As its name implies, this new episode tackles one of the most prestigious and complex traditional watchmaking complications: the Perpetual Calendar.
Starting with a blank sheet of paper, we’ve taken some liberty with a few perpetual calendar conventions. The default month has gone from 31 days to 28, and the central “grand levier” has been replaced by an innovative, patent-pending “mechanical processor” – solving a very frustrating issue with conventional calendars: they break easily due to faulty manipulations. This new Legacy Machine is fool-proof! Just as important, we’ve traded the standard “sandwich” construction – base movement + calendar module + display – for a spectacular, fully integrated architecture, offering an unprecedented view into the 581-component mechanism.
But beyond all those technical achievements, this is about an extraordinary human adventure: a story that links MB&F to an exceptional but little-known watchmaker from Northern Ireland, Stephen McDonnell. We first met Stephen in 2007, at the very beginnings of MB&F – when he literally saved the company as part of the team finalising the HM1 movement. Fast-forward a few years later, Stephen tells us about his ambitious calendar project… On a handshake and leap of faith, we embark together on the LM Perpetual project. As they say, the rest is history.
Have a look at our short video to see the LM Perpetual (and Stephen) in action.
MB&F LM Perpetual launch editions will be available in a limited issue of 25 pieces in red gold, 25 in platinum.
