Fifteen years after the original Legacy Machine N°1, Max Büsser revisits one of his most remarkable creations. But the real story is not what has changed. It is what has endured.
I still remember the first time I saw an MB&F Legacy Machine. It was striking, certainly, but what stayed with me was something more profound. It felt refreshing, almost liberating, in an industry where even extraordinary craftsmanship can sometimes become constrained by familiar ideas.
I have long considered Maximilian Büsser one of the living legends of contemporary watchmaking. His imagination and determination were already evident during his years at Harry Winston, where the Opus series brought together some of the industry's most remarkable creative minds. Later, with MB&F, his Horological Machines became unapologetic expressions of mechanical imagination: extravagant, provocative, and wonderfully unconcerned with how a wristwatch was traditionally expected to tell the time. But the Legacy Machine was different.
When the LM1 appeared in 2011, what fascinated me was not simply its spectacular architecture. It was the philosophy behind it.
Here was a man whose reputation had been built on challenging convention, suddenly turning toward the very traditions that had shaped watchmaking centuries before.
And somehow, the result was just as radical.
STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
The original LM1 was Max Büsser's interpretation of what his mechanical imagination might have produced in an earlier age of watchmaking.
Its classical round case, traditional time displays, and beautifully executed movement paid tribute to the great masters of horology. Yet above those familiar elements rose an enormous suspended balance wheel, held by a dramatic arched bridge beneath a magnificent domed sapphire crystal.
It was theatrical, unconventional, and unmistakably MB&F.
For some, the design was excessive. Others questioned its proportions or dimensions. I understood those reactions, but I saw something different: a creation that celebrated the past without becoming imprisoned by it. And that is what made the LM1 so meaningful to me.
We often speak of innovation as though it requires breaking away from everything that came before. Yet some of the greatest achievements in human creativity have emerged from a profound understanding of what previous generations accomplished.
There is an old expression about standing on the shoulders of giants. To me, the Legacy Machine embodies that idea beautifully.
Büsser did not need to diminish the achievements of the great watchmakers who preceded him. He took inspiration from their work and, through his own extraordinary imagination, transformed that inheritance into something they might never have envisioned.
Perhaps that is what a true legacy becomes in the hands of a visionary: not something to preserve unchanged, but something from which an entirely new future can be imagined.
FIFTEEN YEARS LATER
Now, in 2026, MB&F has returned to the watch that began the Legacy Machine collection. And I have to say, I love what I see.
At first glance, the LM1 EVO looks remarkably similar to its predecessor. The extraordinary suspended balance assembly remains the centerpiece, the arched bridge retains its sculptural presence, and the two independent time displays continue to define the composition.
But look more closely, and the evolution becomes apparent.
The new watch feels cleaner, more contemporary, and beautifully balanced. The titanium version, with its silver-toned main plate, black subdials, and carefully measured blue accents, is particularly appealing to me.
The Roman numerals have disappeared, replaced by simpler hour markers, while the hands adopt a more contemporary, sportier character. These changes subtly shift the watch away from its overtly classical aesthetic without compromising its historical inspiration.
And then there is the power reserve indicator. Of all the visual refinements, this may be my favorite.
The original LM1 featured a remarkable vertical display, an almost architectural feature in its own right. The EVO replaces it with an inclined indication that feels more naturally integrated into the dial. It is a small change in principle, but a significant one in visual effect.
The composition seems more cohesive, allowing the different elements to coexist without competing quite so insistently for attention.
The rose gold version, with its vivid green dial plate, offers a more expressive personality. Yet both versions demonstrate the same design philosophy: refinement without surrendering character.
The LM1 EVO is not a quieter watch. It is a more confident one.
MORE THAN AN AESTHETIC EXERCISE
The evolution extends beyond the dial.
The case diameter has been reduced from 44 to 42 mm, while the manually wound movement now provides 60 hours of power reserve instead of the original 45. MB&F has also introduced a Straumann double hairspring, its FlexRing shock protection system, screw-down crowns, and 80 meters of water resistance.
These are meaningful improvements, particularly for a watch whose extraordinary architecture has never been associated with conventional practicality. But we should maintain some perspective.
At 16.8 mm thick, the LM1 EVO remains a substantial creation. Its domed sapphire crystal and exposed mechanical architecture are fundamental to its personality, and no amount of sporting refinement will turn it into an understated everyday wristwatch. Nor should that be the objective.
The real achievement is that MB&F has made the LM1 more adaptable to contemporary life without sacrificing what makes it exceptional.
Whether those improvements translate into a substantially better wearing experience is something that would require time with the watch itself. Official photographs and technical specifications can tell us a great deal, but they cannot replace that experience.
What they do reveal is a thoughtful evolution of an already remarkable design.
DID MB&F REALLY MAKE IT BETTER?
In certain respects, unquestionably.
The additional autonomy, improved protection, and reduced diameter represent genuine practical progress. Visually, I find the EVO more balanced and contemporary, particularly in the execution of its subdials and power reserve indicator.
But I would hesitate to call it an outright replacement for the original.
The LM1 of 2011 possessed a distinct personality. Its classical references, dramatic architecture, and unapologetic eccentricity belonged to the creative statement MB&F was making at the time. Those qualities were not mistakes waiting to be corrected.
The EVO offers a different interpretation of the same idea, one shaped by fifteen years of experience and a more contemporary design language. And that, to me, is what makes it so successful.
There is a tendency in the watch industry to confuse novelty with progress. Every new generation is expected to be more impressive, more sophisticated, and somehow superior to what came before. But genuine progress can be more subtle.
Sometimes it is found in the discipline to leave an extraordinary idea fundamentally intact while refining the details that surround it. The LM1 EVO does exactly that.
And perhaps there is a larger lesson here, one that extends beyond this particular watch.
The great masters of horology left behind far more than movements, complications, and technical achievements. They left a foundation upon which future generations could build.
What that foundation becomes depends on the imagination of those who inherit it.
Max Büsser has spent much of his career demonstrating what happens when mechanical knowledge meets creative freedom. With the original Legacy Machine, he showed that looking backward could be just as revolutionary as looking forward.
Fifteen years later, the EVO reminds us that the relationship between heritage and innovation is not a contradiction. It is a continuation.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of the LM1 EVO is not that it makes the original feel outdated. It is that it reminds us how extraordinary a legacy can become when someone has the vision to stand on the shoulders of giants — and the courage to look beyond the horizon they could see.
No hype. Just time.
— Mauricio Venegas
Founder & Editor, RAW TIME