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A Closer Look at the MB&F Horological Machine 9 Sapphire Vision HM9-SV Watch

MB&F Horological Machine 9 Sapphire Vision HM9-SV Watch

Aerodynamic principles became very popular in product design in the late 1950s. Curvilinear forms became more widely used while promising more power and speed. Like the HM6 Space Pirate and HM4 Thunderbolt models, HM9-SV watch also features the same dynamics of aviation and automotive mid-century watch design. The HM9 is a luxury watch and improvement of its predecessors with its complex geometrical combination of titanium, sapphire crystal, and gold case elements.

This highly complex case perfectly encloses an equally complex in-house watch movement. The central body decently reveals the HM9-SV engine's gearbox, and twin balance wheels revolve independently on each flank of the Horological Machine watch. The case is also sealed using a great combination of three-dimensional patented high-tech bonding gaskets. Here, we will take a closer look at the MB&F Horological Machine 9 Sapphire Vision Watch.

Overview

The latest addition to the MB&F series is the might and colorful Horological Machine 9 "Sapphire Vision." This watch was first released in 2018 and was popularly known as the HM9 "Flow." Over the years, the Geneva-based watch manufacturing company MB&F has become one of the leading brands in manufacturing Horological timepieces. Back then, most people were against the "weirdly-designed" MB&F products that were only dedicated to their fans.

However, all this changed with the release of appealing and high-performance watches such as the HM9-SV. With the launch of the Horological Machine 9, MB&F claims to maintain Max Busser's high product quality and originality standards. According to Mbandf, only five pieces of the HM9-SV watch have been released, with all of them featuring the aviation and automotive design of the 1940s and 50s.

The Sapphire Version

The most notable design in the MB&F HM9' Sapphire Vision" watch is the 18k red gold case perfectly adorned with a PVD-coated purple engine. The case design of the HM9 is quite similar to that of the HM4 Thunderbolt but with more advanced and accurate movement. The HM9's movement is controlled by dual spinning balance wheels connected through a planetary gear. The visual animation of the dual balance wheels oscillating is very authentically satisfying.

Furthermore, the MB&F Horological Machine N°9 watch comes equipped with a new mechanical feature that comprises a set of geared turbine propellers perfectly mounted to the underside of the regulation systems. These spinning turbines, which look like an automatic winding system, are just a fun feature and not connected to the watch's manual movement.

Specs

According to Ablogtowatch, below are some of the notable features in the watch:

  • Case: Sapphire Vision edition in sapphire crystal with 18K red or white gold frame
  • Case Dimensions: 23mm x 47mm x 57mm; 52 components
  • Caseback: Three sapphire crystal case parts with a patented 3D gasket and high-tech bonding components
  • Dial: Hour/minute function in sapphire crystal with Super-LumiNova on the indexes and numbers
  • Crystals: five sapphire crystals with anti-reflective treatment.
  • Movement: Manual winding in-house movement; dual independent spherical turbines with planetary differential.
  • Power reserve: 450hour with single barrel
  • Frequency: 2.5Hz (18,000 bhp0
  • Watch resistance: 30m (3ATM)
  • Strap: Hand-stitched black or brown alligator strap with a white or red gold folding buckle matching the case.
  • Price: $400,000

Case

The "SV' in the new MB&F watch indicates Sapphire Vision and is usually used to denote special model of the brand's watches that come with crystal sapphire case components. The use of sapphire crystal cases is becoming increasingly popular among high-end timepieces. To date, the new Horological Machine 9 watch is probably the most ambitious SV watch ever released by MB&F Company. For instance, the brand planned to develop a "three-dimensional gasket" that passes through some of the sapphire case parts to help the watch wearers keep water and dust out of the timepiece. This move is ambitious since gaskets are usually flat, but the brand MB&F wanted to develop a three-dimensional one.

Compared to stainless steel cases, the sapphire crystal cases use a different technique to assemble, such as not tightening the screw down to avoid the sapphire from shattering. The case also includes gold metal segments. The purple version of the Machine-SV watch has an 18K white gold case material, while the other version has an 18K red gold case construction. Despite all these special and precise case engineering and construction, the watch has a water-resistance rating of 30 meters. The case size measures 23mm-wide, 47mm wide, and a lug-to-lug distance of 57mm. While the case is visually long and appears odd, it wears comfortably on the wrist.

Movement

In addition to the watch's fancy appearance, it comes fitted with an in-house manual-winding movement with hours and minutes functionality. The movement is set in a horizontally oriented display that perfectly indicates the time via hours and minutes on a small dial that point towards the face of the wearer.

There is also a transparent Arabic numerals dial hour ring that also features the sporty hour and minute hands. The timepiece movement comprises more than 300 symmetrical components and features two distinctive raised spherical turbines. The dual balance wheels operate at a frequency of 18,000 BPH (2.5Hz) and have a power reserve of 45 hours. Thanks to the complex construction of the sapphire case, most of the watch's 300 components can be seen over the transparent dial.

Unlike its preceding models, the new MB&F Horological Machine 9 Sapphire Vision watch features a more expressive design. This is evident with the inclusion of two independent balance wheels to help collect discrete sets of chronometric data. It's later translated to produce an average time reading. The two balance wheels are oscillating perfectly in phase. It is a guarantee that the same chronometric data will be obtained at every point. Moreover, the new HM9-SV watch can average the time measurement from the twin balances with the help of the gearbox of the movement and planetary differential, which transmits the final time reading to the perpendicularly oriented dial.

Price and Availability

While most of the MB&F timepieces are manufactured in small numbers, HM9-SV is a limited edition with just five pieces of four different colors presented for sale. According to Revolution Watch, the MB&F Horological Machine 9 Sapphire Vision will be sold at an average price of $440,000.

Lily Wordsmith

Written by Lily Wordsmith

Lily Wordsmith is a freelance writer who has had a love affair with the written word for decades. You can find her writing blog posts and articles while sitting under a tree at the local park watching her kids play, or typing away on her tablet in line at the DMV. In addition to her freelance career, she is pursuing ebook writing with an ever-growing repertoire of witty ebooks to her name. Her diversity is boundless, and she has written about everything from astrobotany to zookeepers. Her real passions are her family, baking desserts and all things luxe.

Read more posts by Lily Wordsmith

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