This creative individual who never fails to impress draws his inspiration not only from the world of space as portrayed in books and movies, but also from the people he meets in his constant worldwide travels. Even although half a decade has gone by since the first Horological Machine went into orbit, Max Busser feels as if he still has his finger on the launch button and that his destiny awaits him light years from here.

Does your “frog” come from the same creative universe as that which spawned your first models ?

The « Frog » is a very mischievous interpretation of our HM3. It takes the piece to a different level and mixes multiple inspirations such as spaceships, amphibians and the aliens of “Mars Attacks”. In fact, at the beginning of 2008 when I first had the prototype of the original HM3 in hand, I thought it truly a very elegant timepiece (I know this will seem rather weird as a statement for most readers), and I had a strong urge even then to morph it into a “wacky” version.

It is very liberating to be able to create very serious horology without taking ourselves too seriously. And this has had an unexpected side effect in helping attract and federate some of the most gifted artisans in Switzerland. Five years ago, some of the first artisans we contacted were initially taken aback, now these same people are encouraging us to push our, and therefore their, boundaries much further!

With the number of watches available per limited series getting even smaller, are your customers grateful to you for the privilege of belonging to an even more exclusive club ?

Not many people believed us at first when we claimed that MB&F was not about growth. Now it is clear to all – our goal is unadulterated creativity - and as such, each series needs to be kept very low. Over the last three years we will have crafted more or less the same number of Machines each year (143 Machines in 2009), even though the demand and awareness has increased tenfold.

Practically 50% of all Machines sold to date are on the wrist of someone who owns at least two of them. That is a mind-boggling statistic which reflects how faithful our clients are – one more reason to thank them by keeping our production series as small as possible.

You travel the world for much of the year; do these travels nurture your creativity ?

I am not a “static” creator who procrastinates in front of a blank sheet of paper. I need to travel the world; I need to meet amazing people; I need to discover new art and culture. But at the same time I need moments of peace and quiet to synthesize the ideas that have been swirling in my head.

Which encounters prove the most enriching ?

Meeting other creators and artists. Listening to them explain how they started, how they react to others, why they create. Each artist has had an incredibly rich and diverse (or sometimes tough) life that has brought him or her to want to express their own vision, rather than follow others. Untill very recently I would never have coined myself an “artist”, due to my engineering background, a Swiss upbringing, and a need to please others for the first fifteen years of my career. Nothing seemed to bring me close to the world of art. And then something clicked and I decided to create for myself, to forget about what others think and like, to live my own life and not the one other people expected me to live. I cannot paint, I cannot sing, I cannot pickle sharks in formaldehyde, but in my own way I have sculptured three-dimensional horological machines and brought them to life.

What place do women hold within the MB&F world ?

We do not create for women, because we do not create for men! Our Machines are completely gender neutral, and are created first and foremost for ourselves. A woman or a man will react to our creations not because of their gender, but because of their personality and personal history.

The galaxy of Friends is now into its fifth year; how do you feel looking back on the ground you have covered? Where do you see yourselves in five years ?

In an amazing twist of faith, we are exactly where I imagined we would be five years ago when I launched MB&F. But because it is a human adventure, the road to get here was completely different to what I had imagined. I have learned so much over this journey: about myself and about those around me. Some of the people around me have awed me in how extraordinary and generous they have been; others seriously disappointed me when they showed their true colours. In creating and building our little Concept Lab we have concentrated so much emotion and experience that it sometimes seems like ten or fifteen years, and yet, at the same time it feels as if we just started scratching the surface.

Because MB&F is not going to grow and so have to appeal to the mass-market, it allows us to develop more or less whatever crazy creative projects we have in mind. Our radical creations have generated a certain pressure to amaze always more, but that is not our concern. We follow our own path despite whatever others may think.