MB&F SP One | INTRODUCING

Zach Blass

• MB&F broadcasts a brand new Particular Initiatives assortment for designs that don’t match into anybody class inside its catalogue, kicking issues off with the SP One.
• The SP One is the slimmest and smallest MB&F watch ever made, measuring in at 38mm x 12mm x 41.9mm.
• It’s obtainable in 18k rose gold (US$76,000) and 950 platinum (US$82,000).

Each watch model has segmented catalogues. Submariner, Daytona, Datejust. Speedmaster, Seamaster, De Ville. Black Bay and, nicely… Extra Black Bay. You get the concept. MB&F is a model whose artistry has no bounds, and caving into limitless creativity might be dangerous enterprise by most typical playbooks. MB&F funnels their craft into two segments: Horological Machines that tackle sculptural, atypically formed watches born from a theme; and Legacy Machines that package deal immaculately adorned and extremely complicated actions into round circumstances.

In response to MB&F, nevertheless, so lots of its ideas through the years by no means made it into manufacturing as a result of the concept didn’t actually match into both of the 2 aforementioned segments. The model’s answer: create a 3rd, with zero parameters. So, introducing the Particular Initiatives assortment is the brand new MB&F SP One.

Have you ever ever requested your self what an MB&F gown watch would seem like? The SP One is actually the reply, although MB&F naturally can not make something that utterly matches the norm. What they’ve managed to make is their slimmest and smallest timepiece but, whereas nonetheless retaining key signatures of the model’s aesthetic. That implies that the big steadiness wheels, a tilted dial, and a calibre with actual depth and layering are going nowhere. However these components are packaged inside a case that’s simply 38mm in diameter, 12mm thick (together with its domed sapphire crystals), and solely 41.9mm lug-to-lug.

Although it’d initially seem like a easy, polished case, you may have a crown on the 10 o’clock place and “delicately indifferent” lugs with a small hole to the case. It creates this intriguing cradling impact – and MB&F is all about visible intrigue, even whether it is being introduced in a delicate method. Dimension-wise, it’s very a lot in keeping with trendy gown watch dimensions, albeit a couple of millimetres thicker as a result of its retention of brand name signatures. To place it in perspective, it’s 4mm smaller in diameter than the M.A.D.2, and 0.3mm thinner.

The SP One is offered in two configurations: an 18k rose gold mannequin with an anthracite flange, and a 950 platinum mannequin with a sky-blue flange. Each have the hours and minutes displayed on an inclined black sub-dial on the 6 o’clock place, whereas the remainder of the same old dial house offers a full view of the triangular calibre that seemingly floats throughout the case. On the entrance, except for the hours and minutes, you’ll be able to see MB&F’s signature steadiness wheel at work on the prime proper, and a skeletonised barrel that reveals the mainspring, which may ship 72 hours of energy reserve, on the prime left.

The reverse aspect reveals the gear prepare and the remainder of the escapement, whereas the smattering of cocks and bridges shows all of the hand-finished components of the motion. Polished bevels, inner angles, massive jewel chatons, and handmade engravings sit in opposition to a backdrop of satin, polished, and micro-blasted surfaces.

Having skilled it within the metallic, I’ve solely been in a position to resent my incapability to spend a minimal US$76,000 (earlier than taxes) on this “easy” two-hander increasingly more. However not letting that cloud my judgement, the MB&F SP One is a meticulous, complicated design that approaches the traditional gown watch line, after which sprints away from it with all of the aptitude that we’ve come to respect MB&F for. It’s the model’s Calatrava, Patrimony, and Altiplano, but it appears to be like nothing like them – nonetheless unapologetically MB&F in aesthetic and technical building.

MB&F Particular Initiatives SP One pricing and availability

The MB&F SP One is now obtainable for buy. Worth (excl. VAT): US$76,000 (18k rose gold), US$82,000 (950 platinum)