The Dubai Watch Week (DWW) today witnessed the Middle East launch of two new models in MB&F’s award-winning Legacy Machine Perpetual Calendar series.

First launched in 2015 in red gold and platinum editions, the LM Perpetual is now available in two white gold editions: a limited edition with purple face, and a non-limited edition with grey face.

MB&F (Maximilian Busser and Friends) is a Swiss watch brand founded by Maximilian Busser in July 2005. 

With Legacy Machine Perpetual, MB&F and independent watchmaker Stephen McDonnell have reinvented one of the most complex traditional watchmaking complications: the perpetual calendar.

The brand believes that it has found the perfect solution for reliability issues facing perpetual calendar watches with this creation.

McDonnell narrated the passionate story behind the exclusive watch - the struggle and the success – at the Creative Hub at DWW and drew much appreciation from watch connoisseurs and the audience for the achievement.

The LM Perpetual features a visually stunning in-house movement, developed from the ground up to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional perpetual calendars. The 581-component, fully integrated and purpose-built movement of Legacy Machine Perpetual has been designed for user-friendly and trouble-free use, said Busser. 

Thanks to an innovative “mechanical processor”, no more skipping dates or jamming gears, and the adjuster pushers automatically deactivate when the calendar changes, he said.

The fact that the new complication looks sensational and can be fully appreciated dial-side is just one of the many benefits offered by the new movement, he said.

The perpetual calendar is one of the great traditional complications, calculating the apparently random complexity of the varying numbers of days in each month – including the 29 days in February during leap years. But traditional perpetual calendars do have a few drawbacks: dates can skip; they are relatively easy to damage if adjusted while the date is changing; and the complications are usually compromises of modules powered by base movements, Busser said.

Traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms use a 31-day month as the default and basically "delete" superfluous dates for the months with fewer days – by fast-forwarding through the redundant dates during changeover. A traditional perpetual calendar changing from February 28 to March 1 scrolls quickly through the 29th, 30th and 31st to arrive at the 1st.

LM Perpetual turns the traditional perpetual calendar system on its head by using a “mechanical processor” instead of the conventional space-consuming grand levier (big lever) system architecture. The mechanical processor utilises a default 28-day month and adds extra days as required. This means that each month always has the exact number of days required; there is no fast-forwarding or skipping redundant days. And while the leap year can only be set on traditional perpetual calendars by scrolling through up to 47 months, LM Perpetual has a dedicated quickset pusher to adjust the year.

With its open dial revealing the full complication and suspended balance, it's the harmonious mechanical beauty of LM Perpetual that really steals the show. And in an interesting technical twist, that eye-catching balance hovering on high is connected to the escapement on the back of the movement by what is likely to be the world's longest balance staff.

Using an innovative system developed especially for Legacy Machine Perpetual, the subdials appear to "float" above the movement with no visible attachments. The skeletonised subdials rest on hidden studs, which is technically impossible with traditional perpetual calendar mechanisms because they would block the movement of the grand levier.

The LM Perpetual 18k white gold (purple face) is a limited edition watch with 25 pieces and the 18k white gold with grey face is a non-limited edition. 

The prices start at Dh577,200 ($157,000).