Hands-On with the New MB&F HM11 Architect
Last week Craig and I had the chance to sit with, Charris Yadigaroglou, Head of Marketing at MB&F, as he showed us the HM11 Architect, MB&F’s latest release. If you follow MB&F or are lucky enough to own some of their pieces you already know that the brand is known for their innovative out of the box designs and concepts. MB&F watches feel like they live in a world of the future, like spaceships or modern cars that we want to hop right into and take off to another dimension. The HM11 Architect stays in line with the state-of-the-art designs of MB&F and the name Architect, hints at the inspiration behind this new piece.
Founder, Maximilian Busser, has a taste for detailed designs when it comes to watches, driven by his love of architecture and car designs. In the 1960s outside of the postwar homes that began erecting around the world, there was also a small rise of a more creative type of home. One that embodied the human. The homes were unusually rounded, almost as if the architects had imagined what a home would look like as the human body exhaled and expanded the lungs to breathe in air. The spherical homes were molded into unique shapes to make space for the various rooms, certainly, something modern and original, which is exactly what the HM11 Architect expresses. Busser has wondrously channeled this style into his latest design.
THE BASICS:
Brand: MB&F
Model: HM11 Architect
Case Material: Titanium
Case Size: 42mm
Water Resistance: 20m
Movement: In-house Manual
Movement Specs: 18’000bph/2.5Hz, 96-hour power reserve
Strap Options: Rubber Strap
the juice:
The HM11 is a round watch with four “rooms” that jut out at each corner. The rooms are all purposeful and can be easily rotated for quick viewing for the wearer, rotating between the rooms also functions as winding the movement. Room one displays the time through its small circular sapphire window. The hours are represented as mini spheres with boldly pointed hands. When you rotate the piece counterclockwise you are taken to the power reserve room, also represented by spherical orbs, but these vary in size to better display how much power is left, the largest orb meaning power is at its fullest at 96 hours!
The third room, crucial in any home but rarely found on watches, displays the temperature and is available as either Celsius or Fahrenheit. The final room is the enlarged crown, or as MB&F puts it, the “key” to the home. The crown is also made of a sapphire crystal giving you a direct view into the watch. For an even better visual of the mechanics of the whole piece just look at the watch as it sits on your wrist from the aerial view. This view will display a central flying tourbillon as well as the gears and bridges of the mechanics that bring the piece to life.
The watch case is constructed in titanium and sapphire crystal for a light comfortable wear, although both are challenging materials to mold to such unique mechanics, MB&F proudly took that challenge on. The piece is offered in two colorways, one with a red gold dial plate and khaki green strap and the other with a blue dial plate and white strap. Both are limited to 25 pieces each. Every aspect of the watch has a lot of thought and attention put into it. From the operational rooms to the functionality of winding the watch as you move from room to room right on your wrist. Unlike most watches that require up to 30 turns to reach peak power of usually only 48 hours, the HM11 only takes 10 clockwise rotations of the case to reach its 96 hours of power reserve.
We got to try the blue dial plate version, and at first glance, the watch looks large with its bulging rooms and intricate mechanics, but even at its 42mm size the watch fit comfortably around my small wrist. It was comfortable and didn’t feel obtrusive or oversized. The blue dial plate was vivid and enhanced the mechanics of the piece beautifully. My favorite part of this piece other than its design, is how lightweight it was to wear and how versatile it is for all wrists. I think the concept is remarkable, this idea that it doesn’t even appear to be a watch on your wrist since time is hidden through one of the rooms. I value their inspiring engineering to do something different with their distinctive choice of not having time at the center of this watch, but instead the heart of what keeps time running.
Overall, we feel the HM11 is a great fit in the MB&F collections and truly adds to their mold of ultramodern timepieces inspired through vintage models of homes, cars, and other mechanical wonders. It’s like a futuristic museum right on your wrist. It’s fun to engage with and even cooler to wear and show off. We are always excited to see what MB&F has in store.
How much is the MB&F HM11 Architect?
The HM11 Architect will be available on November 15, and retail for $230,000 USD.
If you want to find out more about MB&F, you can read more about their offerings on their website.
