Introducing: MB&F’s Special Project One

What We Know

MB&F just launched its slimmest and smallest watch ever, and it’s a dress watch. No, seriously, a pair of time-only watches with a 38mm case offered in two metals. Now, of course, this is MB&F we’re talking about, so the term “dress watch” is used very differently than how most other brands would. But the meaning is still apparent — the new Special Project One is the brand’s most compact, and in a sense, simplest, watch. Coming in either platinum or rose gold, the pebble-like case appears to hover inside the frame of the detached lugs, which are connected to the caseback.

The 38mm case has a thickness of 12mm, not a slim watch by dress watch standards, but very much so by MB&F standards. A crown sits at ten o’clock, and that’s about it. It’s the brand’s simplest and most conventional case design — and in this case, that’s the point.

What sits within the case is obviously the star of the show, and I struggle to even call it a dial. Front and center is the movement of the SP One, developed completely in-house by MB&F. Based on a sketch centering around three circles within a dial, the SP One movement features those three floating shapes in the barrel, balance wheel, and dial. As this movement was conceived from the ground up for this watch, most of the components of the movement are intentionally hidden away underneath these three circles, which are visually connected together by a center three-spoked bridge. 

The actual time dial, a small circle closest to the wearer at 6 o’clock, is circularly brushed in a black DLC-treated sunray finish and adorned with applied faceted hour numerals. It is subtly inclined, requiring the extra complication of conical gearing to drive the hands. The pair of skeletonized hands is uniquely finished, with a tremblage-textured top finish to contrast dramatically with the rest of the polished surface. For a handset this small, it helps quite a bit with legibility.

The rest of the movement, though contemporary in architecture, features quite a bit of classical finishing. Three prominent gold chatons surround the jewels on the main bridge, and turning the movement around reveals many more at varying depths. All of the wheels show off handmade anglage. It’s important to note that this watch is named the SP One, or Special Project One, because it’s not exactly the shaped craziness of the Horological Machine or the classical-leaning nature of the Legacy Machine, but rather somewhere in between. 

The case silhouette may be simple, but the movement is still very much designed in the spirit of the brand. The caliber is surrounded by a bevelled flange internally coined the “amphitheater,” adding a hint of sky blue to the platinum model and a subtle warm anthracite touch to the rose gold model. On both top and bottom are sapphire crystals with anti-reflective coating, showing off both the movement and your wrist hair with precise clarity. 

The SP One is available through MB&F retailers and is priced at $76,000 for the 18K rose gold model and $82,000 for the platinum model.

What We Think

MB&F has been on a roll this year for its twentieth anniversary, and the SP One is certainly fitting for this milestone year. It is something different coming from the brand that always produces something different. To the appeal of those who perhaps struggled to envision pulling off a Legacy or Horological Machine, the SP One feels like a model of in-betweens. In complication, watchmaking, and design, it certainly doesn’t lean in as hard compared to any of the other MB&F creations in any of those departments. But that’s the intention, and I think that the brand accomplished it in a very compelling way.

I’ve been lucky enough to see this a few times in person, and don’t let the 12mm thickness concern you. Until I read this spec while writing this, I had no recollection of it ever feeling that thick. All that to say, in person, it is an unabashedly compact watch. Now, if I had to pick the one issue I have with this watch, it would be the very open caseback. The floating design of the movement leaves a very big chunk of negative space, which lies squarely on my ghastly watch tan. It’s not the watch, it’s me, but it leaves me certainly wishing for less negative space or perhaps a twist on the caseback like a tinted sapphire crystal.

All in all, it’s cool to see something that yet again proves that MB&F manages to explore watchmaking differently, even within its own bag of ideas. Sure, it doesn’t conjure up the feeling of childlike whimsy when looking at a bulldog-shaped case, nor the theatrical gravitas of a giant balance wheel suspended over a dial by a large sloped bridge. But for a brand known for wild case shapes and bonkers complications, managing to distill the brand ethos into its smallest watch ever requires a different kind of creativity entirely.

The Basics

Brand: MB&F
Model: Special Project One
Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 12mm
Case Material: Platinum 950 or 18K rose gold
Dial Color: Sky blue or anthracite
Indexes: Applied
Lume: No
Water Resistance: 30m
Strap/Bracelet: Calfskin strap

The Movement

Caliber: SP One
Functions: Hours, minutes
Power Reserve: 72 hours
Winding: Manual
Frequency: 2.5 Hz
Jewels: 31

Pricing & Availability

Price: $76,000 (Rose gold), $82,000 (Platinum)
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: No

For more, click here.

​Hodinkee 

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