At Baselworld 2019, MB&F presented its first diamond-set three-dimensional horological art piece dedicated to women – Legacy Machine FlyingT. In 2020, this admirable innovation sheds its diamonds and embraces its natural self with two 18-piece limited editions: one in red gold with black guilloché dial (Night) and one in platinum 950 with sky-blue guilloché dial (Day).
The massive aesthetic appeal in the watch is emitted from the petite 38.5mm × 20mm case and an exuberant black or sky-blue dial with guilloche decoration. For this release, watchmaker Kari Voutilainen has lent his savoir-faire particularly in the creation of the dial plates, giving the watch a nice modern, artistic twist. Created exclusively at Comblémine, the dial facility of Kari Voutilainen, the unique scalloped design is achieved by engraving a brass disc with a hand-guided rose engine.
Only one glittering connection to their diamond-armoured predecessors remains to the new editions of Legacy Machine FlyingT. At the top of the flying tourbillon that gives LM FlyingT its name, a single 0 .035-carat stone that rotates in time with the underlying mechanism, making one complete turn every 60 seconds. At each of the rotational angles that it undergoes — 300 per minute, as predefined by the 2 . 5Hz (18 ,000bph) balance — the diamond unleashes a new lance of prismatic light, thanks to its sharply faceted cut.
At the foot of the flying tourbillon, located at the 7 o’clock position, is a dial of white lacquer that displays the hours and minutes with a pair of blue serpentine hands. The dial is inclined at a 50° tilt so that the time can be read only by the wearer; an intimate communication that highlights the personal nature of the LM FlyingT.
Architecturally, the new Legacy Machine FlyingT is inspired by the Horological Machine collection, namely by the HM 6 series and HM 7 Aquapod. Unlike most modern watch movements, the LM FlyingT engine utilises a vertical layout. The cinematic flying tourbillon, which boldly projects beyond the dial-plate of the watch, is a visually stunning example of the rotating escapement and stands in stark contrast to other flying tourbillons, which usually do not venture past the confines of their surrounding watch dials. Flying tourbillons, as their name suggests, are anchored only at their base, with no stabilising bridge to restrict lateral motion at the top. This increased need for overall rigidity is what causes the conservative placement of most flying tourbillons within their movements. Legacy Machine FlyingT breaks free of this limiting need for movement security and confidently displays its flying tourbillon in all its glory.
An additional distinct challenge which arose in the construction of LM FlyingT was the shape of the upper tourbillon cage, which creates more mass on one side of the tourbillon than the other. In order to compensate and ensure that the mechanism remains balanced, a counterweight was hidden under the tourbillon carriage, on the opposite side of the upper tourbillon cage. In order to display the time as precisely as possible on the 50° inclined dial, conical gears were employed to optimally transmit torque from one plane to another, a solution first used in HM 6 and subsequently in HM 9 Flow.
On the caseback, the automatic winding rotor takes the shape of a three-dimensional red gold sun with sculpted rays, providing the LM FlyingT with four days of power reserve.