During its 15-year history, MB&F has partnered with some of the most talented watchmakers of our generation—Kari Voutilainen, Eric Coudray, Stephen McDonnell, Jean-Marc Wiederrecht and Stepan Sarpaneva, and more. Not only that, MB&F has worked with Eric Giroud and the iconoclastic Alain Silberstein to sculptor Xia Hang and contemporary painter Sage Vaughn. 

This time, MB&F worked with traditional artisans to create  LM Split Escapement ‘Eddy Jaquet’ Limited Edition. It has eight series of unique pieces that were inspired by Jules Verne. 

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

Robur The Conqueror

MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser said, “We’ve worked with Eddy for years, but getting Eddy Jaquet to engrave names on movements is like playing Für Elise on a Stradivarius violin—you couldn’t imagine a more modest use of such an amazing gift.”

“We’re brainstorming around the table, and a theme that comes immediately to mind is the writing of Jules Verne, because I’m so into science fiction, and the Legacy Machine collection that Eddy has been working on is basically the watch that I would have created if MB&F was founded 150 years ago,” he added.

Eddy Jaquet devoured the books by Jules Verne, reading up to 60 novels and short stories by the prolific 19th-century French author. The eight stories that were finally selected to be illustrated in the limited edition include some of his best-loved work such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea but also some of the lesser-known stories such as The Adventures Of Captain Hatteras. Not only that, he also viewed other secondary films or creative works based on the books. 

Jaquet took some time to practice his creativity and engraving skills. He also practiced how to use the engraving machine by LM SE. 

From the aspect of manufacturing as well, numerous changes have been made to the authentic LM Split Escapement. In order to produce the 18k red gold timepieces, it is required more than 300 hours of additional labor, and permit Jaquet to showcase his savoir-faire to the fullest. 

New, open-worked date and power-reserve subdials have been created, together with wider dial plates. The bezel was redesigned to be slimmer, and the case dimensions reworked, with the intention to make an area for the broader dial plate. Because the bezel and case dimensions have been changed, a brand new dial crystal needed to be produced, with a much less suggested curve to the dome, because its diameter has now increased.

To completely convey every illustrated scene, Jaquet implemented a darkish rhodium alloy via means of hand, adjusting the shading of every element in line with the exigencies of the scene. The smoke of the hearthplace on the Michel Strogoff dial, for example, required an attenuated touch, even as the underground sea depicted on the Journey To The Centre Of The Earth dial integrated gradient-shading techniques.  Between the remodel of some of the additives and the real execution of the engraved dial itself, over three hundred hours of extra labor have been required for every specific piece of the LM SE Eddy Jaquet Limited Edition.