The partnership between The Unnamed Society and L’Epée 1839 opens another stunning creation imagined for those who set the bar for the Art of Gifting a bit higher than the rest, for appreciators of the finer things, and for visionary collectors. Golden Boy remains true as ever to the spirit of “creating the impossible that defies the imagination” by looking not just at a timekeeper as an expression of aesthetic, engineering and artisanship excellence, but as a true witness of its time. Golden Boy is the logical sequel to Pancho Villa’s Bisley Colt – an intricate work of artistry and precision that engages the imagination and the senses on many levels, taking us back to an age of human evolution that seems impossible in hindsight and yet epitomizes our understanding of courage, resilience and perseverance.

It is one thing to hold and handle Golden Boy, and feel transported into another age. The age of your own childhood, when playing the various roles that defined the conquest of the west – cowboy, Indian, soldier, settler – would first fill afternoons and then late night dreams. Golden Boy takes you there.
It is quite another to see Golden Boy displayed on its bespoke stand. Shock. Evoke. Inspire. These are the words that should describe a piece of Art. Shocking because so unusual. Evocative because of its power to rekindle powerful memories. Inspiring because it draws you into an unexpected juxtaposition of engineering and aesthetics, itself triggering new associations.

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.

L’Epée 1839 takes off once again in the conquest of the air, accomplishing one of humankind’s wildest dreams. For centuries, man has dreamed of being able to take to the air and fly like a bird. From Leonard de Vinci’s day to ours, geniuses and aeronauts developed aviation, pushing back its limits again and again, repeatedly challenging the laws of physics and daring to achieve the impossible. In another nod to childhood toys and fantasies, the propeller spins freely at a simple push of the finger. Despite of its airy skeleton, Time Flies weighs a substantial three kilograms, its three-wheel landing train providing
excellent stability.

For a truly sensational display, L’Epée 1839 has developed a mounting stand on which Time Flies can be admired taking-off. An innovative latch beneath the movement clips it securely in place. On its stand Time Flies is as elegant placed on your desk as on its pedestal in a library.

From the Ferrari 250 Testarossa, to the Lamborghini Miura, the 1960s undoubtedly witnessed the pinnacle of design for racing cars, showcasing the epitome of automotive aesthetics. L’Epée 1839 chose to embrace this thematic with the introduction of the Time Fast II in Silver Chrome. With its sleek and reflective surface, Time Fast II shifts its artistic dimension from a demonstrative to a more evocative kinetic art piece.

Time Fast II is built on a H-chassis in aluminum as the racing cars were then. A three-spoke steering wheel (that sets the time) is made just like those of the real sport cars. Likewise, the spoked stainless wheels are meticulously crafted just like the originals, and their soft compound rubber tires are filled with special foam to replicate the pressure of tires on their full-sized racing counterparts. And in a nod to the ultimate in authenticity, the tires on Time Fast II rest slightly flat on the bottom, just as they are in reality. The time displays (hours and minutes) of the manufacture 8-day movement are on the dual air filters feeding the V8’s two banks of carburetors. Under the driver’s helmet sits the perpetually animated 2.5 Hz escapement and turning the ignition key starts the pistons of the V8 engine moving realistically up and down. You can almost smell the high-octane fuel in the air as those pistons fire up!

To mark its 185th anniversary of continuous existence, L’Epée 1839 proudly introduces the T35, a testament to its strong in-house horological knowledge, innovative engineering and creative designs.
Drawing inspiration from iconic 1920s and 1930s race cars, the T35 pays homage to a legendary racing machine that is perhaps considered the greatest race car of all time. With an unrivaled track record of success and thousands of motorsports victories to its name, this champion car is one of the most famous and influential racers in automotive history. It was renowned for its advanced engineering with a perfect harmony of lightness and power, achieving the fastest speeds of its era.

The T35 is the ideal, unconventional gentleman’s accessory and an entertaining, interactive discussion piece for an office or home setting. A favorite feature is the functional hand-break located on the side of the chassis, which is pulled to release the engine and reveal the hidden lighter.

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!

L’Epée 1839 sets you free with the horologically volatile Grenade. An innovative timepiece inspired by a dangerous explosive, Grenade is a compact desk and mantel clock challenging the hold that time has on our lives as we are often consumed by the pressing need to fill our schedules with never-ending tasks overwhelming our days. The Grenade clock releases your mind from the grind of modern life.

Grenade is modelled after the historical MKII grenade with an M6A4C fuse that uses a pin that is pulled to activate the explosive. In a similar way, the L’Epée Grenade features a pin that doubles as the key, which when pulled allows for setting the time and winding the eight-day movement. The moment you pull the pin on a grenade the mind is focused: the grenade is live, and you must concentrate on the here and now to survive.

THE LITTLE ROBOT WITH A BIG SUPERPOWER
Conceived by MB&F, developed and crafted by L’Epée 1839 manufacture, Sherman is the result of Maximilian Büsser’s on-going quest to revisit his childhood, during which he hankered for a robot friend, and of l’Epée 1839’s engineering and clockmaking know-how to bringing those ideas to life.

Sherman, your little robot companion feels alive, with his eyes carefully looking at you, and his arms ready to embrace you. This robot-clock is a playful object, it can roll on your desk and you can also play with his arms.

Octopod continues MB&F’s exploration of aquatic themes with an eight-leg, eight-day clock inspired by cephalopods, marine chronometers and The Abyss – blending contemporary design with kinetic sculpture and a transparent bubble filled with precision horology. Conceived by MB&F and built by Switzerland’s premier clock maker, L’Epée 1839, Octopod stands or crouches thanks to its eight articulated legs. Each leg can be individually adjusted to varying heights, enabling Octopod to rest securely on the most uneven of surfaces, just like a real octopus.

The first thing to notice is that Octopod’s transparent sphere is gimballed in a similar way to how traditional ship chronometers were gimballed – although on one axis rather than two – so that they remained flat despite the pitching and rolling of the ship. In Octopod’s case, the gimbal ensures that no matter what angle or height it sits, it is easy to rotate the bubble so that the time display inside is at the ideal plane for maximum legibility. The second thing the attentive eye will notice is that Octopod’s pulsating escapement, which regulates the clock’s precision, is located on its minute hand rather than the more usual (and mechanically simpler) position attached to stationary movement plates. While not technically a tourbillon according to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s original patent, with its movement vertical, the 60-minute rotation of Octopod’s regulator on the minute hand is closer to the primary aim of Breguet’s invention. His intention was to rotate the escapement of a pocket watch sitting vertically in a fob pocket to average out positional errors, while wristwatch tourbillons are continually moving through all positions without requiring 360° rotations.

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.

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

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.

At first glance, the Orb looks like a futuristic model of an eye with its perfectly formed shiny sphere, and its dial taking the place of the iris and the pupil. But nothing is ever quite what it seems with the collaborative clocks of MB&F x L’Epée 1839. The minimalistic structure is composed of four elytra (that’s the technical word for a beetle’s protective wing covers, in case you were wondering) that not only open up, but can also swivel like a transformer to display the Orb in a variety of different positions. The shiny-white version is reminiscent of the first iPods with their lustrous curved cases, a surface that is particularly pleasing to the eye and the touch.

Powering this state-of-the-art clock is a beautiful L’Epée 1839 hour-striking movement with an eight-day power reserve. In contrast to many of the other MB&F x L’Epée clocks, the movement is not perceivable from the outside. But the perfectly formed sphere invites the viewer into the mechanical heart of the piece and the discovery of the movement.There are two barrels, one for the time and the other for the striking of the hours, that are wound separately. The hour mechanism doesn’t just chime the passage of the hour, but indicates the actual hour, like a church clock. This function can also be repeated on demand via a button on the side of the clock, or turned on and off if required.

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.