Talk about upgrades! While it seemed like the original HM11 Architect was the limit for MB&F, this new rendition has shattered all expectations.
I get giddy every time I get to talk about a new MB&F timepiece. I mean, wouldn’t you? Whatever your taste in watchmaking, you have to admit that what they’re doing is nothing short of remarkable.
Since their founding in 2005, Maximilian Büsser and his team of Friends have wowed the watch world in countless ways. Along the way, they’ve strengthened their standing alongside haute horlogerie heavyweights such as Edouard Meylan of H. Moser, designers Eric Giroud and Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, longtime collaborator Stephen McDonnell, and even the legendary Kari Voutilainen. Despite this Avengers-like cast of master horologists, MB&F has always aimed as high as humanly possible to actualise all sorts of wild horological machines.
In 2023, they realised that vision with what is, in my view, one of my favourite watches of theirs: the HM11 Architect. Taking inspiration from 60s-era futuristic house design, Max asked himself: why not make it a watch? Through the right mix of mechanics, motivation and a little bit of madness, the design was unveiled at that year’s Dubai Watch Week.
It’s been two years since that moment, but the HM11 Architect left an indelible mark on everyone who encountered it. With production limited to just 25 pieces per colour, only a select few were able to see one in person. Now, with the return of Dubai Watch Week, MB&F have revealed another 20 pieces for the growing crowds of enthusiasts to ogle.
Meet the HM11 Art Deco, designed by Maximilian Maertens, another Friend of the other Maximilian. Revisiting the HM11 Architect as conceived by Eric Giroud, the new HM11 Art Deco builds on the same foundations while adopting a distinct visual language. It still maintains the familiar 42mm wide, 23mm thick case. The thickness sounds menacing on paper, but those on my team who’ve seen it in person say it wears far smaller and lighter than expected, thanks to the grade 5 titanium case.
As the name suggests, the design stems largely from Maertens’s fascination with early 20th-century architecture. If you’ve watched The Great Gatsby – or read it, like I did in high school – you’ll know the vibe. Sharp geometric lines and patterns emerge from the dial, radiating sunbeam motifs that look eerily similar to those on the Philippines flag. I know it’s probably a reach, but I had to mention it. To improve legibility, the white gold hands are filled with translucent red enamel.
Speaking of the dial, if you’re new to this watch you might be wondering, “Why is the dial on the side?” Allow me to bring you up to speed. Because the HM11’s original vision was essentially to put a house on the wrist, the watch is built around a fully rotating case. The four cylindrical protrusions you see are actually three different faces of the watch plus the crown.
There’s one face for the time, one for the power reserve and one for a mechanical thermometer. That last feature can display temperatures from –20 to 60° Celsius, or 0 to 140° Fahrenheit for you silly Americans. You might think a mechanical thermometer sounds redundant, but as Le Corbusier said, “A house is a machine to live in.” And if you live in Australia, you’ll know that checking the temperature at a glance is essential.
Where the dial usually sits is the remarkable, unnamed movement designed, manufactured and assembled entirely by MB&F. Available with either a blue or green dial plate, the movement is delicately finished and engraved. The bridges, in yellow or rose gold PVD respectively, rise in a monolithic fashion befitting the Art Deco theme. At the centre, they frame the star attraction of the HM11: a central flying tourbillon.
Some may argue that the tourbillon’s practical purpose – regulating the movement to counteract gravity – has diminished with the rise of automatic watches, but it’s no less impressive or mesmerising to behold. Beating at a hypnotic 2.5 Hz (18,000 vph), the tourbillon forms the literal centre of operations for the entire watch.
The crown serves its usual function of adjusting the time, but the manual-wind movement is actually powered by rotating the case clockwise. It’s an intuitive way to wind such a complex timepiece, yes, but one that should probably never be entrusted to my undiagnosed ADHD-riddled hands. I know MB&F’s watches are built to be durable and foolproof, though I suspect they might sing a different tune if they let me near them.
My Thoughts
I joined Watch Advice long after the original HM11 Architect was released. So while I was happy to cover every other MB&F piece as it came out, I always felt a bit disappointed that I’d missed the window to write about something as incredible as that original release. Now that I’ve got a clearer head for the media game, I jumped at the chance to tell you all about this one.
You simply can’t say a watch like this isn’t cool. I mean, you can, but I won’t believe you for a second. Creating a house with this kind of silhouette in the 60s was already an ambitious feat. Turning that ambition into a spectacular piece of haute horlogerie like the HM11 Art Deco? Nearly impossible, yet here it is.
You might think I’m a bit of a fool to be, in Gen Z slang, glazing MB&F as much as I have. And you might be right. I’m not going to afford this watch any time soon, nor do I expect Max Büsser to descend from the heavens and gift me one. But knowing there are people out there who choose to create something this ambitious is what keeps me going.
Wild, imaginative, maximalist timepieces are the kind of environment I thrive in, and even if I’m not the one wearing them in the end, I’m just glad they exist. If not for money, if not even for innovation, but simply for the love of the game, the HM11 Art Deco is a perfect example of what MB&F does best.
References: HM11 Art Deco in Blue / Green
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 42mm case diameter x 23mm thickness
- Case Material: Grade 5 titanium
- Dial: Openworked, Yellow gold / rose gold PVD with white gold & red accents
- Movement: Manual case-wound three-dimensional MB&F Horological Engine with central flying tourbillon, power reserve & temperature indicator complications
- Power Reserve: 96h
- Beat Rate: 2.5Hz (18,000 VpH)
- Water Resistance: 20m (2bar)
- Strap: White/beige lizard leather strap with titanium folding buckle