Swiss watchmaker MB&F’s M.A.D.Editions line started in 2021 and has produced timepieces with a unique architecture ever since. Now, the brand has collaborated with the British Nigerian artist and designer, Yinka Ilori for a collection of three colourful timepieces - Yinka Ilori
M.A.D.1S ‘Grow Your Dreams’ - inspired by Ilori’s idea of always dreaming big.  This is the first collaboration for the artist with a watchmaker. 

“Yinka Ilori lives in a universe bursting with colour; his work makes you feel alive, like a rush of adrenaline pushing you to go further,” says Maximilian Büsser, Owner & Creative Director, MB&F. “This collaboration has created something that brings joy,
a reminder to realise your own dreams.” 

The limited collection features three timepieces in vibrant hues of yellow, green, and blue, named Sun, Nature, and Water, in that order. While in line with the inherent design of the M.A.D.Editions, the new watches have a reimagined slimmer and intricate titanium rotor with high performance rotation of 4Hz. Aesthetically, each blade of the rotor is milled with a tree motif, a signature for the artist and a symbol of hope and growth. Further, it undergoes anodization that transforms its colour to achieve the above mentioned three vivid hues. The rotor also features Ilori’s motto - Grow Your Dreams - etched on each blade, highlighted by Super-LumiNova. 

“I’ve always been obsessed with trees. Harvesting and growing them because you invest time in it. It’s pouring love into something you care about, and that starts a conversation,” says Ilori. “It’s the same for this process, and the way of thinking behind it with Max. You have to be patient and harvest a watch. There are similarities between our universes. Typically, mine are very public, but there’s something very private and public about a watch. Everyone sees it, but it’s you who has that connection with it.”

However, what stands out about all the watches is the riot of colours that features on them. Beyond the rotor, there is a coloured bezel – a first in the M.A.D.Edition line – filled with HyCeram, a high-tech liquid ceramic that hardens through heat and is then finished with hand-polishing. There is an aluminum baseplate that features a 3D wave texture visible from under the movement. Below the bezel is a rotating hours cylinder in different colours in all three models, displaying the time with Super-LumiNova filled numerals designed by Yinka Ilori. The time is pointed by a little arrow protruding from the 42 mm stainless steel case positioned at 6 o’clock. There is a crown featuring tree motifs at 12 o’clock. 

Powering these watches is the same Swiss made Manufacture movement that debuted in the M.A.D.1S models  – LaJoux-Perret G101 movement, offering a power reserve of 68 hours, visible from front and back. 

Each model comes dressed in colourful mis-matching rubber straps with stamped leaf patterns. The Sun pairs a yellow and green strap; Water comes in deep and sky blue straps; Nature comes with a bold purple and red strap. Each version also comes with a second interchangeable white strap for the understated admirers. 

Images: Courtesy Brand