MB&F developed their HMX watch for 2015, their tenth anniversary. It has an innovative system of displaying the time, with rotating discs on top of the movement whose image is reflected through 90° so that it can be seen on the front of the watch where it is magnified by crystal prisms. The result is a driving watch on a pattern that, although unusual, is being made by an increasing number of brands including Romain Jerome and Parmigiani Fleurier.
The version presented this year is the HMX Black Badger, in which the basic pattern is the same, but with an innovative use of a luminescent material. In the first HMX, light poured into the watch through the top in order to backlight the numbers; in this piece, solid blocks of luminescent material absorb light and re-transmit it to the display. The colours of the material, green, blue and purple, can be appreciated both by day, but particularly in dark conditions. (The complete names of the shades of colour are Radar Green, Phantom Blue and Purple Reign – the latter is a great pun but rather sad at this time in music history). In the photo below, the HMX Black Badger Phantom Blue, by day and by night.
The solid blocks of luminescent material are a trademark of Canadian designer and entrepreneur James Thomspson. His design studio in Sweden is named Black Badger Advanced Composites, founded after he had begun to develop jewellery made using carbon fibre, titanium, and solid blocks of lume. His “glowing rings” are currently Black Badger’s most popular product. An example is shown below (photo courtesy of Black Badger):
Movement
The watch has an automatic movement based on a Sellita calibre, with a module for the time display developed in-house by MB&F. The gold oscillating weight can be seen on the back of the watch. The movement runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hertz) and has a power reserve of 42 hours. The time display is based on discs for jumping hours and trailing minutes.
Case and strap
The case in titanium and stainless steel is 46.8 mm in length, 44.3 mm wide and 20.7 mm thick, with the standard 30 metre water resistance (3 bar). The watch has a calfskin strap in a colour matching the lume colour, with driver-type perforations and a titanium tang buckle.
Price and availability
HMX Black Badger is a limited edition, three series of 18 pieces, one for each colour. It is already available at MB&F points of sale. Its price is 48,000 Swiss francs plus tax.
