La MB&F HM8 Mark 2 returns to the forefront with a metallic purple body that's as spectacular as it is technical. With its miniature concept car look, this watch embodies more than ever the intimate connection between independent watchmaking and its founder's childhood dream.
When it comes to contemporary watchmaking, few brands dare to flirt so openly with the world of automobiles. MB&F, creative laboratory founded by Maximilian Busser, has been cultivating this rich dialogue between engines and movements, speed and time measurement for over a decade. After the HM5 (2012), HMX (2015) and HM8 “Can-Am” (2016) models, the HM8 Mark 2 series, which began in 2023, continues this mechanical odyssey with a new limited edition, as bold as it is evocative: a model with a purple body, presented in 2025 in just 33 units.
Launched in 2023, the HM8 Mark 2 marks a new stage in the passionate dialogue that MB&F has maintained with the automotive world for more than ten years. Spiritual heir to the HM5, HMX and HM8 “Can-Am”, this powerful and sculptural piece is inspired by the sleek lines and cutting-edge technologies of supercars. From its first edition, available in white or British Racing green (limited to 33 pieces), it seduced with its radical design and innovative construction. In 2024, a sapphire blue version enriched the range, confirming the model’s success. In 2025, MB&F took its homage to the automotive dream even further with a spectacular purple edition, still limited to 33 pieces. Each iteration maintains the same philosophy: combining mechanical performance, aesthetics inspired by high-end bodywork, and an offbeat reading of time, designed for lovers of speed, ingenuity and freedom, between childhood dreams and watches of great…
To understand the DNA of the HM8 Mark 2, we have to go back to 1985, in the canton of Vaud. At the time, Maximilian Büsser was a teenager obsessed with automotive design. While his youthful passions were fading around him, he clung to his supercar sketches, dreaming of attending the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, whose campus had just opened a stone's throw from his home in La Tour-de-Peilz. Lacking funds, he gave up, took a detour via EPFL, became an engineer... and ended up in watchmaking. But the most deeply held dreams never truly die.
« When I was finally able to inject my automotive design fantasies into a watch, it was a form of absolute accomplishment. " he confides today. The HM8 Mark 2 is one of those dreams that became reality.
Retrofuturistic design: from windshield to wrist
The HM8 Mark 2 draws its aesthetic from the golden age of supercars, with a sleek, sleek silhouette and a speedometer-style front display. Inspired by the 1976 Amida Digitrend, this atypical architecture is based on a complex interplay of sapphire prisms: the hour discs, lying flat within the movement, are vertically upright and optically amplified for striking readability.
The feat doesn't stop there. The numbers, engraved in relief on metallic sapphire discs, are backlit with Super-LumiNova® in perfect flatness, creating a stunning digital illusion. All this, visible without taking your eyes off the road, because yes, this watch was designed for passionate drivers.
Dream bodywork, precision mechanics
After the British Racing white and green models in 2023, then sapphire blue in 2024, MB&F is making a big splash in 2025 with this purple livery with metallic highlights. The color comes from mineral pigments similar to those found in premium automotive paints, integrated into a CarbonMacrolon® resin via a rigorous protocol. This exclusive material, eight times lighter than steel, results from a polymer matrix enriched with carbon nanotubes, for increased strength and unprecedented versatility: it can be lacquered, polished, microblasted, etc.
The chassis-based construction, inspired by automotive technology, pits a waterproof titanium core against an independent, interchangeable, and expressive body. Each component pushes the limits of engineering, starting with the double-domed sapphire crystal, 30 to 40 times more complex to produce than standard glass.
Under the hood, an engine designed by Girard-Perregaux
At the heart of the HM8 Mark 2 beats an exceptional three-dimensional watchmaking engine. The self-winding mechanical caliber rests on a Girard-Perregaux base, to which MB&F has added a proprietary module displaying jumping hours and trailing minutes, developed in-house. This complex movement is composed of 247 elements and incorporates 30 jewels. It operates at a frequency of 28 vibrations per hour (800 Hz) and offers a power reserve of 4 hours. It is wound by a signature MB&F rotor in the shape of an asteroid, crafted from 42-carat gold.
The display is provided by two reflective sapphire crystal prisms incorporating magnifying lenses: the bidirectional jumping hours and trailing minutes are revealed vertically, with striking clarity and readability. An ingenious system that combines optical effect, technicality and retro-futuristic aesthetics.
As for the case, it is a feat of engineering and design: it combines a grade 5 titanium chassis with a CarbonMacrolon® body, available in white, British Racing Green, Sapphire Blue or Metallic Purple. Its dimensions of 47 x 41,5 x 19 mm ensure a strong presence on the wrist, without compromising comfort. It is composed of 42 elements (excluding the strap, buckle and spring bars) and guarantees a water resistance of 30 meters (3 ATM / 90 feet).
The watch is protected by multiple sapphire crystals: on the top, front, and back, all anti-reflective coated on both sides for optimal transparency. The two prisms displaying the time are also cut from sapphire, with integrated lenses for amplified and immersive reading.
Each version of the HM8 Mark 2 is fitted with a rubber strap, perfectly matching its livery: green for the white-bodied version, white for the green, blue, and purple models. It is accompanied by a titanium pin buckle, which is lightweight, robust, and elegant.
From the Miura to the Touring Superleggera, from the aerodynamic lines to the Can-Am's roll bars, the HM8 Mark 2 is a rolling encyclopedia of automotive history. It brilliantly synthesizes a decade of research at MB&F into form, material, and the automotive fantasy applied to watchmaking. And while it impresses with its technology and aesthetics, it also captivates with its story. That of a man who, as a child, dreamed of designing cars, and who, as an adult, ultimately miniaturized their essence to slip it onto his wrist. It just goes to show that in the world of MB&F, the engine always runs on the power of dreams.
Ema Lynnx
