The eight new watches bring to life the works of renowned 19th century French author Jules Verne through intricate engravings
September 23, 2020: Bringing an element of storytelling to horology, MB&F and Switzerland’s master engraver Eddy Jaquet have teamed up to create eight new timepieces. This one-of-a-kind, limited edition series of watches incorporates the iconic works of 19th century science-fiction French author Jules Verne.
The celebrated author was the inspiration for the Legacy Machine and coming to a consensus was easy since Mr. Jaquet is an expert on the subject. Given its wide expanse of surface for detailed engravings, the brand’s Legacy Machine Split Escapement (LM SE) was the obvious choice. Mr. Jaquet read and re-read upto 60 novels and short stories by Verne and narrowed down to eight written works - Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, Around the World in Eighty Days, Five Weeks in a Balloon, The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Michael Strogoff and Robur the Conqueror. Drawing inspiration solely from reading the source books and viewing any other secondary films or creative work based on the books, the illustrations are completely original and not conceived from any pre-existing art.
Each engraving is an intricate tableau of scenes and key moments from the stories, synthesised in the imagination of Mr. Jaquet and designed to be interpreted through the medium of the LM SE engine. Mr. Jaquet used several techniques to bring out the scenes perfectly. The smoke of the fire on the Michel Strogoff dial, for example, required an attenuated touch, while the underground sea depicted on the Journey To The Centre Of The Earth dial incorporated gradient-shading techniques. Mr. Jaquet frequently uses darkening treatments as a means to draw the eye to certain elements in his dials and to enhance the dramatic rendering of a scene.
Numerous changes were made to the original design of the watch to maximise the space for engraving such as creating new, openworked date and power-reserve subdials with wider plates, slimming the bezel and producing a new crystal dial. Each of the eight unique pieces comes in an 18K redgold case. The watches are equipped with LM SE movement developed for MB&F by Stephen McDonnell and have a power reserve of 72 hours.
These stunning works of art by Mr. Jaquet lend a classical touch to the usually modern or retro MB&F timepieces. Appreciators of literature and art can spend hours trying to absorb and understand each tiny detail in the scenes created by the engraver.
Priced at $162,000, the series is already sold out in pre-launch sales, according to MB&F.
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