MB&F CEO Max Büsser gave 60 Minutes a tour of the M.A.D. House, a once-private home near Lake Geneva where a team of designers and highly-skilled watchmakers bring his extraordinary designs to life.
The M.A.D. House occupies a 1907 residence converted into workshops where traditional horology meets modern digital design. Büsser, an engineer by training who runs his company with an artist’s sensibility, describes his creations as “horological machines” rather than ordinary watches. He emphasizes reliability: a mechanical timepiece should still work for generations, yet his pieces are also playful and sculptural.
The shop blends centuries-old, hand-operated tools with contemporary technologies. Ideas begin in Max’s head, are translated into 3D models and 3D prints, then painstakingly transformed into mechanical reality. One craftsman spent more than 3,000 hours over four years developing a single machine; smaller pieces can still require 12–18 months of component production and up to three weeks for final assembly. Some watches contain more than 600 components.
Büsser likens the launch of a watch to a birth: after months or years of making parts and assembling, the watchmaker winds the movement and — like a heartbeat starting — the balance wheel begins to oscillate. The balance wheel is central to Büsser’s obsession; he has showcased it prominently in several “legacy machines,” including versions with flying balance wheels that are visible and mesmerizing on the wrist.
Designs draw on varied inspirations. For example, the HM-11 “architect” is influenced by post‑modernist architecture: its case contains “rooms” for hours/minutes, a power reserve indicator and even a mechanical thermometer, and the crown is integrated into the case architecture. Complex cases and novel structures mean movements and housings can take five years from concept to wrist.
Büsser rejects conventional business metrics focused solely on efficiency or scalability. MB&F operates more like an art studio: projects proceed until they meet exacting creative and technical standards, regardless of how long that takes. Prices reflect the craft — some pieces sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars — and Büsser wants collectors to connect with the work as they would with a piece of art, not as a speculative commodity.
Inside the workshops, watchmakers work at magnifiers on components so small they resemble poppy seeds. The process unites meticulous hand-finishing, centuries-old methods, and modern manufacturing tools like precision 3D printing. Büsser stresses responsibility: when you buy a mechanical watch, you buy something to pass down; it must be built to last. At the same time, the M.A.D. House embraces whimsy and eccentricity, producing timepieces that are both mechanical marvels and kinetic sculptures.
