Back in May 2025, MB&F took an unexpected direction and released the SP ONE. For a brand that usually concentrates on the three-dimensional aspects of watch design, the SP ONE was quite the departure. It still contains the brand’s distinctive futuristic and sculptured look but with a very slim profile (12mm) and a case of just 38mm.
SP ONE (Special Projects One) was the first of MB&F’s look back through the archives to bring to life sketched ideas that had been abandoned at the time for one reason or another.
In this instance it was a simple sketch by Max Busser that showed the three elements of the watch in separate parts: the escapement, the main spring, and the dial. Max recalls, “I sketched the first three circles concept in 2018, when classic watches were not at as desirable as they are today. No one was expecting us there. But creating is about taking risks; it is also partly about feeling the pain and anguish of doing something completely wrong. The SP ONE generated that same angst in me. It made me feel alive.”
The MB&F SP ONE, from Max’s original sketch on the left to different designs before creating the actual watch.
The finished timepiece is a lesson in creative thinking that differentiates Max Busser and MB&F from any other watch brand out there. SP ONE, has, in a single take, creatively redefined the dress watch for the 21st century. Available in 18kt rose gold or platinum, it has no bezel and a pebble-like (or savonette) silhouette with detached lugs. Its ethereal aspect allows all elements of the hand wound movement to be visible. The finishing is exemplary with hand-angled wheels, prominent chatons, ruthenium-treated bridges, bevelled surfaces and satin and mirror polishing. The inclined black dial is DLC coated. It is both progressively modern and elegantly traditional.
The ethereal nature of the MB&F SP ONE in platinum, where the whole movement is suspended between two sapphire disks – no baseplate.
The dress watch emerged in the early 20th century as the wrist attire replaced pocket watches. Characterised by slim cases, simple dials and leather straps, dress watches were designed to slip easily beneath a shirt cuff. Early pioneers included Louis Cartier with the Tank and the Patek Philippe Calatrava ref. 96.
What was defined by Louis Cartier about a century ago using an instrument of modern warfare as his muse (the silhouette of a WWI Renault Tank) has, through Max Busser, turned into an ethereal construction, where space science imagination is the artistic influence. So many of Max’s creations have been born out of our creative recall of imagined science fiction histories, although there are subtleties here concerning just how science and fiction influence the design.
MB&F’s motto, “A creative adult is a child who survived” came from Max listening to a TED talk by educationalist Sir Ken Robinson on, “Do schools kill creativity?” that started him thinking “Children are creative because they are not scared of being wrong. Teachers first and then parents, hammer into kids’ brains that they are not allowed to fail, hence killing most risk-taking and creative drive.” He admitted that in terms of his career, “I was a very creative child who became a pretty boring young adult as I tried to conform and be accepted; until I realized around the age of 35 that I was playing a very sad game, which was killing me.” MB&F was the outcome of his change of direction.
From main spring, to escapement, to dial: The meticulous assembly of MB&F LM SP ONE’s
skeletonized movement, jewel by jewel, component by component.
Thinking of his own children, Max noted that he is constantly trying to protect their creative sides against the tidal wave of social media and regimented education. He explains, “My two daughters have heard growing up from me that ‘being weird is cool’ and ‘being different means you exist, being like all the others means you disappear.’ I hope that will give them the courage to try, to fail, to explore and to keep that childhood perspective alive.”
Being creative became a requirement for the Apollo programme. In 1968, NASA faced the challenge to identify the most innovative minds to help land humans on the moon. To solve it, they enlisted American scientists Dr. George Land and Dr. Beth Jarman, who designed the “1968 NASA Creativity Test”, to identify divergent thinkers and innovative engineers among their staff. The purpose was to understand how adaptive thinking would be taught to astronauts who needed to improvise in the event of an emergency.
The quintessential modern dress watch, the MB&F SP ONE, elegant and sophisticated.
The tests were also implemented on a group of 1,600 children with staggering result. Among five-year-olds, 98 percent scored at “genius” level. As the cohort was retested at ages 10 and 15, the scores plummeted and, by adulthood, only about two percent retained that level of creative capacity. The results suggest that creativity is not something rare or acquired later in life, it is an innate ability most people lose as they grow older. Max realized that for MB&F to grow he was going to have to go back to his creative imaginary world.
From Max’s first sketch to the finished article, the MB&F SP ONE expresses an almost childlike curiosity in understanding how a time-only watch works: mainspring, escapement and dial. His only wish is that he had pursued the idea sooner. With a slight irritation in his voice, he points out, “It is very annoying that the SP ONE has come out when dress watches are trendy, because we do not do trendy. We do risky, we do engaging.”
MB&F SP ONE: CHF 58,000 (rose gold), CHF 63,000 (platinum), excluding taxes.
Author: Andrew Hildreth
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