Would You Buy A $120,000 Bulldog From MB&F?

I am an avid dog lover. I have been since I was just a couple of years old and my mother brought my sisters and I to visit a friend of hers who had a big dog that we loved. What we didn’t know then was that the dog had a litter of puppies. We got to pick one out and bring it home with us — that dog was my first lifetime companion for 13 years. Since then, I have always had at least one dog.  They are truly man’s best friend. So, when I got to go hands on with the new MB&F Horological Machine No. 10, Bulldog, I was thrilled.

Let’s start by saying that this may be the world’s most expensive bulldog ever, but it is also worth it for another lifetime companion. The Bulldog offers some great elements that recall the body of the beloved animal, from moveable lugs that act as legs, to stout body (case made of either rose gold or titanium), a big bubble head (high domed sapphire crystal)  and two big eyes (two aluminium cones that indicate the hours and minutes). But best of all is the power reserve  indicator: the dog’s jaw — with some pretty mighty teeth — is wide open when the watch is fully wound and begins to close as the power winds down.  The look of these teeth, both when opened and closed, is remarkable — and the placement of them is visible only to the wearer — well, unless he wants to share the view with others.Even the belly of the dog has its own message (engraved on it): “Forget the dog, beware of the owner.”

I got to handle this watch, and it wears beautifully despite its larger size (45mm diameter and 54mm face to tail). The lugs have so much leeway that they truly hug the wrist and the 45-hour power reserve is like a hidden secret that only the wearer knows. Plus, you’ve got your companion with you for almost an entire two days before having to wind Bulldog up again.

Naturally, Bulldog was conceived of by Max Busser of MB&F — the man with the incredibly imaginative mind and the desire to make the impossible  possible. Those familiar with MB&F will recognize features in Bulldog from previous collections. For instance, the suspended balance wheel extends from the Legacy Machine collection, a moveable power reserve indicator may have been inspired by the LM1 Xia Hang (with sculptured alien as the indicator), and the aluminum domes that indicate the time were first seen in the brand’s HM3 Frog watch.

MB&F Horological Machine N°10 ‘Bulldog’ is being launched in a grade 5 titanium body with blue “eyes, and in a 5N 18-karat rose gold and titanium body with black “eyes”. The titanium version is man’s lesser expensive best friend at $105,000, while the two-tone Bulldog carries a $120,000 price tag.

Of course we know that those prices have a lot of creative genius and craftsmanship behind them. The manual-winding movement of HM 10 is designed and developed in house. It consists of 301 individual parts and beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour. The watch is equipped with two crowns — one for winding and another for setting the time.

Thanks to Marc-André Deschoux / MAD LUX and RJ41, we can bring you this great video.

 

Technical Specs of HM 10, Bulldog

Horological Machine N°10 ‘Bulldog’ is available in two versions:

– Ti version: grade 5 titanium case with blue hour and minute domes;

– RT version: 18k red gold and titanium case with black hour and minute domes.

Engine

Manual-winding in-house movement

Frequency: 2.5Hz (18,000bph)

Bespoke flying 14mm balance wheel with four traditional regulating screws floating above the domed dials

Super-LumiNova on the hour and minute domes and markers

Single barrel with 45 hours of power reserve

301 components, 34 jewels

Left crown at 11 o’clock for winding; right crown at 1 o’clock for setting the time

FUNCTIONS & INDICATIONS

Hours on left dome (aluminium dome rotating in 12 hours)

Minutes on right dome (aluminium dome rotating in 60 minutes)

Power reserve indicated in 3D by the opening and closing of the jaws (end of power reserve = closed jaws).

Case

Version Ti: grade 5 titanium

Version RT: 18k 5N+ red gold and grade 5 titanium

Dimensions: 54mm x 45mm x 24mm

Water resistant to 5ATM / 50m / 160ft

Sapphire crystals

2 sapphire crystals treated with anti-reflective coating on both sides

Strap and buckle

RT version: hand-stitched brown calf-leather strap with custom-designed red gold folding buckle.

Ti version: hand-stitched blue calf-leather strap with Velcro system and titanium buckle.

 

Partial List of Friends Involved in bringing Bulldog to life

Concept:Maximilian Büsser / MB&F

Design:Eric Giroud / Through the Looking Glass

Technical and production management:Serge Kriknoff / MB&F

R&D:Simon Brette, Ruben Martinez and Thomas Lorenzato / MB&F

Movement development: Simon Brette/ MB&F

 

Case:Riccardo Pescante / Les Artisans Boîtiers

Sapphire crystals:Sylvain Stoller / Novo Crystal

Anti-refection treatment for sapphire crystals: Anthony Schwab / Econorm

Precision turning of wheels, pinions and axes:Paul André Tendon / Bandi, Jean-François Mojon / Chronode, Daniel Gumy / Decobar Swiss, Atokalpa and Le Temps Retrouvé

Springs and jumper:Alain Pellet / Elefil Swiss

Balance wheel:Andreas Kurt / Precision Engineering

Balance spring: Stefan Schwab / Schwab-Feller

Barrel: Daniel Gumy / Decobar Swiss

Plates, bridges and indexes:Benjamin Signoud / Amecap, Alain Lemarchand and Jean-Baptiste Prétot / MB&F, Marc Bolis / 2B8

Hand-finishing of movement components:Jacques-Adrien Rochat and Denis Garcia / C.-L. Rochat

PVD-treatement:Pierre-Albert Steinmann / Positive Coating

Buckle:G&F Châtelain

Crowns: Cheval Frères

Dials (hours and minutes domes):Hassan Chaïba and Virginie Duval / Les Ateliers d’Hermès Horlogers

Movement assembly:Didier Dumas, Georges Veisy, Anne Guiter, Emmanuel Maitre and Henri Porteboeuf / MB&F

In-house machining:Alain Lemarchand and Jean-Baptiste Prétot / MB&F

Quality control:Cyril Fallet / MB&F

After-Sales Service:Thomas Imberti / MB&F

Strap:Multicuirs

Presentation box:Olivier Berthon / Soixanteetonze

Logistics and production:David Lamy and Isabel Ortega / MB&F