If you’re into drooling over watches that you’ll likely never be able to afford (and I am), then you’ll probably recognize the name MB&F (Max Busser & Friends). The boutique watch-maker has created some stunners, including the HM3 special edition profiled by contributor Ariel Adams last May. While that watch retailed for $93,000, the HM5 Adams shows off on his own site today retails for a much more affordable $63,000, putting it still far, far beyond my grasping claws.
The HM5 is inspired by driving watches from the 1970s, according to Adams, and it also takes industrial design cues from classic cars like the Lamborghini Miura. That slat-style vents on its upward-facing surface actually open and close, letting light leak in to charge the SuperLumiNova that makes the discs for hour and minutes glow in the dark. You actually read the watch through a viewing window mounted on the side, which features a sapphire lens that makes the hour and minute appear through that window. The actual discs themselves are lying flat on top of the movement, a custom-tailored affair based on a Sowind movement with a dual-rotor for automatic winding.
The design is surprisingly understated for something that’s this much of a departure from what’s generally accepted as standard for a watch, and wouldn’t look out-of-place as part of an upscale European auto manufacturer’s engine assembly. Which I intend as very high praise indeed. MB&F is only making 66 of these, so start those engines if you want to snap one up.