Marketed as the first women’s watch for the brand, the MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT, a version with the case and dial fully set with baguette diamonds is pictured, ticks all the right boxes for the female horophile
Cover Marketed as the first women’s watch for the brand, the MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT, a version with the case and dial fully set with baguette diamonds is pictured, ticks all the right boxes for the female horophile

In a bid to be more than just an ultra-masculine watch brand, MB&F launches its very first feminine timepiece, the Legacy Machine FlyingT

With a reputation for producing some of the most avant-garde timepieces, so mechanically and aesthetically extreme that they are often referred to as “machines”, it is hard to imagine MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser being stumped for ideas. Yet, he found himself in this very conundrum when working on the Legacy Machine FlyingT, the brand’s first‑ever women’s watch.
 
“The task was virtually impossible at the beginning. Not only had I completely lost any reflexes as to how to create for someone else—because the essential goal of starting MB&F was creating just for myself—I had to admit that I have no idea what a woman wants, and often not only in timepieces!” quips Büsser.
 
Introducing a women’s watch to its line-up this year was an unexpected move that upped the ante of the creative game at MB&F. For the company, it represents the opening of a new avenue of horological exploration and challenges, a strategy Büsser implements every seven years (since he first started the business in 2005) to take its creativity on a new trajectory. In 2012, Büsser introduced the Legacy Machine family as a channel to reinvent traditional watchmaking. The line is completely different from the contemporary, rule-bending Horological Machines that came before it.

This year, he decided to step into the feminine side of watchmaking. “Four years ago, it hit me that my whole family was not only very small but made up of women: my mother, my wife and my daughter. In the meantime, my mother has passed away, and we have a second daughter. It was time to take one of the biggest creative risks of my life—to create a piece for them,” says Büsser.
 
Instead of putting himself in a woman’s shoes, which he found difficult to do, Büsser took another approach by integrating everything he loved about the women in his life into this creation. “And, of course, it had to remain a 3D mechanical sculpture,” he adds.

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The MB&F LM FlyingT comes with an elegant black lacquered dial and a diamond-set case; MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser admitted that he had no idea how his female creation would be received
Above The MB&F LM FlyingT comes with an elegant black lacquered dial and a diamond-set case; MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser admitted that he had no idea how his female creation would be received

The resulting watch is astonishingly elegant despite its protruding domed sapphire crystal. Visibly more feminine than the Legacy Machines that came before it, the LM FlyingT has the same round-cased form, but is smaller in terms of case height and diameter, and also features slimmer lugs alongside enhanced curves and deep bevels. Under the dome is the flying tourbillon, raised exceptionally high above the lacquered dial like a vertical sculpture and topped with a single large diamond that rotates with the tourbillon. The gemstone is the star among the many other sparklers set across the LM FlyingT’s lugs and bezel, as well as the dial of the full-paved variant. The hour and minute hands are cut in an undulating shape that echoes the stunning sunray rotor at the back of the watch, which is crafted in red gold.

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The MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT
Above The MB&F Legacy Machine FlyingT

Büsser explains, “The last thing I wanted to do was to take a masculine timepiece, resize it, put a different colour on it and call it a ladies’ watch.” The LM FlyingT stands out on its own while still carrying the line’s distinctive qualities.
 
“I must admit I had no idea how this first feminine creation would be welcomed and was a little terrified actually… but I have been blown away by the reception it has received, and sales have been mind-boggling. The first‑year production [about 35 pieces] was virtually sold out in the first month, so this gives me more confidence to continue down this creative path,” shares Büsser.

There is also good news for those who would like to see a simpler version of the watch. Büsser reveals that the brand will release a few pieces of the LM FlyingT sans diamonds next year, after hearing his retail partners expressing their interest to sell the diamond version as a unisex timepiece with several male customers enquiring about it.

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