The first time you see a Legacy Machine, your brain struggles to process what you’re looking at. A balance wheel suspended impossibly high above the dial, rotating in space like a mechanical heart exposed for all to see; this isn't how watches were supposed to look. For 200 years, watchmakers have hidden their most impressive engineering beneath dials, revealing complexity only to those who flip the watch over. Maximilian Büsser looked at this convention and decided it was nonsense. Why hide the best part? That simple act of defiance—putting the balance wheel on top instead of underneath—launched MB&F in 2005 and changed collecting forever.

In the constellation of independent watchmaking, Maximilian Büsser emerged as a visionary who understood that true innovation comes from collaboration rather than isolation. His journey began in 1991 at Jaeger-LeCoultre, where he honed his marketing and sales skills, developing an acute understanding of what moves collectors beyond mere mechanics. By 1998, at an age when most were still finding their footing, Büsser was entrusted with Harry Winston's entire watch division—a responsibility that would reshape both his career and the landscape of high watchmaking.

At Harry Winston, Büsser pioneered the revolutionary Opus series, which launched in 2001 with movements by François-Paul Journe housed in Harry Winston cases. This annual showcase of independent talent—featuring collaborations with masters like Vianney Halter and the team at URWERK—didn't just create watches; it created a new paradigm for how established houses and independent creators could work together. Each Opus elevated previously underground watchmakers to international recognition, proving that collectors hungered for something beyond traditional complications.

Yet even this success felt limiting to Büsser. After departing Harry Winston following the Opus V, he took the collaborative model he'd pioneered and transformed it into something entirely new. MB&F was born in Geneva in 2005, not as a traditional manufacture but as a creative laboratory where the "&Friends" wasn't mere branding but a fundamental philosophy. This approach would prove essential to the Legacy Machines' success, allowing Büsser to tap into the specialised expertise of master watchmakers while maintaining a singular creative vision that speaks directly to collectors seeking the extraordinary.

By 2011, MB&F had established itself with the Horological Machines—those wild mechanical creatures that looked more like they belonged in a sci-fi film than on a wrist. The HM3 Frog, the HM4 Thunderbolt… each more audacious than the last. But then Büsser did something unexpected. He went backwards.

The Legacy Machine project started, as many MB&F projects do, with a conversation. Independent watchmaker Jean-François Mojon had been working with Büsser on various Horological Machines when they began discussing pocket watches from the 1900s. Not the ornate hunters everyone knows, but the experimental creations—the ones where watchmakers tried things that didn't quite catch on. What if those experimental ideas had been refined with modern manufacturing tolerances and materials?

The first Legacy Machine arrived without the fanfare you might expect. Where the Horological Machines screamed for attention, the LM1 whispered—until you looked closer. That suspended balance wheel wasn't just showing off. By lifting it above the dial and mounting it between two curved bridges, the entire architecture of the movement had to be reconsidered. The gear train now ran vertically. The dual time zones sat at unusual angles. Even the power reserve indicators stood upright like tiny thermometers.

This wasn't nostalgia. Büsser had no interest in making vintage recreations; the market was already flooded with those. Instead, the Legacy Machines explored an alternate timeline of watchmaking history. They asked what might have evolved if wristwatches hadn't killed the pocket watch innovation in the 1920s, if watchmakers had kept experimenting with display mechanisms instead of hiding everything under dials for the sake of legibility and water resistance.

The collection grew from this foundation. Each new Legacy Machine took a different early-20th-century obsession and pushed it somewhere unexpected. The perpetual calendar, that most traditional of complications, got Stephen McDonnell's radical redesign. The chronograph, unchanged since the 1960s, became a dual-timing instrument that could measure multiple events simultaneously. Even something as fundamental as the escapement got pulled apart and scattered across the dial.

The inaugural Legacy Machine stunned the watch world with its suspended balance wheel that appeared to float above the dial, held in place by two gracefully arched bridges. Created in collaboration with independent watchmakers Jean-François Mojon and Kari Voutilainen, the LM1 featured dual time zones with vertical power reserve indicators. It was classical watchmaking turned inside out—literally—with the movement's most beautiful components displayed prominently rather than hidden beneath the dial.

If LM1 was a gentle subversion of classical watchmaking, LM2 was a bold declaration of independence. Developed with Jean-François Mojon and Kari Voutilainen, it featured dual flying balances with a differential that averaged their rates for optimal timekeeping. The planetary differential, visible through the dial, became the star of the show, transforming a technical solution into visual poetry.

Recognising that not every collector could afford the complexity (and price) of the numbered Legacy Machines, MB&F created the LM101 as a more accessible entry point. But "simple" in MB&F terms still meant a stunning display of the balance wheel suspended high above the dial, with refined movement architecture developed by Kari Voutilainen. The LM101 proved that MB&F's design philosophy could scale without compromise.

The Legacy Machine Perpetual represented MB&F's most ambitious horological achievement. Working with Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, they completely reimagined the perpetual calendar complication. Instead of the traditional system of cams and levers, McDonnell created a "mechanical processor" using a series of superimposed disks. The result was the most user-friendly perpetual calendar ever made—one that could be adjusted forward or backwards without risk of damage.

The Split Escapement took the Legacy Machine's signature suspended balance wheel and added a new dimension of visual intrigue by separating the escapement components around the dial. The anchor and escape wheel were positioned opposite the balance wheel, creating a mesmerising mechanical choreography visible through the dial. This spatial deconstruction of the regulating system turned technical components into kinetic art.

Created to celebrate MB&F's 10th anniversary of the Legacy Machine collection, the LMX combined elements from various Legacy Machines into a "greatest hits" compilation. It featured dual independent time displays, each with its own balance wheel tilted at angles reminiscent of the LM1, but with a completely new movement architecture. The central power reserve indicator and the symmetrical layout created a harmonious design that honoured the past while pushing forward.

Breaking new ground, the Legacy Machine FlyingT became MB&F's first mechanical watch dedicated to women. But rather than simply shrinking an existing design and adding diamonds, Büsser and his team created something entirely new: a flying tourbillon that rises 6.5mm above the dial under a sapphire crystal dome. The time display is tilted at 50 degrees so only the wearer can easily read it. It was intimate, architectural, and unmistakably MB&F.

Created in collaboration with veteran watchmakers Eric Coudray and Kari Voutilainen, the Thunderdome pushed the boundaries of what was possible in a wristwatch. It featured the world's fastest triple-axis regulating mechanism, with the innermost cage completing a full rotation in just 8 seconds. The name "Thunderdome" perfectly encapsulates the controlled chaos of this mechanical marvel.

The Perpetual EVO brought Stephen McDonnell's revolutionary perpetual calendar mechanism into a more robust, everyday-wearable package. Featuring a zirconium case and an integrated rubber strap, the EVO maintained all the mechanical sophistication of the original LM Perpetual while adding shock resistance and 80 meters of water resistance. It proved that haute horlogerie complications could be designed for real-world use.

Building on the success of the original Split Escapement, the EVO version enhanced the concept with a more contemporary case design and improved wearability. The FlexRing damping system provided shock protection for the delicate suspended balance wheel, while the integrated strap and refined case proportions made it suitable for active wear without sacrificing the visual drama of the dispersed escapement.

The Sequential EVO represented a new evolution in chronograph design, featuring two independent chronograph mechanisms that could be operated independently or synchronised. Stephen McDonnell's "Twinverter" binary switch allowed for multiple timing modes, including split-seconds, lap timer, and simultaneous timing of various events. It was mechanical ingenuity at its finest.

The Sequential Flyback represents the culmination of MB&F's chronograph journey, adding instantaneous flyback functionality to the already revolutionary dual chronograph system. This technical achievement allows each chronograph to reset itself back to zero and immediately restart while still running—a feat of mechanical choreography that transforms the way multiple events can be timed. The addition of the flyback mechanism required a complete rethinking of the movement architecture, with additional column wheels and coupling systems seamlessly integrated into Stephen McDonnell's original design.

As MB&F approaches its twentieth anniversary, the Legacy Machine collection continues to evolve. Recent additions have explored new materials, complications, and design languages while maintaining the core philosophy of reimagining classical watchmaking through a contemporary lens.

The success of the Legacy Machines has proven that there's a passionate audience for watches that respect tradition while refusing to be bound by it. In an industry where "heritage" often means recreating past designs, MB&F's approach—creating what the past might have imagined for the future—feels both refreshing and profound.