Is it an art gallery, a watch boutique, or a mechanical toy store? At the new MB&F Lab, it is all that and more. It is described as the hybrid of two new categories: Performance Art and Co-creations. While Performance Art pieces are MB&F machines revisited by external creative talent, Co-creations are not wristwatches but other types of machines, engineered and crafted by unique Swiss manufactures from MB&F ideas and designs.
MB&F reflects the name of its founder in “Max Büsser and Friends”. Watch collectors know Büsser as the man who has an incredible love for high-end horology and got his first start at Jaeger-LeCoultre where he spent seven years in senior management. In 1998 at the age of 31, he was the managing director of Harry Winston Rare Timepieces where he transformed the company into a well-respected Haute Horlogerie brand.
Michael Tay (left), group managing director of The Hour Glass, and Max Büsser, founder and creative director of MB&F, at the official opening of the new MB&F Lab Singapore
In 2005, Büsser resigned and started MB&F, where he relished his creative liberty to indulge in his passion for working with the most talented independent horological professionals — pushing the limits of horology into a new dimension. Over the years, Büsser has created some amazing time machines such as L’Epée 1839 × MB&F ORB, MusicMachine 3, HM6 ‘Space Pirate’, L’Epée 1839 x MB&F Arachnophobia, LM2, HM4 Thunderbolt, LM1 x Silberstein, and more.
The Balthazar clock, a MB&F x L’Epée 1839 Co-Creation at the MB&F Lab
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The Octopod clock, a MB&F x L’Epée 1839 Co-Creation at the MB&F Lab
At the Lab, you can view the Legacy Machine Split Escapement EVO and the ground-breaking LM Sequential EVO, as well as MB&F Co-Creations, including the Octopod, Medusa, and Balthazar clocks created with L’Epée 1839, and the MusicMachine 1 Reloaded with Reuge. There is an opportunity to peruse specially curated works of art, such as the KB2 Utinam x Alain Silberstein clock, Frank Buchwald’s Nixie Machine III, ‘World Skies’ by Breakfast, and the Singapore edition of Marc Ninghetto’s ‘Solitude of a Machine’. These machines are given a platform at the MB&F Lab, where Büsser wanted them to be placed in an art gallery setting alongside various forms of mechanical art created by other artists, rather than in a traditional storefront.
When asked why it is called a “lab” and not a watch boutique, Büsser replies: “Michael [Tay] of The Hour Glass came to us and said, we really would like to have a space dedicated to MB&F. That's how we came up with the idea of the lab.” He adds that it is called a lab because it is not a watch store as people do not go here to buy watches — there are no watches to be sold as all watches are on a waitlist that can take as long as 18 years.
Büsser says: “You [the customer] come here to get inspired, to get engaged. You come here because you love watchmaking and you've got half an hour to spend, and the team will be happy to talk about not only MB&F but also mechanical art and watches. Let's have tea or coffee and talk about our mutual passion. It's also called a lab because we experiment.”
To understand Büsser is to try to figure out what goes on in his head. When Options opened the interview by asking him: “Can we call you a mad scientist?” He answers: “Definitely. That's exactly what I am.” You know this is off to a good start.
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The new MB&F Lab, located at Raffles Arcade, marks an exciting new chapter for MB&F and The Hour Glass
How did MB&F survive the pandemic? Did it give you time to formulate more ideas?
March 17, 2020, was when I had to send my team home because we were in lockdown. I thought I was being buried alive. All our suppliers were closed, all our retailers were closed. I couldn't travel. I was in Dubai. We all thought that this was going to last only a few months. Later, we realised that the whole world was actually closed for the first time in history.
It was pretty scary. But something happened. We have always crafted between 15 and 20 watches a month since 2013. For the last 10 years, we have sold out, meaning what's sold by our retailers is more or less what we deliver. It's always been that way. In April 2020, the sales were 12 pieces. In May 2020, it was 20. In June, it was 30, the highest we've ever had. We could not deliver more between our lockdowns and our suppliers being closed. What was very traumatic and terrifying ended up being our best year ever — the demand for our pieces went completely crazy.
But you couldn’t meet the demand, could you?
We don't want to grow and I said this in 2013 [that was when my first daughter was born] — I said the company is not growing. We stayed at the same level for all these years but the demand went completely crazy. Of course, when the secondary market price of our products started getting close to primary market retail… Before, we had only crazy lovers who are buying our products. They were lovers because they really loved what we did. But honestly, if you wanted to resell one [before the pandemic], it was not easy. And you will probably lose a lot of money. Like most high-end products in those days.
But a year ago, suddenly you could buy one of my pieces — if you could get one — wear it for a couple of years and resell it for what you paid. Imagine you buy a Ferrari, drive it for 20,000km and then resell it for the price you paid, it’s like free. And then not only crazy lovers started getting interested in the brand, but also those I call pragmatic lovers. But they were not ready to lose their shirts and I get that completely. But suddenly, it went from one person interested in the brand to five to 10. That's five to 10 times my production.
I was still not growing. I don't want to grow. It became insane with an insane waiting list. Hundreds of people here in Singapore are on the waiting list and so we had to rethink our brand and our company. We have a 10- to 18-year waiting list. If I had a child today and ordered the watch, they would get it around when they graduate. That's if we don't grow, so we had to start deciding to grow minimally — a little bit just to be able to welcome some new clients. When I saw that the demand was going crazy, I didn't have to travel anymore, I had time on my hands. So I spent a lot of that time with the family and I had more time to create.
We've got all our product plans until 2030 fixed. For the next eight years, we know everything that is coming out. At the moment we don't have the means, the energy, or the manpower to transform all my ideas into reality. Also, when you have a high waiting list for your existing products, every time you come out with a novelty, your clients who are on the waiting list hate you. They tell me, ‘Dude, just make my watch. Don't come up with something new. Just make my watch’. We don't want to antagonise our clients either.
Tell us about your long-standing relationship with The Hour Glass.
It all started 24 years ago when I had taken over Harry Winston timepieces and I needed to find retailers. I got an appointment with Dr Henry Tay [Michael's dad] and he listened to my story. I told him about Harry Winston and revealed to him about my timepiece operation that I had been dreaming about and my plans.
I was only 31 years old. I was completely terrified, completely overwhelmed. During that meeting, there was a youngster next to him called Michael who just joined the company in Singapore. Henry looked at Michael and said, ‘Okay, we'll take on this brand as a leap of faith.’ He told Michael to go ahead and order the pieces. That was the first time I met Michael. In November 2005, [I showed him] my design of my MB&F HM1 and asked, ‘Look Mike, would you like to take on the brand?’ And he agreed.
I said, ‘I've got a big problem. I don't have money. Would you agree to pay 1/3 in advance now, and I'll deliver the first pieces in two years based on a drawing?’ And he said, ‘Okay.’ These are the things you never forget. The Hour Glass became the champion of the independent [watchmakers] before anybody gave a damn about them. Honestly, they spent an insane amount of energy and money promoting us — not just MB&F but the other independent brands as well.
Is Singapore the first to open the MB&F Lab?
Yes, with two more Labs opening: one in Paris and another in Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The issue I'm having is for every Lab, of course, the local partner is telling me to send the watches. I'm trying to increase my production; last year we made 278 MB&F watches, which is the same production I had in 2013. This year, we're trying to do 350 [pieces].
It's a big step for us. But just opening these three labs, and each place wants a minimum of 10, 20 more watches. We have three Labs — meaning 60 more watches. My increase in production goes to these three Labs. And more Labs will be opening next year.
It is difficult to stay independent these days. Are you likely to stay that way and not be bought out by a huge company?
Now I'm enjoying my life as I've never enjoyed it before. I can honestly tell you the last two years have been the happiest years of my life. I was able to see my 6½- and nine-year-old daughters grow up. So, no, I am not interested [in being bought out].
We have to be careful about one thing and that is the lure of the mermaid songs that are used to attract the sailors to crash their boats onto rocks. It's this whole ‘grow, grow and become bigger’ idea. And we have to really have to be very careful of that.
I don’t want to go to a place where we're not comfortable, to go to a place where we will lose our souls. At the moment, we are very competent as small creators… We suffered so much over the years and finally, everybody loves us now. Yeah, I will resist selling.
