Zach Blass MB&F will kick things off with SP One with a new special project collection with designs that don’t fit any category in the catalog. The SP is the slimmest and smallest MB&F watch ever made, measured at 38mm x 12mm x 41.9mm. Available in 18K rose gold ($76,000) and 950 Platinum ($82,000).
All watch brands have a catalogue divided. Submariner, Daytona, just date. Speedmaster, Seamaster, Devil. Black Bay and, well… more Black Bay. You get an idea. MB&F is a brand that doesn’t have a range of artistry and can lead to endless creativity with most traditional playbooks. MB&F leaks craft into two segments. A sculptural and atypical shaped watch machine born from the theme. And a legacy machine that packages highly complex unadorned movements into a circular case.
However, according to MB&F, the idea did not apply to either of the two segments mentioned above, so over the years many of the concepts have not become production. Branded Solution: Create a third with zero parameters. So introducing a special project collection is the new MB&F SP One.
Have you ever asked yourself what an MB&F dress watch looks like? MB&F, of course, can’t make anything that fits the standard perfectly, but SP is really the answer. What they managed to do is their slimmest and smallest watch, still retaining the key signature of the brand’s aesthetic. That means the big balance wheel, tilted dial, and the actual depth and layered caliber are nowhere to go. However, these elements are packaged within a case with only 38mm diameter, 12mm thick (including dome-shaped sapphire crystal), and only 41.9mm lagtoo lugs.
At first it may look like a simple and refined case, but there is a “delicately peeled” rug with a crown at the 10 o’clock position and a small gap in the case. It creates this intriguing cradle effect – and MB&F is about visual conspiracy, even if it is brought in a subtle way. As for the size, although it is a few millimeters thick due to the brand signature retention, it is very in line with the dimensions of a modern dress watch. To put that into perspective, it is 4mm smaller in diameter and 0.3mm thinner than the MAD2.
SP can be used in two configurations. This is an 18K rose gold model with anthracite flange and a 950 platinum model with a sky-blue flange. Both show hours and minutes on a tilted black subdial at 6 o’clock, with the rest of the normal dial space providing a complete view of the triangular caliber floating within the case. Front, except for hours and minutes, you can see the MB&F signature balance wheel working on the top right and the skeletonized barrel revealing the main spring that can provide a 72-hour power reserve in the top left.
The back shows the gear train and remaining escapements, with the scattering of cocks and bridges showing the elements served in all the hand of the movement. Polished bevels, interior angles, large gem chat, handmade sculpture sits on the background of satin, polished, microbud plate surfaces.
Having experienced it with metals, I could only resent that I couldn’t spend more or more on this “simple” double lattice at least 76,000 USD (before tax). But please don’t cloud my judgment. The MB&F SP One is meticulous, intricate design that approaches the traditional dress watch line, and it leaves you away with all the talents that have come to respect MB&F. It’s brands of Calatrava, Child Meat and Altiplano, but still doesn’t look like them.
MB&F Special Project SP 1 Price and Availability
MB&F SP One is now available for purchase. Price (excluding VAT): 76,000 US dollars (18K rose gold), 82,000 US dollars (950 platinum)
Brand MB&F Model SP 1 Case Dimensions 38mm(d) x 12mm
