MB&F Revives the LM1 as a Tougher Dual Time EVO

MB&F has brought one of its most distinctive Legacy Machine ideas back into circulation with the LM1 EVO.

The watch revisits the independent dual time display that helped define the original LM1, but moves it into a more wearable, more resilient format built for regular use rather than careful occasional appearances.

It’s also the first new LM1 since 2017, which gives this release extra weight for collectors who have been waiting for the model to return.

At a glance

A smaller LM1 with a more practical case

The most immediate change is the case size.

MB&F has reduced the LM1 EVO to 42mm, down from the original 44mm, while keeping the sculptural presence that makes the Legacy Machine line so recognisable.

At 16.8mm thick, this is still a watch with architectural height, but the smaller diameter should make it far more approachable on the wrist.

The EVO treatment is about more than proportions.

The case now uses MB&F’s FlexRing shock absorber, designed to help protect the movement from everyday knocks, and the water resistance rises to 80 metres.

Two screw-down crowns remain part of the layout, each serving one of the independent time displays.

That doesn’t turn the LM1 EVO into a dive watch, but it does make it much better suited to real life, travel and weather than the earlier 30-metre LM1.

Two time displays with genuine independence

The LM1’s central idea remains intact.

Two black subdials sit beneath the large suspended balance, each showing hours and minutes, and each can be adjusted independently.

That matters because the display isn’t limited to conventional full-hour offsets.

It can handle time zones that differ by 30 or 45 minutes, which gives the complication a practical edge for travellers who deal with less common offsets.

The titanium edition pairs a rhodium-plated dial plate with black displays and blue hands.

The rose gold model takes a warmer and more expressive route, using a green dial plate, black displays and rose-gold-toned details.

Both versions use spiral and circular brushing to give the dial surface more depth without distracting from the hovering balance wheel above.

The exposed balance gets a double hairspring

The balance wheel has always been central to the LM1’s theatre.

Here it measures 14mm across and beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour, or 2.5 Hz, making it deliberately visible rather than tucked away for technical modesty.

For the LM1 EVO, MB&F has fitted a Straumann double hairspring.

The arrangement uses two hairsprings within a single balance, oriented in opposite directions, so the behaviour of one helps counter the small irregularities of the other.

The aim is improved isochronism, and it gives the watch a meaningful mechanical update rather than a purely aesthetic return.

The manually wound movement now offers 60 hours of power reserve, up from 45 hours in the earlier LM1.

A power reserve indicator remains at 6 o’clock, but it has been redesigned as a semi-circular display with a speedometer-like feel that suits the EVO brief.

Rubber straps and sharper everyday usability

The strap choice is another clear signal that MB&F wants this watch worn more often.

Both versions come on quick-change rubber straps, with grey used for the titanium model and black for the rose gold edition.

The folding buckle is matched to the case metal.

Rubber changes the personality of the LM1 quite decisively, moving it away from the dressier character associated with exotic leather and towards the more relaxed language of the EVO family.

The quick-change system also keeps the door open for owners who want to shift the mood without committing to a tool-heavy strap swap.

Details & Specifications

The LM1 EVO works because it doesn’t sand down the eccentricity of the original LM1.

Instead, it gives that independent dual time architecture a more practical case, a longer-running calibre and the sort of resilience that makes an MB&F feel less like an object to preserve and more like one to actually wear.