The $84,000 Watch Made Especially for Lefties

It takes a strong personality to wear the six-figure watches made by MB&F. One looks like a jet pack. Another looks like an Amazonian frog with bulging orbs that look like eyes floating above the water. And then there’s the haute horlogerie division, from which came a three-dimensional jeweled owl in 18k-gold encrusted with amethysts, diamonds and sapphires.
The latest offering from the Geneva-based company is one for the south paws among us: The MB&F HM3 ReBel is oriented to be worn on the right hand. (ReBel: R for right hand, B for black case.)



HM3 ReBel has a black PVD-treated white-gold case, charcoal-colored movement plates and bridges, red hour- and minute-hands, and a 22k gold rotor. Two cones on its face indicate the hours and minutes; the hour cone is also capped by a day/night indicator.
But it’s much more than just a flashy face–it was created by a hand-plucked team of the top horologists in the world. And MB&F’s Italy-born, Switzerland-raised founder, Maximilian Büsser, chose the team himself.
No stranger to more conventional forms of timekeeping, Büsser lead Harry Winston Timepieces for seven years. By the time he got out, he wanted to make watches that could be considered pieces of art, rather than just timepieces or jewelry.

Inside the HM3 ReBel

In fact, keeping time is not the driving focus of MB&F watches at all–pushing the boundaries of design is. (One MB&F document calls the brand “a catalyst in fusing traditional high-quality watchmaking with cutting-edge technology and avant garde three-dimensional sculpture.”)

On the HM3 ReBel, for instance, the battle-axe-shaped rotor and oscillating balance on top (the watch has 36 functional jewels and 304 components in all) are completely inverted from what their placement would be on a “normal” watch. Underneath, two large, ceramic bearings inside bright blue cages transmit power up to the time indication cones and date wheel.
The caps of those cones–which are made of sapphire–are brazed to their gold rims, rather than glued, which ensures a totally waterproof watch.
The movement itself is via a 3D engine designed by Jean-Marc Wiederrecht of Agenhor (he was named best watchmaker at the 2007 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) and powered by Girard-Perregaux. The balance oscillates at 28,800 bph.
Only 18 HM3 ReBel watches will be made. They are being sold in conjunction with Laurent Picciotto, who founded the iconic Parisian watch boutique Chronopassion. (Picciotto is the guy you see wearing the watch on in the slideshow above.) Two of the watches will be sold there; others will be sold at MB&F retailers worldwide.