystal caseback enables the 120-hour power-reserve indicator and the openwork and decorated bridges representing the galactic circles to be seen and admired. Using these unusual materials presented a real technical challenge. Meteorite is particularly difficult to work with because of its unequal structure and its tendency to become magnetised when machined. Badollet therefore used new methods to bring this unique timepiece to life. The fact that the high iron content (92%) of the meteorite selected might alter the colour of the Tourbillon Stellaire’s movement makes it even more special, because in the long run it will give each watch a different look.

Cabestan Titanic-DNA Winch Tourbillon Vertical by Romain Jerome
The Cabestan Tourbillon Vertical was already known as a concentrated blend of technology and design born of the creative passion of Jean-François Ruchonnet and Vianney Halter. But collectors will no doubt be thrilled by Romain Jerome’s Cabestan Titanic-DNA issued in six examples. This time, Jean-François Ruchonnet teamed up with Yvan Arpa to clad this watchmaking UFO in the Titanic’s rust, adding an extravagant aspect to the transversal configuration of its movement. This configuration gives rise to a case made of 12 parts that reveals the time to the rotation of four cylinders. At the bottom left, the barrel is connected by a chain to a second cylinder – the horizontal fusée with a 72- hour power-reserve indicator. On the top right, two cylinders show the hours and minutes. The cylinder at the bottom right is linked directly to the tourbillon to indicate the seconds. With this movement the watch clearly evokes the naval world. The fusée chain recalls a ship’s anchor chain. More obvious are the four capstans flanking the case. Winding and setting are done by a detachable winch-handle on the two upper capstans. Other distinctive signs are the movement’s centre-wheel, which is modelled on the great wheels of the Titanic’s drive shafts, as well as the movement’s decorations, which call to mind the engines of the ocean liners of the period.