Founded by Max Busser in 2005, MB&F has become one of the best-known names in the world of high-end independent watchmaking thanks to Max's incredibly original and eccentric designs and fixated approach to Haute Horlogerie. However, in 2020, during the height of COVID-19 restrictions, Max decided to create an entry-level watch that would forgo MB&F's Haute Horlogerie approach and instead serve as a value-for-money thank-you to MB&F's closest partners, collectors, and friends. Never offered to the public and launched in 2021, the resulting design was the MAD 1, an eccentric timepiece that contains MB&F's design language in abundance.
Featuring a large 42mm case with a crown at 12:00, the MAD 1 pairs a domed, polished steel bezel with a sapphire crystal that sits almost perfectly flush. What it immediately lacks, however, is a conventional dial. Viewed from above, the watch instead exposes its upside-down automatic Miyota Cal. 821A. Dominating the view is a large, custom triple-blade rotor in titanium and tungsten, spinning at breakneck speed. This kinetic display is the MAD 1’s defining party trick and one of its most recognisable MB&F design cues, recalling the theatrical energy of the HM3 and HM8.
Rather than placing the time display on the dial side, the MAD 1 shifts it to the mid-case. Visible through a sapphire crystal window that wraps around the mid-caseband, time is indicated by two rotating aluminium-alloy cylinders for the hours and minutes. Both turn clockwise, reading against a fixed triangular marker positioned between the lugs at 6:00. The engraved numerals are filled with Super-LumiNova, ensuring legibility even under low-light conditions.
Paired with a grey leather rally strap with oversized perforations, the MAD 1 is anchored by distinctive angular lugs that tuck beneath the case, visually cradling the watch. It is unmistakable from almost every angle. Produced in limited numbers, the MAD 1 distils MB&F’s ethos into a single object. It reflects Max Büsser’s long-standing commitment to creating genuinely unconventional watches for a close circle of friends. In 2022, the MAD 1 was awarded the “Challenge” prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
