Today, MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO (Short for Maximilian Büsser & Friends) is releasing a new take on its most complicated watch – the L MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO . Well, more like a new color and case material, but it’s still cool as ever. The watch takes everything we have come to recognize from past MB&F designs and melds it with a longstanding tradition of mechanical watchmaking.

In doing so, it continues in a now decade-long tradition of positioning the Legacy collection as the most true to classic watchmaking. The EVO (short for evolution) sub-collection takes the concept and makes it a bit (okay, a lot) sportier.
The first MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO was released almost exactly one year ago. That first watch was – to the naked eye – virtually identical to this one with the same 44mm case. Where the two iterations diverge are in dial color and case material. The 2020 variation was fashioned from zirconium while this piece is made from titanium (MB&F is making it clear they don’t want to use steel here). There were three dial colors for the zirconium release, including what the brand calls “atomic orange.” The new titanium model’s dial comes in one color, and one color only – 2021 green.

If only to add absurdity to the mix of high and low, this astoundingly complex timepiece is connected to an integrated rubber strap. The watch has no bezel, and the domed sapphire crystal is fused into the case itself. This means that the glass covers the entire top-most portion of the watch. It has no frame. This is in an effort to improve the viewing experience of the dial below (and also a great excuse to be able to use the word fusion … and mean it).
This is high watchmaking hiding in plain sight as a sports watch. As such, MB&F have seen fit to give this a screw-down crown, and 80m of water resistance as a result. Furthermore, the brand has implemented a new shock system called the “FlexRing” designed to protect the – wait for it – 581 (I can’t capitalize numbers for emphasis) different components.

While press releases can be a bit over the top at times, I do appreciate a good line now and again. Here, MB&F delivers a great one in saying, “The MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO is not a watch for sports. It is a watch for life.”
In all, we are looking at a facsimile of an existing watch. Just imagine you had different color paper in the printer. James did a nice write up of the first MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO here.

I have really come to appreciate MB&F’s position in the watch world. Are the designs necessarily something I would buy? At this point in my watch journey, not likely. I just don’t know if I have confident enough wrists (or a big enough checkbook). But learning and writing about the brand has given me a great appreciation for what it does. There’s a lot of sameness out there, folks, and for the most part, Büser and friends are constantly looking at ways to be anything but the same. This is the same brand that makes watches that look like a frog, for crying out loud. It’s actually astounding that the design diversity includes pieces as traditional as this new MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO .

The watch strikes a chord for me because it brings many recognizable design traits from the brand, including that hovering balance wheel, and manages to fill the large 44mm dial with four subdials and a window into the movement underneath. Having not seen this in the metal, it’s hard to say just how big this wears, but I certainly give it a pass on the size just due to the sheer amount of information packed into this dial. Also 44mm feels right for a watch trying to be as sporty as this watch is.

This new piece is sure to be light in the hand despite its heavy looks due to the use of titanium in the case construction. In addition, it feels only right that MB&F has chosen to create this watch with a green dial. It is 2021 after all. I for one look forward to the day when I can see this one in person. The watch comes in about $10k more than last year’s release, with a listed price of $176,000. Word to the wise: The zirconium models sold out within hours last year, so I suggest you act fast.
You’ve got to hand it to MB&F, as well: This is as much a show in watch design as it is in movement technology. According to the brand, the LM Perpetual utilizes what it calls a mechanical processor made up of a series of superimposed disks. As MB&F explains it, “This revolutionary processor takes the default number of days in the month at 28 – because, logically, all months have at least 28 days – and then adds the extra days as required by each individual month.” Watchmaking is just so cool, isn’t it?