There are not a huge number of watch launches where collectors and enthusiasts of all stipes come together in agreement about what is exciting and hype. These sorts of cultural moments of collective anticipation are few and far between. Over the past few years, the ones that stand out to me are the love-hate relationship with the MoonSwatch, Studio Underd0g’s highly anticipated new releases and MB&F stepping into the accessible game with the launch of the M.A.D.Editions. It’s the latter that takes our focus today with the announcement of a new M.A.D.Editions collaborative limited edition, the M.A.D1S ‘Grow Your Dreams’ with Yinka Ilori, a British-Nigerian artist.
Mechanically the watch is based on the M.A.D1S that was released exactly a year ago. That means proportions of 42mm x 15mm, which is actually a much slimmer interpretation of the design compared to the original. It’s still substantial but that’s important because of the unique way the watch displays the time with its peripheral hours scale built into the caseband.
What the collaboration with Yinka Ilori brings to the table is a revitalised and refreshed aesthetic. Yinka’s art style embraces vibrant colours and natural motifs as a celebration of personal and literal growth. His work is an ode to dedication and perseverance, which is why his motto, ‘Grow Your Dreams’, lends itself to the collection. That aspect can be most readily seen in the redesigned rotor that occupies the majority of the display space on the watch, now featuring an open-worked cutout of a tree on each of its three arms along with one of the words from his motto.
In terms of colour, there are three versions being produced, each in a limited edition of 400 pieces. There’s Nature, Sun and Water, which are fairly self-explanatory with their rotors in green, yellow and blue respectively. Additionally, they each feature different coloured PVD accents below the rotor and for the first time in the M.A.D.Editions collection a coloured bezel made with HyCeram – a high-tech form of liquid ceramic that is thermally hardened and then hand-polished. The vibrant colours also extend to the intentionally mismatched straps.
A final detail is the typography for the time scale, which was also developed by Yinka, building on the bold style of the piece. The time scale rotates around the caseband and is controlled by the modified La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement with 68-hour power reserve. A popular movement that allows the M.A.D1S ‘Grow Your Dreams’ to be relatively accessible in comparison to MB&F’s more extreme horological creations, which is entirely the point – allowing friends and family of the brand to actually afford one of their watches.
Because of the intention of creating the M.A.D.Editions for friends and family, the 1,200 watches (split evenly across colours) are available initially to the MB&F Tribe, which is what they call that group of close friends. Following that initial release, the remaining watches will be made available to the public via a raffle system that opens for registration on September 2nd and closes September 8th. It’s priced at CHF 3,200 + VAT (approx. £2,950). Between the bright designs and wholesome message at the centre of the design (not to mention M.A.D’s track record), I expect the raffle to be highly competitive.
Price and Specs:
More details at MB&F.
