Destination Moon is a true collaboration between L’Epée 1839 and MB&F; the base concept originated with L’Epée movement designer and sci-fi rocket fan Nicolas Bringuet, who came up with the idea for the movement’s distinctive vertical architecture. Driven by passion, Bringuet designed the movement over one long, largely sleep-free, weekend. L’Epée then contacted MB&F wondering if some type of spacecraft might be designed around the movement and the project blasted off. MB&F intern-designer Stefano Panterotto came up with the basic shape, however it initially looked too realistically rock – et-like and that something magical was missing. Paradoxically, the answer to adding magic was in removing the skin of the rocket so it both looked more technical − helped by the per – forated Meccano-like movement plates− and acted as a framework for the viewer’s imagination. The real magic of Destination Moon is space; not the space of the cosmos above our heads, but the largely empty space that is Destination Moon. If the body of the rocket was com – pletely covered, observers would see the rocket of some – body else’s youth, but because the rocket-themed desktop clock is in reality a largely empty, perforated frame, those viewing Destination Moon are each likely to see a slightly different spacecraft: the rocket of their own childhood rather than somebody else’s… Space isn’t empty; it’s filled by imagination.

While designed by MB&F, Destination Moon was constructed by L’Epée 1839, Switzerland’s premier producer of high-end clocks. The concentric vertical construction of the eight-day movement was developed especially for Destination Moon, but it also draws strong parallels with MB&F’s recently launched Horological Machine No.7 Aquapod: while one is a spacecraft-inspired table clock and the other a jellyfish-in – spired aquatic wristwatch, both feature movements compris – ing concentric vertical architecture and both are powered from their base. Perhaps the crowning jewel of Destination Moon – its apogee if you will – is the small figure on the ladder at its base: Neil. Constructed of solid sterling silver with a stainless steel helmet and wearing a 1960s-style spacesuit, Neil brings a playful human element to the engineering of the Meccanostyle openwork of the spaceship and its clockwork. Neil magnetically attaches anywhere along Destination Moon’s boarding ladder. Whether he is embarking to take off for an adventure in space, or disembarking for an adventure on the moon’s surface is up to the individual viewer’s imagination.

Conceived and developed by MB&F, and engineered and crafted by L’Epée 1839 – Switzerland’s only specialised high-end clock manufacture – Arachnophobia is the result of MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser’s overactive imagination blending with his appreciation of art. Arachnophobia was inspired by a giant spider sculpture called Maman that Büsser had seen in both Geneva and Doha. Maman (mother in French), was created by Louise Bourgeois (1911 – 2010) in bronze, stainless steel, and marble. Measuring 9.27 x 8.91 x 10.24 metres (more than 30 x 33 feet), the monumental sculpture has been installed in a variety of locations around the world

Manufacturing realistic legs to faithfully replicate MB&F’s unusual design was no easy task. L’Epée had to find a solution for the legs that ensured that they would be both realistic-looking and articulated. The legs also had to conform to the standards of high watchmaking in that they could be nicely finished by hand. L’Epée came up with the novel solution of injection moulding metal to obtain the precise geometry needed. Injection moulding is a process of manufacturing components by injecting material (in this case metal) into a mould. The material is first subjected to high heat, then forced into the mould cavity. It then cools to the desired shape before being removed from the mould. While this is a very common process for shaping plastics, it is less common for shaping metals.

L’Epée 1839, with its new and latest partner, The Unnamed Society, whose motto is « Create the impossible that cannot be imagined », is facing a new creative, aesthetic and philosophical challenge by exploring an emerging clock concept.This timeless and unique masterpiece has not only succeeded in flawlessly combining elegance and practicality but also owns a rich story behind: Icon of the Mexican revolution, Pancho Villa has been captured many times with his rotating cannon Colt Bisley; as a revolver, it stands for an intricate mechanism with an aura of danger. As Pancho Villa’s revolver, it stands for the power of revolution, and every revolution is founded on values. The combination of a pistol and time rightly symbolizes the preciousness of every moment and the speed at which it can be stolen. In this glorious creation, ‘Pistol’ wonderfully beautifies the time through a seductive design and by means of a fascinating technical development. Holding a power reserve of 8 days and fitted with a singular butt, ‘Pistol’ is set with a canon that will be used as the rewinding point for the movement – as the owner cleans their gun each week – a functional hammer and trigger – mixing form and function has always been part of L’Epée DNA – a barrel for the hours and minutes who can be set directly, such as a sniper checking the free rotation of the barrel…

Designed by MB&F, the Starfeet Explorer is an intergalactic spaceship-cum-table clock crafted by L’Epée 1839, the last remaining Swiss manufacture specialised in high-end table clocks. Not only does it display the hours and minutes, it also features an animation in which three spacecraft perform a five-minute orbit of the station. The highly visible, super – latively finished in-house movement boasts an exceptional eight-day power reserve. The mechanism can be manually wound using a double-ended key serving to wind the move – ment as well as to set the time.

Hours and minutes are indicated by means of two discs, along with an aperture and a brightly-coloured hand. More specifically, the minutes on a revolving radar dish are read off when they appear through the centre of a fixed metal aperture, satin-brushed by hand and anodised, that follows the dome’s curved contours.

A minimalist clock-face of Murano glass and steel, suspended between two jointed legs that end in taloned feet — T-Rex bears slight physical resemblance to the eponymous king of beasts. The name owes more to the aspects of design that reveal themselves to the close observer, such as the conflu – ence of power and presence conveyed in the taut limbs. The literal time capsule formed by the spherical, skeletonised body is a subliminal yet insistent allusion to the fossilised bones that contain all we know of a prehistoric era.

Two slim steel hands arch outwards from the centre of the Murano glass dial, indicating the hours and minutes. Behind the dial is a 138-component movement by L’Épée 1839, crowned by a balance beating at the rate of 2 . 5Hz (18 ,000vph). The clock is wound with a key at the back of the movement for a maximum power reserve of eight days, while time-set – ting is accomplished at the centre of the dial with the same key

Medusa is a dual-configuration clock, housed in hand-blown Murano glass, that can be ceiling mounted or stood upon a desk. In the form of one of the most compelling yet mysterious creatures of the sea, Medusa blends exceptional artisanal skill with Swiss horological precision, and introduces new frontiers in both.The central mass of Medusa is formed by a large transparent dome of hand-blown Murano glass that evokes the bell-shaped body of a mature jellyfish. Two rotating rings, one displaying the hours and the other displaying the minutes, are visible through the dome, and the time is read off a single fixed indicator that extends over the rings.
Medusa can be set on a desk or any flat surface thanks to a special steel frame with curved legs, designed to receive the base of the movement whilst allowing for easy access to the winding and setting mechanism. When hung from the ceiling, Medusa can be further decorated with its hand-blown Murano glass tentacles, which hook onto the movement and sway gently with the slightest motion of the clock – recalling a free-floating jellyfish carried along by the current.

Medusa est une pendule à double configuration : abritée sous une coque de verre de Murano soufflé à la main, elle peut être suspendue au plafond ou posée sur un bureau. Dessinée à l’image d’une des plus mystérieuses créatures marines, Medusa associe une technique artisanale exceptionnelle à la précision horlogère suisse. Pièce centrale, un grand dôme transparent en verre de Murano soufflé à la main évoque le corps d’une méduse. Il laisse apparaître deux anneaux tournants, un pour les heures et l’autre pour les minutes. Telle une méduse luisante dans les profondeurs, Medusa brille dans l’obscurité grâce au Super-LumiNova.
Medusa peut être posée sur toute surface grâce à un support spécifique à pieds incurvés, conçu pour accueillir la base du mouvement tout en permettant un accès aisé au mécanisme de remontage et de réglage. Quand elle est suspendue, Medusa peut arborer ses tentacules en verre de Murano soufflé à la main. Accrochées au mouvement, elles se balancent doucement au moindre mouvement de l’horloge — rappelant le flottement d’une méduse entraînée par le courant.

The Skull is the ultimate symbol of life, death and human experience – as such it has played a key role in both Horological History and Art History. Through Fiona Krüger’s artistic approach to Haute Horlogerie and L’Epée’s know-how, the Skull has been re-interpreted into a mechanical Vanitas painting for the 21st Century. Quick history lesson: A Vanitas is a still life artwork which includes various symbolic objects to remind the viewer of the transience of life. This was an important and popular genre of painting in the 1600’s and include symbols like skulls and extinguished candles. Vanitas is engineered and crafted by L’Epée 1839, Switzerland’s specialised high-end clock manufacturer, founded in 1839. This charismatic cranium reminds you to celebrate life. The hours and minutes are shown by the clock’s hands, and a power reserve indicator is integrated into the mouth of the skull. As Vanitas loses power it starts to yawn, indicating it needs to be wound up. Though with a 35-day power-reserve, this monthly ritual will give you a moment to stop and take stock of the time you have. Fiona’s Fine Art and Design training, combined with her international upbringing are apparent in the design of this mechanical symbol. Having spent part of her childhood in Mexico City her vivid memories of the Dia de los Muertos festival have influenced her own skull collection and this latest collaboration with L’Epée.

This mechanical Vanitas is rich in symbolism but also in humour. The bridges of the clock are intricately detailed, designed to build up into a pattern which ultimately forms this ornate skull. Creativity is at the heart of both L’Epée 1839 and Fiona Krüger Timepieces. This is evident in L’Epée’s acceptance of the challenge to create this modern day Vanitas with a humorous twist. The new “yawning” power reserve indicator required a whole new development and re-engineering of the clock movement. It is a marriage between fantasy and purpose which is at the core of the collaboration. The ideas of life, time and mortality are synonymous and even more relevant in mechanical clock-making today than they have ever been. The unique design of the Skull imitating yawning as the power reserve depletes, joined with the ability to bring the clock to life as its wound up, reflects the history of clock making where fantasy, creativity and purpose were all incorporated in equal measure to create designs which made people dream.

Whether you absolutely love, moderately appreciate or just hate the saga Star Wars, we all have in common the never-ending search for a hero. Our hero is without a doubt a robot from Tatooine – an adventurer despite himself, who lost an arm on the battlefield and was built by Anakin himself: C-3PO. Inspired by this gold humanoid robot, L’Epée has developed a very special gold edition of Balthazar: ‘B4’, limited to 20 pieces. His brother, straight out of the dark side, Balthazar B5, features a fully black PVD armor and a light palladium-plated movement. The balance between light and dark side is respected. Balthazar B4 and B5 are respectively the fourth and fifth, final editions of Balthazar: after blue, black and green editions, the B4 / B5 limited editions are now fully gold plated, from head to toe and fully black (except movement that couldn’t be PVD due to technical reasons). Unlike C-3PO, these new editions may not be fluent in six million forms of communication, but they can indicate the moon phase with extreme accuracy: all he needs is a single day of adjustment after 122 years! They will also unfailingly tell you the time. Standing nearly 40 centimetres tall (16 inches), Balthazar is composed of 618 beautifully finished, micro-engineered components. More specifically, Balthazar is a sophisticated high-precision robot clock displaying “slow” jumping hours and trailing minutes via two discs on his chest.

A power reserve indicator is located on his belly – he boasts an impressive month-busting 35 days of power reserve. His friendly face may seem serene, but he remains nonetheless always on guard: his red eyes, which continually scan the surroundings, are actually 20-second retrograde displays. But beware… there is also a dark side to Balthazar, as there is in all of us. Balthazar rotates around the hips like the high-precision machine that he is; you can feel the miniscule bumps of each micro-roller as he turns, and each distinct notch when he rotates the full 180°. Then everything changes: smiling Balthazar becomes rather terrifying. To quote another Star Wars figure, the infamous Darth Vader: “If you only knew the power of the dark side.” On this side, the nature of Balthazar’s darkness is revealed by the cold hard skull with menacing teeth and deep-set ruby-red eyes. Fortunately, it’s not all threat here as Balthazar’s chest also contains the moon phase display. You can adjust the moon phase manually, providing one of many of Balthazar’s tactile pleasures. Balthazar does more than display horological events: as well as rotating around the hips, his arms articulate at both the shoulders and the elbows, and his hands can clasp and hold objects. Finally, Balthazar’s shield conceals and protects the secret of his awesome power: an integrated clock-winding and time-setting key.

The Fifth Element is an intergalactic horological weather station enabling accurate weather forecasting even when the power goes down. Four (UFO) elements: clock, barometer, hygrometer, and thermometer combine in a mothership (with Ross, the alien pilot) to create an entity much larger than the sum of its parts: The Fifth Element.

An analogue weather station might at first glance appear anachronistic; however, when the storm hits and the power goes down, the Fifth Element will still work perfectly. And, in the worst-case scenario, you can hitch a ride off planet Earth with Ross. MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser long admired desktop weather stations of the last century, but frustrated in not finding the right vintage model for himself decided to create his own.

Four removable and interchangeable instrument Elements make up the Fifth Element:

Clock Element Because weather forecasting is based on the speed of changes over time, the accurate time is required for meteorological observations. For the Fifth Element, L’Epée 1839 reengineered and skeletonised their 8-day clock movement to maximize transparency and visual access.

Barometer Element The barometer, which measures air pressure, is the mainstay of weather forecasting: as a general rule, increasing air pressure foretells good clear weather, decreasing air pressure portends inclement weather. The faster the change, the more extreme the coming weather.

Hygrometer Element The hygrometer measures the percentage of water vapour in the air; it displays this as a percentage of the maximum amount of moisture that might be held at a given temperature. Thermometer Element

To fly, float, glide, navigate in the air, traveling from place to place; to surpass oneself, to go further, higher, faster; or, at a leisurely pace, to take the time to have one’s head in the clouds. L’Épée 1839 has previously included a number of flying objects in its collections, but today it presents the first to have offered mankind the gift of flight: the hot air balloon!”

Immediate boarding on the Hot Balloon, the mechanical clock in the form of a hot air balloon created by L’Épée 1839. This suspended clock follows the brand’s other co-creations – the Vanitas and Arachnophobia wall clocks. Placed simply on a table or suspended from the ceiling as if flying through the air, this kinetic sculpture symbolizes adventure and whimsy while remaining an exceptional mechanical timepiece.

An official partner of l’École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL), and specifically its Masters program in Advanced Studies in Design for Luxury and Craftsmanship, L’Épée 1839 created this clock on the theme of travel in collaboration with the talented design student Margo Clavier.

Inspired by the hot air balloon and all that it represents – adventure, imagination, discovery, ambition, freedom – Margo and L’Épée 1839 unveil a mechanical clock with impressive, sometimes floating presence which displays the hours and minutes for eight days.

An authentic piece of watchmaking art, Hot Balloon can also be admired from below, just as one might view a hot-air balloon overhead, as is the very first mechanical clock that can be hung from the ceiling. The clock is set and wound in either position through an ingenious system that combines form and function, design and engineering, precision and durability. To set the time, simply turn the wheel-shaped crown located in place of the balloon’s burner blast valve.

The inspiration comes from the 1950’s Formula One (F1) Racing Car.
The result is a modern clock or a Kinetic Piece of Art that tells the time.
Movement design as a H chassis (such as the H chassis build up on racing car in the 50’s)
Hours and minutes are displayed in a side race number sticker
A figure sits in the cockpit, where the glass dome (blown-glass dome) symbolizes the driver’s helmet, and the escapement symbolizes the brain of the driver (the brain control the body as the escapement control the time)
In front of the driver is the steering wheel, which adopts the three-spoke design typically seen in race cars and is made of 3 rims set together (2 rims taking in sandwich the central one as the real one – 2 pieces of wood around a steel one in the old cars)
The Steering wheel is normaly used to drive direction, here it drive the time. One rotation side set the time the other is free to align the 3 spokes in order to drive fast and in line.
A clock needs to be rewinded, the ‘Time Fast D8’ adopts a special mechanical motor which is rewinded just like the pull-back car of our Childhood!

Reality sucks! In the 1960s, science fiction had us flying through the air on hoverboards and our imaginations soared, but we ended up with non-hovering boards with wheels on solid ground. Science fiction promised us 3D TV and engineers delivered, but we took one look, felt queasy and out they went.

Science fiction filled our imaginations with elegant ovoid-shaped rockets that would fly us to the moon and beyond. Again engineers delivered, but the rockets, although eminently practical, ended up being straight, uninspiring cylinders. Some things are best left to the imagination and MB&F’s Destination Moon does just that. It delivers just enough engineering for an eight-day clock looking like an exciting science fiction rocket from the 1960s, but with plentiful empty space allowing our imaginations to fill in the details.

Conceived by MB&F and built by L’Epée 1839, Switzerland’s premier clock maker, Destination Moon is the quintessential torpedo-shaped rocket of childhood dreams. But look more closely and you will see that its minimalistic form is evocative rather than definitive. Hours and minutes are displayed on large diameter stainless steel discs with stamped numerals. While the legibility of the time display is not in question, focusing on the time rather than the spectacular, vertically-structured, open movement is likely to require deep concentration.

Developed specifically for Destination Moon, the architecture of L’Epée’s eight-day movement follows the basic design of a real spaceship. Power in a rocket comes from its base; the power for Destination Moon comes from the oversized winding crown in its base. The management and control systems of a rocket are above the power source; the same holds true for Destination Moon, which has a vertical regulator controlling precision below the time display, as well as a time-setting knob at the top of the movement.

That eye-catching regulator with its animated balance is protected from cosmic radiation (and curious fingers) by a small panel of virtually invisible mineral glass. In a further tip of the hat to childhood toys and fantasies, the horizontal circular plates in Destination Moon’s movement are perforated like Meccano components. Despite its ethereal openwork construction, at four kilograms (nine pounds) Destination Moon is no lightweight: its solid landing pods ensure that it will not easily be knocked off course (or knocked over). And then there’s Neil: a smile-inducing, space-suited figurine forged in solid silver and stainless steel, magnetically attached to the ladder connecting the crown to the movement. Neil is the astronaut flying Destination Moon to exotic worlds, but more importantly, Neil imparts a childlike sense of wonder by putting man into the machine.

L’Epée 1839 takes us behind the wheel of the Time Fast. This vintage-inspired race car and a modern clock in one is a kinetic sculpture that tells the time. It was designed by Georg Foster, a promising young newcomer and major contributor to this second collaboration between ECAL (Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne) and the Swiss manufacture. The piece features a number of eye-catching details, such as the long protruding engine hood, the typical 1950s radiator grill, the large spoked wheels, the driving seat positioned to the rear and the sloping back section. Its overall sporty feel is reinforced by its elegant design, flawless finishes and fluid lines. The name of the Time Fast D8 clearly conveys its technical aspirations, incorporating a motor that can last 8 days—or rather an in-house caliber with a 192-hour power reserve beating at 18,000 vibrations per hour.

This kinetic sculpture displays the hours and minutes like a race number, allowing the time to be easily read on the side of the chassis. A figure sits in the cockpit, where a glass dome, or rather a driver’s helmet, highlights the thrumming escapement. In front of him is the steering wheel, which adopts the three-spoke design typically seen in race cars, serving to set the time. Meanwhile, in a subtle nod to childhood memories, the mechanical motor is wound just like a pull-back car. With 289 ultra-precise mechanical components finished with the greatest care, Time Fast promises its owner nothing but pure pleasure and sensations. Measuring 38 cm long, 16 cm wide and 12 high and weighing just 4.7 kg, this race car is by no means lacking in stature and could easily have come straight from one of the greatest motorsports stables.