MB&F’s Shades of Green

Make Watches Not War

There’s a scene in Project Gutenberg (無雙) – a Cantonese action film about making counterfeit money – where the protagonist shoots up an armoured car carrying colour shifting ink. In their pursuit to make the perfect fake U.S hundred-dollar bill (the ‘Superdollar’ as it’s called) they’ve got to get their hands on some of this crazy ink. And as you’d expect, it’s not easy to get, hence the ‘need’ to ambush the car en route.

Even off screen, it’s no walk to the park to get your hands on this stuff. With the rather secretive Lausanne-based firm Société Industrielle et Commerciale de Produits Alimentaires (SICPA) making up to 85% of the world’s currency inks.

50 Shades of Green

There’s another colour shifting Swiss export that’s been on my mind this week. The all-new Titanium Green Legacy Machine Split Escapement (aka, the MB&F LM SE Titanium Green). And unlike the making of the ‘Superdollar’, I’ve met Max Büsser on enough occasions to know that he probably didn’t pull off a heist to make this watch.

Alternating from green to neon turquoise, the dial is given its illustrious green colour thanks to a coating technique called Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD). Whereby a film is deposited within an atmosphere-controlled reactor. The end result is given a sun-ray finish, which does a fantastic job of amplifying the colour-shifting appearance of the dial. It’s a welcome addition to the LM SE lineup, which was initially launched in 2017 in blue, rose gold, yellow gold and grey frosted dials (all with white gold cases).

Movement

The unconventional Split Escapement created with Stephen McDonnell is what powers the LM SE. Unconventional, in that the regulating system has been split between the top of the movement – where you can admire the oversized flying balance wheel, revolving on its own – and the back of the movement, where you’ll find the anchor and escapement wheel. Possible thanks to an extra-long (12mm) shaft running through the movement and connecting the regulating system’s essential components.

The Hour Glass is the exclusive retailer of MB&F in Singapore and carries MB&F watches across various boutiques in the region. Feel free to drop us a line if you’re interested in learning more