The founder of the MB&F brand , Maximilian Büsser, spoke with Masha Tsukanova.

— How do you find craftsmen for new projects?

— I have been in the watchmaking business for 21 years, I know everyone and have collaborated with the most outstanding craftsmen, since they are all subcontractors of large brands. But if I don't like a person, I won't work with him, even if he does his job perfectly. After all, the brand is called MB&F - Max Büsser and friends. I only work with friends. I am often asked how my company managed to survive for six years with virtually no money, no investors or shareholders, despite the fact that all profits are immediately reinvested in the next projects. It's just because I work with amazing people. They all make enough money fulfilling orders for big brands that they don't need to work with me, but they are proud of our cooperation. Pride always motivates you more than money. I am proud of my work, my colleagues are proud of it - this is how we live and develop.

— Who did the idea for the new car come from?

— The primary idea is always mine. I make sketches and show them to designer Eric Giroux - he is now a star in the watch world. Together with him we are developing a three-dimensional model. Then I meet with engineers and watchmakers, who usually fall out of their chairs at what they see. After three or four weeks, having come to their senses, they come and report what they can do, what they are unable to do, and what they are ready to offer in return. This is a dialogue. One of the most inspiring phrases was said by Günther Blumlein, my mentor at Jaeger-leCoultre, where I started my career: “Creativity is not a democratic process.” They say that if a horse was created by a crowd, the result would be a camel. I am a dictator, but I listen to all ideas, accept some and reject others.

— Does this mean that you have to sacrifice some ideas?

— For technical reasons, yes. Ideally, my HM4 Thunderbolt "plane" would be 100% transparent. But today there is no equipment that would carve a figure from such a piece of sapphire. Already one block we used requires 185 hours - that is, a month to manufacture. You place a block of sapphire into the machine, and very slowly, from the outside and inside, the robot grinds it out. Everyone told us it was impossible, but in the end we found a manufacturer who was willing to make this part. Maybe in ten years it will be possible to cut the entire case out of sapphire. I would prefer to see our new LH1 much thinner, it would be more elegant. But I had to sacrifice subtlety, otherwise it would be impossible to combine all the details and achieve endurance. By reducing the height by 2 mm, I would condemn every second watch to failure. But I can’t afford to lose quality, because my name is on the watch. Over the past five years, we have sold about 650 cars and received less than 10 back for repairs - these are excellent numbers.

“Perhaps it’s because customers don’t wear them?”

- Surprisingly, no. Every client I know wears them. If you buy MB&F, you are rebelling against the system, telling the world that you don't care about its judgment. Patek Philippe and Breguet are Ferrari and Lamborghini, producing thousands of cars a year. And my watch is Pagani, which makes 20 cars a year, or Viessmann, with their 150 hand-built cars. And whoever drives a Pagani is very proud that he does not have a Ferrari. And just like my watch, these cars are not bought to be hidden in the garage.

— Is any classification applicable to your watches?

- The only classification is that they are all cars. People ask me when I will make women's watches, but I will never make women's watches because I don't make men's watches. I create cars, and those who like them buy them. We don’t even make clocks, because showing the time (although they do it with great accuracy) is not the point. They are practically unclassifiable.

— Why are there always two dials?

- I don’t have an answer to this question. This is not on purpose. When I founded MB&F, I promised myself that I would never use the concept of DNA in my life. All watch brands wear their DNA like a bag, but I, on the contrary, need the freedom to create something radically new every year. I want to create whatever I want. But here I draw, draw, draw - and for some reason I always end up with two dials. Every time I try to concentrate on one watch face, it splits into two. This is not intentional. And in the end I realized that there is still DNA in my works - it’s me. There is no escape from this. MB&F is my autobiography. I am writing my story, this is my psychotherapy, I am going back, studying my childhood, which I considered unhappy and hated for a long time. This is my way of reconnecting with that lonely child and turning a sad story into a beautiful one. Thanks to my childhood loneliness and the fantasies in which I lived, I am now a very happy person.

— If you are the DNA of MB&F, does this mean that the company will not exist when you retire?

- Don't think. When Coco Chanel died, Karl Lagerfeld became the heart of Chanel. A talented creator will be able to interpret my ideas within the framework I set. However, I can assure you that I intend to be involved in MB&F myself for a long time - this is my life.

— What, besides two dials, will the successor have to work with?

“It takes three to four years to create a new car, and now we have six new products on the way. HM5 will be released in October, while we are working on LM2, HM6, LM3, HM6, LM4 and HM7. Half of it is done by engineers, the other half by designers, waiting for me to have some money to implement them. So far you have seen five of our cars, and in five years, when it comes to the tenth, everything will become clear to everyone. But at the same time, there will never be complete clarity. Because by creating, I evolve, like any artist. Picasso had different periods of creativity, in each of which he was completely different. In the end, who is Picasso? An artist who has evolved. HM1 is my most challenging project, it is my first born, I admire it because for the first time it allowed me to express myself without looking at clients. I look at it today and am happy, but would I draw this car now? No. My personality is changing. And if you are a creator, your creation should describe you. Those who replace me will have to comprehend my work and make it their own, otherwise they will be empty copies, not living works. And to everyone who is going to open their own watch brand, I say one thing: do not analyze the market, do not ask people what they want, but show what you are made of - only this is interesting.

"The DNA of my cars is me"