This £180k MB&F watch celebrates architecture

Watchmaker Maximilian Busser and Friends (MB&F) has released its latest special edition, a spin-off to the Horological Machine No11 that celebrates the achievements of post-modern architecture. By that, we hope it’s referring to the Forton Services on the M6.

Appropriately named the ‘HM11 Architect’, two versions of the exclusive watch will be made and limited to just 25 units in each variation. Fancy getting your hands on one? That’ll be a few coppers under £179,500, please. 

Offered with a choice of either blue, gold or red dial plates, the Architect has a total of 364 moving parts. At its forefront is a vertically-stacked flying tourbillon second hand that’s perched beneath a double-domed sapphire crystal. 

The relevant information is sent to four corresponding chambers, which are then relayed to owners through the use of conical gears. The first of these chambers is used for setting the time, while the remaining three deliver the minutes and hours, in addition to the power reserve levels and temperature.

The ‘oversized’ crown has also been crafted with sapphire crystal, which MB&F says is a world first. The case itself is a mere 42mm in diameter and contains 92 components, including 19 gaskets to keep it water-resistant. It’s good to know it’ll still work when it’s dropped into the carbon fibre bog of owners’ super yachts.

Known as the ‘cultural decade’, several architects of the ‘60s ignored the then-utilitarian trends in favour of a more progressive approach to architectural designs, and it is this revolution that MB&F says it is commemorating with the HM11 Architect. TopGear.com eagerly awaits MB&F's homage to the Watford Gap Services in due course.