Over the last decade, the collaboration between MB&F and L’Epée 1839 has spawned 14 sculptural and highly complex clocks ranging from sci-fi spiders to robots. For 2024, the two watch brands have joined forces yet again to introduce their most creative and expensive desk clock to date. Behold the Albatross, a jaw-dropping mechanical co-creation inspired by the airship of the same name in the Jules Verne novel Robur the Conqueror, but also more generally by the rockets and hot air balloons imagined by the French author, who had a fascination for flying objects.
Designed by Eric Meyer, the retro-futuristic desk clock is made of a whopping 1,520 components. In fact, MB&F claims it to be their “most technically audacious clock.” The Zeppelin-shaped clock features a striking hour function – chiming both the specific hours on the hour and a single strike on the half-hour – and an automaton composed of 16 pairs of propellers that launch into action every hour. Measuring 60cm long by 60cm high and 36cm wide, the Albatross weighs 17 kilograms (~37.5 lbs.), making it an awe-inspiring piece of horological art.
Housed inside the airship are two movements and two winding systems. The first one powers the time and striking hour, thanks to two separate barrels, while the other provides the energy for the propellers, powered by a third barrel. The first movement can be manually wound via the propellers at the front: clockwise for the striking hour and anti-clockwise for the time.
The propellers at the back wind the automaton. Regarding the power reserve, the clock can run for an average of eight days – whether the chiming function is turned on or off – and the automaton for one day.
Since there are two movements, it is possible to have the propellers turn without the hour chime and vice versa. Furthermore, two on-demand buttons can chime the time and/or turn the propellers separately. The propellers rotate in pairs, with those on the left of the clock turning in one direction and those on the other side going in the opposite direction. According to MB&F, the propellers turn at a speed of 7 seconds for half a turn, or 14 seconds per turn, so they always remain visible and don’t create any wind. The Albatross is available in five different translucent cold lacquers: blue, red, green, champagne, or black. Each is limited to 8 pieces and priced at CHF 119,000 (around $140,000).
