MB&F unveils HM12 The Guardian, a watch that becomes a robot sculpture

MB&F has made the kind of object that turns a watch purchase into a room piece: HM12 The Guardian pairs a Grade 5 titanium wristwatch with a 38cm-tall robot body, and the watch clips directly into the figure’s head when it is not on the wrist. For collectors who already own the usual status watches, that is the appeal here. It is not only a complication-rich timekeeper, but a gift that can sit on display and start a conversation before it ever tells the time.

The design leans into spectacle without dropping the watchmaking. A quick-release system lets the HM12 detach from its strap, while the strap itself disappears into a hidden drawer in the robot base. The left crown operates the face-shield system, which MB&F treats as a complication in its own right, built from more than 200 components. The object also includes an integrated loupe shield, a UV torch and a chest thermometer, details that push it closer to mechanical sculpture than to conventional wristwear.

Inside the watch is an in-house automatic calibre with 646 components, 86 jewels and an 84-hour power reserve. It drives a flying tourbillon, instantaneous jumping hours, trailing minutes and a double-sided micro-rotor, while the movement’s bridges are hand-finished and the mainplate is grained. A guilloché rotor dome made with Kari Voutilainen and his team adds another layer of craft to a piece that is already overloaded, deliberately, with horological theater.

MB&F and L’Epée 1839 say the combined set has nearly 1,500 components. The project began as a way to mark MB&F’s 20th anniversary, then stretched over more than four years and became the launch object for the brand’s third decade. It is also the first Horological Machine conceived entirely by Maximilian Büsser and Maximilian Maertens without Eric Giroud, a quiet succession signal wrapped inside a very loud object.

MB&F is making 36 pieces in all, split into blue, purple and green editions of 12 each, at CHF 280,000 plus VAT. That price puts HM12 firmly in trophy territory, but its real value for the high-end gifting market is its rarity of purpose: it is meant for the recipient who already has the watch and now wants the artifact. In a category crowded with familiar names and familiar silhouettes, The Guardian argues that novelty, display value and a strong story can matter as much as timekeeping.