Over my time writing this blog, I have had some wonderful opportunities to meet and speak with people from the world of watches, as well as to be able to visit a few different brands and watchmakers. You can find some of these in earlier articles, such as Blancpain, Laurent Ferrier and the most recent of which was almost a year ago, visiting Cédric Johner, also in the area of Carouge, just outside the centre of Geneva.
Visiting different brands and watchmakers, and getting to witness first-hand what they do, is something I really enjoy. There is nothing quite like it to garner a deeper appreciation for just what it is that goes into making these things we all so enjoy: whether it be the smell of the workshop, watching a demonstration of a process, or simply spending a minute or two watching an incredibly skilled watchmaker polish a tiny component by hand.
Every brand is of course different in their approach, and so when in 2022 MB&F announced that they were moving their operations into a protected, magnificent-looking three-storey villa in Carouge that was built in 1907-1908, it was immediately a place I wanted to visit.
MB&F is a brand which completely changed my entire perception and paradigm about what a watch can actually be, owing to the unparalleled design and creativity of founder Max Büsser (who was himself generous enough to be the first person I ever interviewed on Watch Affinity!); I was keen to see how this ethos might translate into the day-to-day operations of a watch brand given the requirements of a facility manufacturing high-end watches.
And, finally, a few weeks ago on a visit to Geneva, I finally got to do just that!
A Visit to the MB&F MAD House
The MB&F MAD House in Carouge, just outside Geneva
Even walking up the driveway when arriving at the MB&F MAD House induced a sense of excitement. It’s funny how for such a contemporary and modern brand, such a traditional, 116-year-old villa can be such a perfect location. For me, a massive part of what MB&F as a brand is, is that it both accommodates and respects traditions and doing things “right” and yet consistently finds ways to fuse this so eloquently with modernity as well.
I think the MB&F MAD House is the absolute embodiment of this ethos.
On arriving, we were greeted in the reception area and offered a drink whilst we started to admire our surroundings. The herringbone wooden flooring along with the wooden panelling, door frames and ceilings all exuded the character promised by the outside, all perfectly complimented by the Jean Kazès clock on the wall and the modern design of the reception space; we were even told that behind the white wall of the reception desk was an original fireplace!
Across the three floors, which have an increasingly smaller footprint the higher up you go, the team had been spread out and located with careful consideration as to their work – for example, the watchmaking teams needed the most space, and ideally the smallest amount of distance to travel between teams (a practical way to minimise the risk of dropping trays of tiny components whilst moving from one team to another, or up and down flights of stairs!)
We made our way through each of the rooms downstairs, seeing the watchmaking teams and the processes behind creating the various calibres and components that MB&F requires. It was astonishing to see, particularly when we were shown a high-speed microscope/camera which was used to analyse the performance of calibres in action – this camera with its extremely high rate of frames per second enables the team to see how the calibre was working in super slow motion, identifying any potential flaws before reaching the stage of manufacturing. This level of attention to detail is unlike anything I have seen elsewhere, and I would posit is the kind of thing which helps MB&F achieve such high reliability with their calibres, noting every new watch pretty much represents an entirely new calibre!
The next room we entered had a team of watchmakers assembling different calibres for customers’ watches. I never like to spend too much time in these rooms as I feel like I am somewhat of an unwanted distraction(!), but I have always found that watchmakers I have visited are so accommodating and happy to talk about what it is they are putting together.
On display at the side of this room, I noticed something which really served to illustrate just how complex this work is – presented in a large acrylic block was an “exploded” watch movement, showing all of the components which go into MB&F’s 2022 GPHG Aiguille d’Or winning Legacy Machine Sequential Evo Chronograph, a calibre crafted by watchmaker Stephen McDonnell, and it was simply incredible to see in this way.
As a quick side note, Stephen McDonnell presented the most incredible talk at Dubai Watch Week in 2023 – if you haven’t already seen it, I strongly encourage you to give it a watch here:
Stephen McDonnell "Trials and Tribulations of Watch innovation", Dubai Watch Week 2023
The second floor of the MAD House is home to the design team, working to bring the MB&F creations to life, which includes the use of 3D printing to check things such as case design, wearability etc. The walls were adorned with some of the original sketches of the HM10 Bulldog, and I found it fascinating to be able to see the journey from inception to final product through these sketches, original 3D-printed case designs, and later once we had finished the tour, the HM10 watch!
Finally, we made our way to the top floor, which is where Max himself shares his office with his business partner Serge, with whom we were able to have a chat about the villa, and what the team had done in bringing the MAD House to life.
The original search for MB&F to move premises was started in 2019, before it was put on hold at the beginning of 2020. Originally, the villa itself was discounted given its state of repair alongside the perceived complexities of renovating it such that it could house a high-end watch manufacture. That said, something about it had obviously struck a chord with the team as they went back for a second look, and eventually the team decided that this was the right place to become the home of MB&F.
There were to be extensive renovations to the villa required, both inside and out, with the added complexity of the villa being a protected building. All told, it took the team about 18 months to bring their vision of the MB&F MAD House to life, and I think they have done the most incredible job.
After we finished our tour, we returned downstairs to the reception area, passed the magnificent Jean Kazès clock on the wall – I took the chance to get a much closer look this time, and I think it may have even had a hint of MB&F design incorporated into it, evoking (at least to me!) the curved bridge which supports the balance-wheel on the Legacy Machine watches. You can read more about my previous visit to Jean Kazès’ atelier here.
To conclude our visit, we got hands-on with a few incredible MB&F timepieces, before making our way back into central Geneva.
In Summary
I absolutely loved visiting the MB&F MAD House – as always seems to be the case, Max and his team have absolutely knocked it out the park. In my opinion, the MAD House is everything you could hope for it to be, and beautifully represents and embodies the MB&F brand. It is a celebration of the brand’s story to date, and I think the MAD House is the perfect home from which the brand can embark on its exciting future.
A huge thank you to Thibault at MB&F for your kind hospitality, taking the time to speak with us and show us around the MAD House. To learn more visit mbandf.com or follow MB&F on Instagram
If you have any questions, please get in touch via our Contact page, or via our Instagram.
You might also be interested in:
- In Conversation with Max Büsser
- Dubai Watch Week 2023 – a Retrospective
- Spotlight: Jean Kazès
- Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
- Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)
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