Story of ‘Mr. Up’ and ‘Mr. Down’

There is a very inspirational story behind the creation of the Legacy Machine N°1 Xia Hang Watch by MB&F. It all began when the Legacy Machine N°1 was conceived by Maximilian Büsser, the force behind the enchanting MB&F Watches. Daydreaming how he would radically design a three-dimensional machine for the wrist, Max dreamt of including Eiffel Tower and Jules Verne to its design.

Fast-forward to today, the Legacy Machine N°1 Xia Hang (LM1 Xia Hang) bears all the nuances of a 19th century pocket watch and takes inspiration from the LM1. What this means is that the central theme of the design is ‘Mr. Up’ and ‘Mr. Down’. Typically you find the Power Reserve of a watch being a hand indication that simply points out to how much energy is left in the timepiece, before you can wind it.

In the LM1 Xia Hang, ‘Mr. Up’ and ‘Mr. Down’ are the representation of the power reserve. So after working non-stop for 45-hours, the iconic statue seems to be drained off his energy and bends his head to his lap. The minute the movement is wound and the energy returned, the icon peps back to life and is ‘Mr. Up’ once again.

The talented Chinese sculptor, Xia Hang, designs the power reserve indicated as a miniature, highly polished aluminum man. The man sits up straight when the movement is fully wound (Mr. Up) and gradually slumps over as the power diminishes (Mr. Down).

Hang calls them his ‘comma men’, and their distinctive shape comes from a selection of art that created from 2005 to 2008. Commas do exist in Chinese writing and for Hang, the ‘comma man’ represents a chubby boy.

Legacy Machine N°1 Xia Hang is a limited edition of 12 pieces in red gold and 12 pieces in white gold. A pair of stainless steel sculptures accompanies each Machine: large-scale versions of Mr. Up and Mr. Down signed by Xia Hang.

Details:

LM1’s ingenious three-dimensional movement was specifically developed for MB&F from Maximilian Büsser’s sketches by Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode in Le Locle, Switzerland.
The LM1 movement can set the two time zones completely independently.
Legacy Machine N°1 allows both hours and minutes of each dial to be set to whatever time the user wishes.
LM1’s power reserve complication was modified to enable Xia Hang’s comma man to seamlessly transition from slumping right over when power is low to sitting up straight at full wind.
Acclaimed master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen assumed responsibility for ensuring the historical accuracy of the style and finishing of the Legacy Machine N°1 movement.
Each of the 24 pieces of LM1 Xia Hang – 12 in red gold and 12 in white gold – are accompanied by a pair of full-size (approximately 15cm / 6” high) sculptures of Mr. Up and Mr. Down in polished stainless steel and signed by the artist.
Movement: Manual winding with single mainspring barrel
Power reserve indicator: a little man designed by Chinese artist Xia Hang
Power reserve: 45 hours
Functions: Hours and minutes; completely independent dual time zones displayed on two dials; unique vertical power reserve indicated by a highly polished little man in aluminum
Case: Available in 18k red gold or 18k white gold
Dimensions: 44mm wide x 16mm high Number of components: 65