The M.A.D.1 was a wild watch. The dial space of the MB&F model introduced in 2021 featured a three-prong rotor that whirled like a fidget spinner, while timekeeping was relegated to two rotating rings on the side of the thick, shiny 42-millimeter case.
M.A.D.2 — created by the respected designer Eric Giroud and introduced in March — also appeared to be radical, exotic and, by implication, expensive. But just like its predecessor, the timepiece was priced at 2,900 Swiss francs ($3,655), plus tax — roughly a 20th of the cost of the cheapest watch in MB&F’s established collections.
MB&F is not the only high-end watch brand with more affordable options, however: In Japan, Hajime Asaoka created Kurono Tokyo; Stepan Sarpaneva of Finland has S.U.F. Helsinki; and the Dutch watchmaking brothers Tim and Bart Grönefeld introduced Grøne in November. Theo Auffret has lent his expertise to SpaceOne, a line of sci-fi theme watches at 1,500 to 3,000 euros ($1,760 to $3,525), and Raúl Pagès, who won the inaugural Louis Vuitton watch prize in 2024, has collaborated with Massena LAB on midprice designs.
Yet apparently these lower-end efforts haven’t dented the prestige of their makers’ costlier creations. So what, other than price, do fans find so compelling?
“With independent brands, the link to the maker is so important,” said Gary Getz, a well-known collector in California who has watches from several such brands. “I could see how the same people who come up with MB&F’s Horological Machines would have the imagination to come up with the M.A.D.1 or the M.A.D.2. There’s a family resemblance.”
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The post Indie Watchmakers Enjoy the Challenge of Low-Price Models appeared first on New York Times.
