Two and a half centuries after three of the world's greatest watchmakers put two balance wheels into their movements, MB&F celebrates their pioneering works with LM2, a timepiece with two balances hovering outside the movement ...
Legacy Machine No.2 lies at the highest end of the horological spectrum. When it was first presented in 2013, it was one of the most forward-looking expressions of traditional mechanical watchmaking in the market. Even today, LM2 still occupies the end-zone of innovative horology, embodied by a new red gold version with a blue dial of arresting visual depth.
Today, six years later from its original launch, MB&F presents the last edition ever of the Legacy Machine No. 2 in an 18K red gold case with a striking blue dial.
Oscillating on high, the exalted double balance wheels of LM2 were inspired by, and pay homage to, one of the rarest mechanisms in the history of watchmaking: the dual regulator. And rarer still, the average rates of Legacy Machine No.2's dual regulators are transmitted by a differential to a single gear train, where the majority had two separate movements.
On display under a domed sapphire crystal cupola, the dial of Legacy Machine No. 2, which is actually the top plate of the exquisitely finished movement, is an object lesson in symmetrical simplicity. Top to bottom: the white stretched lacquer sub dial at 12 o'clock, with its blued gold hour and minute hands, is visually balanced by the large, raised differential at 6 o'clock. Left to right: the two flying balances and their escapements are identical mirror images, right down to the position of the stud holders pinning their balance springs.
While the levitated oscillating balance wheels of the binary regulators catch and hold the viewer's gaze, it is the large planetary differential sitting proud of the dial that is the real heart of Legacy Machine No.2. In an incredible feat of micro-engineering − and the sheer paucity of timepieces with multiple regulators connected via a differential attests to the enormous difficulty in creating such a complex high-precision mechanism − the differential has three roles: 1. Transferring power to each of the regulators; 2. Receiving the individual timing rates from each balance; and 3. Transmitting the average rate of the two regulators to the gear train, where it finally manifests itself as the displayed time.
The movement of Legacy Machine No.2 was developed to MB&F's specifications by award-winning watchmaker Jean-François Mojon (Best Watchmaker at the 2010 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) and his team at Chronode. Acclaimed independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen ensured that the movement's aesthetic style was consistent with high-quality traditional timepieces of the 19th century and for specifying the superlative hand-finishing.
Immaculate Geneva waves, gold chatons, mirror-polished bevels and bridges designed with deliberate internal bevelled angles (which cannot be finished by machine) showcase the movement's peerless fine finishing. Consistent with MB&F's spirit of transparency, the names of the two men responsible for the movement are hand engraved on the back.
Available in a highly exclusive 12-piece limited edition the new MB&F LM2 Red Gold Blue could very well become the most desirable of all LM2s due to its rich, deep blue dial plate, obtained thanks to a CVD process —chemical vapour deposition.
