MB&F’s M.A.D.Editions project has always been the more accessible, more mischievous side door into one of contemporary watchmaking’s most imaginative houses.
With the M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese, that door opens onto a far more poetic complication than expected, one with roots in the career of a genuine independent-watchmaking pioneer.
The watch brings a wandering jumping-hour display to the third M.A.D. release, pairing a newly developed module with a price and raffle format that will put plenty of collectors on alert.
At a glance
- MB&F has introduced the M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese as the third release from its M.A.D.Editions line.
- The watch uses a wandering jumping-hour display inspired by Calabrese’s Baladin concept, with trailing minutes and central running seconds.
- The CHF2,900 steel watch comes in raspberry red for The Tribe and Friends, while the blue version is allocated by raffle.
A Calabrese idea for the M.A.D.Editions era
Vincent Calabrese is not a decorative name on the dial here.
He is one of the defining figures of modern independent horology, having co-founded the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants with Sven Andersen in 1985.
His best-known work includes the Golden Bridge concept later developed by Corum, a radical piece of watch architecture that suspended a narrow linear movement in open space.
He also played a major role in Blancpain’s Carrousel Volant Une Minute, a technically important 2008 watch built around a one-minute flying carrousel.
The M.A.D.3 looks instead to another Calabrese idea, the Baladin, which appeared at the end of the 1980s as his answer to the conventional jumping hour.
Calabrese wanted something less abrupt than the usual instant change from one hour to the next, so he developed a display that let the indication travel across the dial.
The wandering hour takes a different route
Traditional wandering-hour watches usually rely on rotating satellites that carry hour numerals across a fixed minute scale.
Calabrese’s approach inverted that logic.
On the M.A.D.3, a single hour aperture travels around the dial, with the numeral inside showing the current hour.
When the aperture reaches 12 o’clock, the hour jumps forward, while the position of the aperture around the dial indicates the minutes.
It’s an unusual display because it has movement, drama and legibility without turning the dial into a maze.
That makes the M.A.D.3 feel aligned with MB&F’s taste for mechanical theatre, but it’s quieter and more restrained than the previous M.A.D.Editions watches.
Eric Giroud gives the M.A.D.3 a softer profile
The 40mm stainless steel case was designed by Eric Giroud, a longtime MB&F collaborator who also worked on the first two M.A.D.Editions models.
This time, the watch leans less toward kinetic futurism and more toward the sculptural elegance associated with MB&F’s Legacy Machine family.
The case measures 12.7mm thick and is water resistant to 30 metres, keeping the proportions approachable rather than theatrical for their own sake.
Its dial architecture carries the cleverness.
A bombé sapphire minute ring adds depth, while Super-LumiNova is integrated beneath transparent elements to bring the display alive in low light.
The floating lugs and sharply coloured dials keep the watch from becoming too polite.
Collectors can expect raspberry red or cobalt blue, both intended to shift under changing light rather than sit flat on the wrist.
A practical movement beneath the poetry
The M.A.D.Editions technical team developed a new wandering-hour module for this project rather than simply copying Calabrese’s original construction.
That decision matters because the Baladin was an artisanal and complex concept, not a ready-made industrial solution for broader production.
The self-winding movement uses a customized La Joux-Perret G111 calibre, tuned for improved torque, stability and a 55-hour power reserve.
Turn the watch over and there’s another Calabrese touch hidden in the mechanics.
As the rotor moves, an inscription appears through the gaps, reading “Il est assez aisé de plaire aux autres, bien plus ardu d’être fier de soi.”
Translated, it says it’s fairly easy to please others and far harder to be proud of oneself, a fitting motto for a watch that deliberately avoids the shortest path.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | MB&F M.A.D.Editions |
|---|---|
| Model | M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese |
| Case size | 40mm × 12.7mm |
| Case material | 316L stainless steel |
| Dial | Raspberry red or blue, with bombé minute ring and integrated Super-LumiNova |
| Movement | Self-winding calibre using a customized La Joux-Perret G111 with MB&F-developed module |
| Functions | Jumping hour, trailing minutes and central running seconds |
| Power reserve | 55 hours |
| Water resistance | 30 metres |
| Strap | Leather strap with stainless steel folding buckle |
| Price | CHF2,900 excluding taxes |
| Availability | Raspberry red for The Tribe and Friends, blue via raffle |
The M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese should appeal to collectors who want MB&F imagination without the usual MB&F price barrier, but also to anyone drawn to independent watchmaking’s stranger, more personal histories.
It’s not a revival piece in the conventional sense, and that’s the point, because the watch treats Calabrese’s idea as a living mechanism rather than a museum object.
