Hands-On The Salmon-Dialed MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual Calendar

I mean that literally. After my first appointment of the day, I absconded for about an hour and a half to the new home of Max Büsser & Friends' workshop in Geneva. After a short car ride I arrived at a house more than three centuries old on the southern edge of the city, a location the company has called home since late last year. 

The building has a lot of the original finishing and woodwork; the entry featured a classic wood staircase with carved newell posts. Up a half a flight of stairs hung a clock by famed maker Jean Kazes. But it was what was on display at the base of the stairs that was what I really had hoped to see: the new steel Legacy Machine Perpetual Calendar with salmon dial. And man, was it everything I hoped and more.

Let's get this out of the way for all the pedants: MB&F refers to the dial plate (platine, for those who appreciate their watch lingo in its most beautiful language) as a “dial”, at least when they refer to the beautiful salmon-colored spiral sunburst finish ,above which sits about half the movement and all its important displays (and actual lacquer dials and subdials). So what if the Legacy Machine has multiple things that can be called dials? It's a salmon watch in every way that matters. 

The salmon and steel combo has always been special in watch collecting circles. But part of the appeal of those watches – especially in the vintage space – was always that the combination was pretty rare. And rare means that, by necessity, someone's left out of the club. I've finally gotten to talk to Büsser a few times over the past few days, and if I've learned anything in that short time it's that he doesn't want to make anyone feel left out.

Well, a $180,000 watch is far from fiscally inclusive – but price aside, nearly everything Büsser does is to make sure the friends, family, fans, and members of his "tribe" of owners are treated fairly. Maybe the best example is the affordable M.A.D. 1 that brought accessible pricing to fans of Max and his story (and yes, I still hope to someday win the raffle).

Making his first steel Legacy Machine with a salmon dial – and then choosing to not make it a limited edition – is the ultimate nod to true watch fans and supporters. And it is just so damn good.

This is the same fully integrated 581-component caliber designed by independent Irish watchmaker Stephen McDonnell. I believe the technical term for the way it looks is "ravishing." The movement parts stand out well above the salmon platine, finished at a higher level than I think most people talk about. Take a look at the anglage on the bridges below.

As for the concerns about the size and thickness of the watch – which on paper is quite hefty at 44mm wide and 17.5mm thick – in person it doesn't look particularly unwieldy. The only thing that might make the watch look slightly ill-fitting is the stiff strap, though this one was pulled straight out of a display and had barely broken in. I was surprised at the how thin the watch wears, with the lower lug placement and flat caseback.

Under that display caseback is more great design from Stephen McDonnell, showing that MB&F is still giving us the best of both worlds, the classic and the futuristic. 

But the movement is more simple in its function than the design might look. The power reserve indicator sits at around 4:00 on the dial, and the hours, minutes, day, month, and date are all self explanatory. But if you want to change the calendar functions you can use the corrector pushers in each corner of the watch with 10:00 moving the date, 2:00 the day of the week, 4:00 for the month, and 7:00 for the year (leap year). Much easier than using push pins.

On the whole, I see this piece as representing a genuine love of watchmaking and community. During Watches & Wonders, you start question whether certain brands are listening to what collectors actually want. MB&F is certainly driven by its founder's idiosyncratic intuition, but it always seems somehow fan-friendly. And it leaves collectors (and would-be collectors) in a constant state of wondering what'll come next.