The Horological Machine No2-SV is finally released by MB&F as promised. Featuring a totally transparent sapphire case with a titanium case back, the crystal-clear watch offers a perfect work of sapphire crystal and brings us unprecedented visual access to the delicately hand-crafted movement made out of 349 components. The iconic twin dials are fancy, a finest match to the avant-courier case design and the highly engineered movement. The painstakingly hand-finished engine in its three dimensionality just looks like a suspended city.
In my past articles, I had mentioned several times that the material of sapphire is very hard to manufacture and requires sophisticated technique. While synthetic sapphire crystals have been applied in watchmaking for a long time, the use of this unmanageable material are most limited, especially in watchcase. Sapphires only reacts with acids above 300°C and has zero porosity, while its hardness is second only to diamond. That is to say, sapphire is a very attractive potential case material with such properties, the processing of which requires sophisticated diamond tools to machine and very carefully polishing to turn the naturally opaque surface transparent.
With the complex three-dimensional sapphire case, the HM2-SV is extremely scratch-resistant and enabled to keep its good looks for a very long time. The sapphire featuring a thickness of 3.6mm consists in three parts, a true incredible technical achievement. Because the watchcase is simply invisible, so we can freely enjoy the full appreciation to the nuances that are revealed in the intricate movement. As seen in the picture, a bright blue gasket is used to seal the two case halves, which is specifically designed and relate in colour to the blue discs and 22k rotor at the back. To be echoed in the sapphire theme, the twin dials – minutes and date – are also in sapphire, lightly brushed to a perfect translucency to ensure maximum light and visibility through to the movement.
The movement, developed by award-winning master watchmaker Jean-Marc Wiederrecht, incorporates a range of attractive functions: Instantaneous Jump Hour, Concentric Retrograde Minutes, Retrograde Date, Bi-Hemisphere Moon Phase and Automatic Winding. It is regulated and powered by a Girard-Perregaux oscillator and gear train, and highlights a blued 22k gold Battle-axe automatic winding rotor. Jean-Marc Wiederrecht’s highly energy-efficient Jump Hour/Retrograde mechanism is also integrated into this exceptional watch, which uses his exclusive (and patented) asymmetrical-tooth gear wheels to ensure high precision and play-free functionality.
There is only one sapphire manufacturer, Stettler in Lyss (Switzerland), can manage the work for the HM2-SV. Over 55 hours necessary just to machine and polish one base sapphire plate, and three out of four pieces break during the process (mostly due to the drilling of the holes for the screws, which induce tension and cracks)! This is why the new watch is unveiled as a very limited edition of 25 pieces.
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