Art Attack
Injecting a dose of whimsy and colour to reimagined 19th-century watchmaking codes makes the new MB&F LM1 Silberstein a breath of fresh air. Yanni Tan reports
hen maximilian Büsser of independent manufacture MB&F conceived his Legacy Machine No.1 back in 2011, it was regarded as a tribute to the great innovators of traditional Swiss watchmaking. As if the idea of travelling back in time to recreate a three-dimensional machine based on his bold, avant-garde sensibility wasn’t unconventional enough, imagine inviting another creative mind to reinterpret it. The result is the newly launched pop art-inspired LM1 Silberstein, designed by none other than Büsser’s longtime friend and collaborator Alain Silberstein. Silberstein, a French interior designer turned watch architect, is well known for his penchant for bright primary colours, eye-catching geometric shapes, and a sense of humour and quirkiness. In 1990s, he struck out on his own to produce his peculiar brand of watches, but wound down the business in 2012 and began designing timepieces for others instead. Sensing a kindred spirit in Silberstein in the rather staid world of luxury watchmaking and having admired the man’s designs for a while, Büsser had joined forces with him in 2009 to collaborate on their very first project: the Horological Machine No.2.2, known as the Black Box. That paved the way for MB&F’S Performance Art collection, which produced other masterpieces such as the Starfleet Machine and Musicmachines. Needless to say, Black Box turned heads with Silberstein’s masterfully playful touch and unique innovations. Today, fresh off the workbench is the second collaboration between the two horology visionaries: the MB&F LM1 Silberstein. The seed for this project was actually planted during the Baselworld fair in