While I was in Geneva attending Watches & Wonders 2023 at the end of March and the beginning of this month, I was invited by MB&F to come to see their new headquarters and atelier. The newly opened space is called the MB&F M.A.D. House and it was beyond a pleasant surprise and an honor to be there. While their previous headquarters were located in Old Town Geneva as part of their MB&F M.A.D. Gallery, the new MB&F M.A.D. House is located in the municipality of Carouge about 15 minutes away from the M.A.D Gallery.
Nested inside a historical home built in the 1800s and an exquisite example of architecture now about 120 years old, it took about two years for Max Büsser and his team to find this incredible and unique space.
As soon as I walked in, I was blown away —in a very positive house— by the fact that MB&F decided to take over this space and go through the necessary renovations for over a year and a half before they could move in at the end of last year. What used to be a family home is now the home of Max Büsser and Friends, still a family home where some incredible watches are designed and finished from top to bottom.
Exquisitely decorated with modern furniture, objects from the M.A.D. Gallery, their prizes from the GPHG, and one of the last incredible clocks by renowned clockmaker Jean Kazes at the bottom of the M.A.D. House’s staircase. Jean Kazes is world-renowned with clocks located at the entrance of the Patek Philippe manufacture as well as the Geneva train station, among other places. Considering that MB&F are curators of kinetic art and their timepieces are kinetic sculptors for the wrist, every corner of the space has been filled with incredible pieces of art and even some of their iconic clocks like the Medusa clock among others.
Situated in what used to be the dinning room for this incredible house, eight watchmakers work on creating the MB&F watches from top to bottom. As I walked around the space, I didn’t cease to be fascinated by the decor and the eclectic mix of modern and antique design throughout the space.
Within the MB&F M.A.D. House, all operations related to watchmaking are conducted. These operations include sketches, CAD design, 3D printing of cases to evaluate proportions, an inspection of every component that will go into the watch, color palette selection, assembly, timing, regulation, and quality control. In this new home, also all post-sales service is performed including servicing for timepieces that have not even been purchased brand new directly through MB&F.
And at the very top level is where Max Büsser’s office is located. As I was expecting from such a genius in the watch world, his office is not a corner office —as most would’ve expected— but a quiet simple space where the making happens when he is creating their kinetic sculptures for the wrist. Exquisitely decorated with a small living area at the end of the room, this space is as Zen as it gets.
Lastly, as good as MB&F is with their watches, so are they with their hospitality and the desserts. How could I not mention that this was the best bite-size lemon merengue pie I’ve ever had in my life. An incredible new space for MB&F and an extremely enjoyable visit to one of our favorite independent watchmakers.
For more info on MB&F click here.
