Most great watch designs start with a question like, “How can we fit a tourbillon in a case the thickness of a credit card?” or “What would a tool watch for astronauts look like?” If you’re Max Büsser, the legendary Swiss watchmaker and co-founder of indie watch brand MB&F, however, you get to dream a little bigger. Such was the genesis of MB&F’s newest creation, HM12 The Guardian, which was created to answer the question, “Wouldn’t it be cool if a watch could be the head of a robot?” (Yes, it turns out, it would.)
The product of five years of development by Büsser and MB&F designer Maximilian Maertens, the HM12 was meant to be released to mark the brand’s 20th anniversary in 2025. Instead, according to the brand, “HM12 opens MB&F’s third decade by going right back to our roots: creating mechanical objects with a soul, a sense of wonder, and strong technical substance.” The first point is a question for the ages, but the second and third are spot-on: The HM12 is an incredible feat of watchmaking that appeals to the 12-year-old kid in all of us.
A mechanical duo comprising a wristwatch and a 38-centimetre robot, the HM12 may be the most audacious thing the brand has ever made, which is saying something. MB&F (which stands for Max Büsser and friends) has spent two decades making watches that look like something you might have sketched in the back of your Trapper Keeper as a teen in the best possible way. The HM4 Thunderbolt (2010) resembled a jet fighter rendered in titanium and sapphire. HM5 (2012) was a tribute to 1970s supercars and the cult classic Amida Digitrend watch. The HM6 Space Pirate (2014) looks like a bulbous, streamlined spaceship, while the HM10 Bulldog (2020) displayed the time on a set of rotating orbs beneath a large crystal dome. Each is distinct, both aesthetically and technologically, but the thread connecting them all is Büsser’s boundless approach to watchmaking.
HM12 takes that idea as far as it’s ever gone. The face is built around two eyes displaying bidirectional jumping hours and trailing minutes, a brain in the form of a 60-second flying tourbillon, and a mouth shaped like a battle-axe, which also serves as a double-sided micro-rotor. One of the two symmetrical crowns is dedicated to winding and time-setting, while the other activates a protective shield that slides into place over the robot’s face. That mechanism alone contains over 200 of the movement’s 646 total components, a proportion that speaks to the length MB&F is willing to go for a creative flourish.
But that’s just the head.
The body of HM12 The Guardian actually contains more components than the watch itself — 755 in total — including a mechanical thermometer, articulated arms, a hidden loupe, and a UV flashlight. There’s also a hidden compartment that contains a strap for the watch. Available in three launch editions that glow with Tron-like luminescent stripes in blue, green, and purple, and limited to only 12 pieces each, HM12 The Guardian represents a raising of the bar. More than any other brand, MB&F has spent the last two decades redefining what a timepiece can be by asking — and answering — ever-more outrageous questions. As the brand enters its third decade, there’s no telling where its founders’ curiosity will take it next.
