Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. MB&F Releases a Trilogy of LM101s Transformed by Gabriel Colliard into Enamel Jungles
Colliard adapts his enamel menageries to the LM101’s architecture, while MB&F modifies the mechanical canvas to make room for his art.
Imagine an enameller offered the chance to display his work on a watch dial, only to find the canvas already bears a 3D landscape of its own. For independent artist and enameller Gabriel Colliard, the LM101’s suspended balance wheel, sculptural bridges and off-centred displays posed an unusual compositional challenge. However, in an exceptional demonstration of give and take, MB&F adapted certain features of the watch to accommodate Colliard’s cloisonné enamel landscapes. The result is three limited editions of eight pieces each, in platinum cases decorated with Colliard’s lively jungle menageries.
An unconventional canvas
Launched in 2011, the Legacy Machine family looks back to 19th-century watchmaking, reinterpreting its mechanisms and aesthetic codes through the brand’s three-dimensional lens. Introduced in 2014, the Legacy Machine 101 or LM101 compresses MB&F’s three-dimensional approach to watchmaking into a relatively compact 40mm case. With the time displayed at 2 o’clock, the power reserve at 6 o’clock and the suspended balance wheel spanning the dial from 9 to 11 o’clock, this is a challenging canvas – just ask Eddy Jaquet about his experience hand-engraving the dials of the LM Split Escapement with scenes from Jules Verne’s novels.
Creative Solutions
After studying fine arts in Argentina, Colliard moved to Switzerland in 2003 and initially worked in polishing. Seeking to bring his artistic interests closer to his profession, he trained in enamelling in Limoges, France. This led to experience in specialist workshops and at watchmaking companies, including Patek Philippe, before he went solo.
For this project, MB&F gave Colliard carte blanche, allowing him to create his own compositions. This was a genuine two-way exchange: Colliard integrated the LM101’s architecture into his compositions, working around and beneath the mechanical elements, while MB&F made important modifications to the dial. For example, the dial plate was whittled down to accommodate multiple layers of enamel, and the floating sub-dials for the time and power reserve functions were removed and replaced with longer hands.
Colliard’s initial proposals, inspired by the richly coloured cloisonné enamel dials of the 1950s, relied on a broad range of colours. MB&F suggested that instead of a wide colour palette, a dominant hue for each scene might work better.
The Fire Has the Final Say
Created using cloisonné enamel, the three dials are distinguished by a prevailing colour. The red reference features two macaws, the blue is graced with a monkey, and the green depicts a crocodile. The process begins with fine gold wires bent by hand to outline the scene. These tiny compartments are filled with enamel and fired, a step that is repeated over and over again to build colour and depth gradually.
Having agreed to paint each scene in a dominant colour made Colliard’s task even more challenging. Without strong contrasts to separate each element, subtle differences in tone, opacity and transparency are necessary to achieve contrast and depth. At approximately one enamel composition per month, the full series of 24 watches will take more than two years to complete. Although the dials share the same composition, it is impossible that two will ever be the same. As Colliard likes to say, “the fire always has the final say”.
Art on the Reverse
The ratchet wheel, visible on the reverse side of the watch, also receives Colliard’s cloisonné enamel treatment, echoing the colours and motifs from the front. Powered by the first movement entirely conceived by MB&F’s in-house engineering team, with Kari Voutilianen overseeing the finishing specifications, the power reserve of the manual-winding calibre has been beefed up from 45 to 60 hours, and the 14mm suspended balance wheel features a Straumann double hairspring. Beautifully decorated in accordance with historical pocket watch standards, the movement reveals undulating Geneva waves, hand-polished bevels, gold chatons and countersunk blued screws.
Availability & Price
The luxurious 40mm LM101 platinum case has a height of 16.55mm and is paired with a brown alligator strap and a steel folding buckle with a white gold cover. Each edition – Monkey (blue), Macaw (Red) and Crocodile (green) – is limited to eight pieces. The retail price is CHF 98,000, EUR 107,000 or USD 131,000 (all prices excl. tax). More information at mbandf.com.
