In 2021, MB&F presented the M.A.D.1 BLUE Friends Edition, and then after almost a whole year, they launched the M.A.D.1 RED for those who couldn’t get one of the Friends Edition pieces. While the M.A.D.1 is not an MB&F Machine, but a more accessible timepiece that was created under a different brand, the idea was still generated by Max Büsser himself. The first M.A.D.1 Friends Edition literally broke the internet and it was reserved for ‘Friends’ —suppliers who help MB&F create their MB&F Machines— and to the members of ‘The Tribe’ —the owners of MB&F machines.
The Story Behind the M.A.D.1 Friends Edition
The reactions to the M.A.D.1 Friends Edition were mind-blowing in a matter of days, with thousands of comments and messages on social media, begging MB&F to make the M.A.D.1 available to the general public. Therefore, on March 22, 2022, the M.A.D.1 RED Edition was launched and a lottery was opened to give an equal opportunity to everyone to get one. More than 25,000 people registered for the lottery and if am not mistaken today a random draw was going to be executed by a computer.
Between 2020 and mid-2021, the MB&F team fine-tuned and finalized the design —and invested in the manufacturing of a few hundred pieces. The timepiece would be as creative as everything else MB&F had developed, only at a much more affordable price. It could clearly not carry the MB&F name; to keep the price accessible, the engineering, complexity, and finishing would obviously not be in the same league as MB&F’s Horological and Legacy Machines. The team chose M.A.D.Editions, linking the watch to the mechanical art universe of the brand’s M.A.D.Galleries.
The M.A.D.1 BLUE Friends and Tribe Edition was never launched per se. In June 2021, without any forewarning, it was simply presented in a short email, accompanied by a few photos, to MB&F’s suppliers and collectors. It was not announced on the brand’s website or social media channels. But that simple email generated a media storm unlike anything MB&F had ever seen.
Coming from MB&F, whose timepieces range from about $60,000 USD to $500,000 USD, the price of approximately $2,000 USD seemed impossible to believe. At the time, since the project was created purely as a thank you to all those who had helped create MB&F, it was not intended to be a business and its price did not reflect the real value of the timepiece.
This first edition of M.A.D.1 watches —recognizable thanks to its blue accents— was proposed to two well-defined groups of people: first, MB&F’s network of suppliers —the “Friends” as the brand calls them— who had been helping create their timepieces since 2005. From dial makers to hand makers, those who craft the brand’s cases, escapements, movement components, and sapphire crystals; but also to the photographers, writers, designers, and other creatives who have been part of the journey.
The second group was the registered members of “The Tribe”, the MB&F owners’ club —the collectors, the patrons who had supported the brand from the very beginning by acquiring its Horological and Legacy Machines. Incidentally, the team would decide later that Tribe members retain permanent access to future M.A.D.Editions, recognizing that MB&F would simply not exist without them.
The M.A.D.1 was conceived with the same amount of creativity as an MB&F Machine but with an additional constraint, which one could argue is even more challenging: the affordable price point. Developing a movement from scratch would clearly have been too expensive, so modifying a tried and proven base calibre was required. Among a few potential candidates, the Miyota 821A movement was chosen for its unidirectional winding system —essential for easy and high-speed rotation of the winding rotor, a key element of the M.A.D.1 design.
The case structure and time display were particularly innovative with the movement encased upside-down, allowing the watchmakers to place the specially developed triple-blade, titanium, and tungsten rotor on the dial side of the watch —a feature typical of several MB&F timepieces. The revolving hours and minutes were positioned on aluminum cylinders visible on the case band, another nod to the much-loved lateral displays seen on many MB&F Machines.
Housed in a 42 mm stainless steel case, combined with large sections in mineral glass and sapphire crystal, the M.A.D.1 was enhanced with blue or red touches and generous SuperLumiNova, also around the rotor, for hours of spinning amusement in the dark.
MB&F’s compact and highly skilled team of engineers and watchmakers create about 400 watches per year. Even though the M.A.D.1 was not as complex as what they usually work on, they still needed to modify the base movement, mount the hour and minute cylinders, the oversized rotor, encase the watch, and do the final testing. Assembling hundreds or thousands of M.A.D.1 timepieces was just unthinkable, dangerous even to the brand’s core business. After much internal debate, it was decided to respond to the mind-blowing demand for more M.A.D.1 watches, but to proceed step by step and in the fairest way possible.
M.A.D.1 RED: The First Edition Accessible to the Public
The M.A.D.1 RED was unveiled in March 2022 to the public, featuring a vibrant cherry red design. It also had its own special features, including a slimmer bezel and a more traditional round winding crown, instead of the key-like crown on the previous version. After a deeper analysis of the actual costs involved in developing, manufacturing, and servicing M.A.D.Editions, the price was adjusted to CHF 2,900 Swiss Francs —approximately $3,100 USD.
The team manufactured the first batch of 1,500 M.A.D.1 REDs. To keep things as equitable as possible, those who had previously taken the trouble to send an email to the brand, clearly expressing their interest in purchasing a possible future version, were given priority. For the rest, a raffle was opened on the brand’s e-shop where those interested could register for a free raffle ticket, to win the right to purchase one of the remaining pieces available. The MB&F team hoped that the raffle would attract maybe a few thousand aficionados. After a thorough cleaning of the list, to filter out multiple entries and bot registrations, there were 19,000 entries. The lucky winners were chosen at random via a draw —under the supervision of a bailiff— and the M.A.D.1 REDs were delivered between March and December of 2022.
The year 2022 ended with an amazing reward as the M.A.D.1 RED won the Challenge Prize at the GPHG —Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève—, awarded the year’s best watch under CHF 3,500 Swiss Francs.
Recognizing the gap between supply and demand, MB&F decided to manufacture a second batch of M.A.D.1 REDs, which were made available again via a raffle in February 2023. This time, the raffle attracted over 22,000 fans —and the lucky winners snapped up the 1,500 pieces available. Therefore, a total of 3,000 pieces of the M.A.D.1 RED were produced and delivered.
Choosing the fairest way possible to allocate the M.A.D.1s has been the subject of endless hours of internal debate at MB&F. The team felt that the usual systems —including drops, queuing endlessly in line at retail outlets, or never-ending waiting lists— were extremely frustrating for customers. It was decided that raffles were the fairest way as they give everyone a fair chance and ample time to register since the raffle registrations stay open for about two weeks.
Admittedly, no system is perfect; raffles do not totally eliminate those unsavory characters looking to flip watches for financial gain, but they remain the most impartial method for those truly interested in acquiring a M.A.D.1. They also allow sufficient time to clean the registration lists, filtering out the inevitable multiple entries and bots; the team typically spends about a week after the registrations are closed to clean the list as best as possible before the random draws take place. The draws are carried out under the supervision of a bailiff.
M.A.D.1 GREEN Edition: Third Time is a Charm
Now, the MB&F team announces the M.A.D.1 GREEN, a third edition of the M.A.D.1 wristwatch that was first presented in June 2021. After the original M.A.D.1 BLUE “Friends and Tribe Edition” and the M.A.D.1 RED, the M.A.D.1 GREEN joins M.A.D.Editions’ colorful series in September 2023. With this new choice of vivid mint green, fans and collectors who haven’t been able to acquire their own M.A.D.1 yet, will get another chance — with a little bit of luck— to be picked and join wearers of the blue and red models.
The new batch of 1,500 pieces with the green colorway will be available via the usual M.A.D.Editions’ raffle system where watch lovers can sign up for a ticket on the M.A.D.Gallery e-shop. The raffle will be open for registrations from September 12th, for two weeks, and after filtering and cleaning the list, the tickets will go into a draw —as always, supervised by a bailiff— with the lucky winners being chosen at random. Results will be announced in early October and deliveries scheduled between October 2023 and April 2024.
Not many creations can boast about being born as a scheme to say thank you. The driving force behind M.A.D.Editions was a certain frustration that not everyone could afford a high-figure MB&F timepiece, including MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser’s own friends and family; it started as a side project to thank those supporters of MB&F who have played a major role in the success of the brand.
Message from Max Büsser on the M.A.D.1 GREEN Edition
Turning the watch over reveals a cool case back with an x-grip shape that looks like four claws gripping the watch from underneath. Powering the watch is a simple but reliable automatic Japanese Miyota 821 A movement with a power reserve of 42 hours. With its unidirectional winding system, it allows the rotor to spin at very high speed contributing to the spectacle under low light conditions.
The watch is delivered with a black perforated driving strap with green contrast stitching that is secured by a deployment clasp.
To register at the M.A.D.Editions Raffle Page click here.
Sticker Price CHF 2,900 Swiss Francs —approximately $3,250 USD. For more info on MB&F and the M.A.D. Gallery click here.
