The new MB&F HM9-SV “Sapphire Vision” watch is inspired by the underwater city of Atlantis and features four new crystal-case limited editions.

The new MB&F HM9-SV “Sapphire Vision,” is a crystal-cased update of the Swiss bespoke watchmaker’s Horological Machine No.9 (aka the HM9 “Flow”) first introduced in 2018 and is limited to only 20 pieces in total with a price of CHF 420,000 each.

Described at the time by MB&F’s founder Maximilian Büsser as “the most beautiful movement we’ve created to date,” the intricate design of the HM9’s movement was initially enclosed in a three-dimensional curved metal case made of titanium or red gold for the “Air” and “Road” editions and celebrated the automotive and aeronautical achievements of the 1940s and ’50s.

Now, inspired by the mythical underwater city of Atlantis, the latest release of the HM9-SV “Sapphire Vision” resembles the kind of glass-enclosed exploratory vessel one could imagine patrolling the waters around Atlantis. For the first time, the full inner workings of the HM9 movement has been revealed by MB&F, thanks to HM9-SV’s new see-through case created out of sapphire crystal.

Officially known as corundum (sapphire crystal is its gem-quality form), the mineral rates nine on Moh’s scale of hardness and is surpassed only by diamond and a few other materials in terms of hardness, making sapphire watch crystals almost impossible to scratch. The flip-side to this is that it also incredibly challenging and time-consuming to work with as a material, and while MB&F have already been working with sapphire crystal watch designs since 2005, it still takes around 350 hours of machining and polishing to create the single sapphire crystal case of the new HM9-SV (although this time would be much longer if they had not already had so much experience from previous designs like the HM4 Thunderbolt with its double-arch crystal case or the HM3 FrogX).

Maximilian Büsser once noted that when designing the HM9, he was inspired by Philippe Dufour’s Duality watch, the first-ever wristwatch with two balance wheels and a differential. In comparison to the Duality, though, Büsser wanted to see the two balance wheels of the movement during everyday wear, which is how they came to be visibly encased under two separate sapphire crystal teardrops on the original HM9.

With the new HM9-SV, the wearer can now see not only the two delicate flying balance wheel “beating hearts” and the planetary differential at the center, which averages out the two wheels and sends the mechanically processed information vertically through the conical gears to the vertical time display, but the entirety of the movement and every one of its components.

Due to the highly-specialized nature of MB&F’s 3D watch designs, the team were also required to create the first-ever three-dimensional water gasket and were also able to achieve water-resistance of the HM9-SV up to a depth of 30m so wearers will not have to worry about being caught in the rain (although you may want to stay inside the vessel should you be paying a visit yourself to Atlantis anytime soon).

Four different editions have been created for the release of the new MB&F HM9-SV and will be limited to five pieces of each. Two editions with red gold frames and either a black or blue colored movement and two editions with white gold frames and either a red gold plated or purple movement.

• HM9-SV Red Gold Frame with NAC-coated black engine (91.SRL.BL)
• HM9-SV Red Gold Frame with PVD-coated blue engine (91.SRL.BU
• HM9-SV White Gold Frame with Red Gold plated engine (91.SWL.RG)
• HM9-SV White Gold Frame with PVD-coated purple engine (91.SWL.PU)

MB&F HM9-SV Sapphire Version Details

Variants

• HM9-SV Red Gold frame with NAC-coated black engine (91.SRL.BL)
• HM9-SV Red Gold frame with PVD-coated blue engine (91.SRL.BU
• HM9-SV White Gold frame with Red Gold plated engine (91.SWL.RG)
• HM9-SV White Gold frame with PVD-coated purple engine (91.SWL.PU)

Engine

• 3D Horological Engine No. 9 (HM9). Manual-winding in-house movement consisting of a double-balance system with planetary differential
• Power reserve: 45 hours
• Balance frequency: 2.5Hz / 18,000 bph
• Number of components: 301
• Number of jewels: 52

Functions / Indications

• Hour/minute dial in sapphire crystal with Super-LumiNova on the number and indexes

Case

• Material: Sapphire Crystal case with frame in 18K white or red gold
• Dimensions: 57 mm x 47 mm x 23 mm
• Number of components: 52
• Water resistance: 90ft / 30m / 3 ATM

Strap & Buckle

• Hand-stitched alligator strap with folding buckle in either red gold or white gold

Price

• MB&F HM9-SV Sapphire Vision Price: CHF 420,000 + VAT (approx USD$474,500 + tax / EUR 389,900 + tax)