Mid-20th century automobiles and aircrafts serve as inspiration
Treating the Horological Machine like his personal psychotherapy, watchmaker and founder of MB&F Maximilian Busser often digs into childhood memories for his creations. In the case of the new HM9 ‘Flow’, the start of a more aerodynamic design for cars and planes in the 1940s and 50s, a departure from the boxy look before, kept playing over and over again in his mind.
“Back then, engineers were the artists,” Busser notes. “Unrestrained by the wealth of data that we have now, they let their imagination run wild and started drawing cars that looked fast. It didn’t matter whether it worked as it should or not.”
He cites Mercedes-Benz W196 and the De Havilland Venom aircraft as early examples of sleek speed machines. Their dynamic profiles are what led to the voluptuous proportions of HM9 that features a vertical dial and two pods containing the balance wheels.