MB&F launches HM8 Mark 2, inspired by Porsche 918 Spyder

Hyper-cars have always been of keen interest at MB&F, especially given the fact that the brand’s founder Maximilian Büsser, dreamt of being a car designer in his childhood days. Although he couldn't become one, he has continued to keep his love for automobiles alive through watches inspired by them.

The new HM8 Mark 2 comes after a series of HM (Horological Machines) watches inspired by automobiles. The first was the HM5 in 2012, with its speedometer style display, and whose vertical jumping hours and sweeping minutes was inspired by Amida Digitrend, a timepiece revealed by the now-defunct Amida in 1976. Furthermore, the HM5’s luminescence was charged by the opening and closing slats, inspired by the slats of Bertone Lamborghini Miura. In 2015, MB&F dropped the slats in the HMX, inspired by Touring Superleggera. It had a sapphire crystal cover for the partial view on the engine beneath. And in 2016, the Can-Am cars inspired HM8 watch, featured two titanium roll bars and a sapphire crystal that allowed one to view the spinning rotor. Its movement was based on a Girard-Perregaux calibre also used as a base for the new HM8 Mark 2.

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Which brings us to the new timepiece. The technologically evolved HM8 Mark 2 body design takes its cues from the hyper-car Porsche 918 Spyder, and its sapphire crystal from the Zagato double bubble. But all in all, the watch is an amalgamation of all the three that came before it, and it draws certain aspects from all.

The new MB&F watch has a 47 x 41.5 x 19 mm grade 5 titanium case with a body panel of green or white CarbonMacrolon®, a material specially developed for MB&F - it is a composite material composed of a polymer matrix injected with carbon nanotubes, which add strength and rigidity, but at the same time, allows for colouring, polishing, bead blasting, lacquering, and satin-finishing. It also happens to be 8 times lighter than steel.

The watch features bi-directional jumping hours and trailing minutes, visible through dual reflective sapphire crystal prisms with integrated magnifying lens. There is also a “double de-clutch” system crown, which works by pushing the crown in and turning it three-quarters of a turn to release it. The timepiece comes with a three-dimensional horological engine and is powered by Girard-Perregaux base movement, powered by a 22K gold battle axe rotor (only 2/10ths of a millimetre thick) under a double-curved sapphire. This timepiece is available in white or British racing green CarbonMacrolon®. The white one comes with green CVD rotor and light green minute markers and the British racing green version comes with a red gold rotor and balance wheel and turquoise minute markers, a 33 piece limited version. A calfskin strap (white for the British green model and green for the white model with a titanium tang buckle) flanks the case. The HM8 Mark 2 is water resistant up to 30 m and has 48 hours of power reserve.