Maximilian Busser is founder of watch brand MB&F (Maximilian Busser & Friends). He studied in Lausanne, Switzerland, before embarking on a career in the watch industry, with brands including Jaegar LeCoultre and Harry Winston. In 2005, at the age of 38, he launched his brand. How did you first become interested in watchmaking? I studied microtechnology, although I wanted to be a car designer until I was 18. During my studies I did a project where I interviewed chief executives of fledgling watch brands and they were all so passionate about what they were doing. That's when I really got hooked. Why did you decide to launch your own brand? At 31, after working at various brands, I realised that I had been an interior decorator most of my professional life - each time I created a piece of horology it was to please others or to sell and make money. There was nothing of me in what I did. I started dreaming of my ideal company, something small, only creating what we believe in, even though 99 per cent of the world may not understand it. Every year we create a horological machine. It's hard to define, but I like to call them kinetic sculptures, where 200-year-old horology meets three-dimensional sculpture. We use the best artisans and watchmakers in Switzerland who all work for the best brands as independents. Usually, they aren't credited for their work, but with our brand they are. Hence the name 'and friends'. Your watches have been described as radical, why is this? They're not radical to me, but I see it in the eyes of the people who discover what we do. There is always shock and awe every time I present a piece. People who are big collectors of classic watches won't even look at what we do; we're in a completely different dimension. Each time we dare the public to react more. How have your watches evolved since you launched? I think they are evolving with me. We have three machines, with four or six in the pipeline, No 4 will be launched next year. Probably in seven years I will be able to look back and see 10 pieces on the table [that symbolise] 10 years of my life. Describe your latest timepiece. New this year is HM No 3. The most beautiful and important part of the watch is the movement, but it's usually hidden, so I came up with an idea based on Thunderbird Two, from the 1970s puppet science fiction show. In it there is a spacecraft which has more or less a cockpit, which we've incorporated into the design showing the movement. We developed two ways to wear the watch - the hours and the minutes horizontally [the Starcruiser] or the hours and minutes vertically [Sidewinder]. We're only going to do 20 of each style, in white and red gold. Is there anything in particular that influences your designs? It always starts with a flash. It's weird, suddenly I have an image of what I want in my mind. Or it can be meeting an incredible watchmaker who has created something amazing but in a traditional watch. I am trying to tap into the crazy ideas of what made me dream when I was eight years old, hence why I refer to my pieces as space machines. No 4 is a tribute to aviation, because when I was a kid I used to make model planes. How do you feel that your designs are influencing the watchmaking industry? Mine is a very selfish process - I am not there to change anything in our industry or to revolutionise anything. However, I think that we and a few other independent creators are allowing people to think outside the 100-year-old box for the first time. What is absolutely mind-boggling is that a 1909 watch and a 2009 watch are virtually the same products. If you look at them, they are mostly round, square or rectangular, with the dials and hands. We are trying to get out of this. What are your long-term plans? If someone told me 10 years ago that I would be creating cutting-edge horology, I would have thought they were insane. So I've learned one thing: you have no idea where you are going to be; I am always discovering. One thing that is very important is that our company won't grow. We're doing about 140 pieces now, the maximum we will create is 200 pieces because I'm not interested in doing more. All I want to do is generate enough revenue to reinvest in the next three movements.
