Five years ago, when it was launched, the LM Perpetual was MB&F’s most complicated watch, a timekeeping marvel powered by an ingenious movement that combined a split escapement with a novel perpetual calendar mechanism, conceived for MB&F by the acclaimed Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell.
Today, MB&F has reworked this fabulous watch to create a sportier and more robust successor, the Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO. The new LM Perpertual EVO features a superb 44mm case crafted from zirconium, an eye catching, silvery-grey material with properties that surpass stainless steel and titanium, offering increased water resistance and even more strength and durability.
Zirconium is not commonly used in the watchmaking world, because it can spontaneously ignite in its powdered form, making it highly dangerous to work with, but its hypoallergenic and anti-microbial properties make it the perfect material for an active-lifestyle watch.
The new EVO case features a no-bezel construction that emphasizes openness and extreme clarity, with a domed sapphire crystal joined directly to the case. This open design highlights the beautiful balance between the clarity of the perpetual calendar indications and the signature MB&F hovering balance wheel.
This no-bezel design required the use of a sophisticated thermal bonding system to make sure the sapphire crystal is perfectly joined to the zirconium case. The circular pushers which help you adjust the award-winning perpetual calendar have been also enlarged into double-sprung oblong actuators for more tactile comfort and easier use.
The Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO also comes with a screw-down crown that helps this watch achieve 80m of water resistance, a first for any MB&F creation. There’s also a FlexRing dampener, machined from a single block of stainless steel and fitted right between the case and the complex movement of this watch, to ensure shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes.
Stephen McDonnell’s innovative perpetual calendar acts like a mechanical processor with a series of superimposed disks. This revolutionary design marks the default number of days at 28 and then adds the extra days needed for every single month, replacing traditional calendar constructions in a surprising way.
MB&F will offer the Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO in three superb versions, black, blue and atomic orange, with an integrated rubber strap and a titanium folding buckle. Priced at $167,000, each version of this high-end piece of Swiss watchmaking will be produced in a limited-run of just 15 units.
