It’s that time of the year again where we pop our names into a digital hat and wait with bated breath. We are talking, of course, of MB&F’s M.A.D raffle, now into its third glorious edition with the M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese.

MB&F M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese (©Revolution)

For fans of independent watchmaking, this is one that would probably strike a chord.

Calabrese is one of the pioneers of indie watchmaking. Together with Sven Andersen in 1985, he co-founded the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, today known simply by its famous acronym AHCI. Although his watchmaking credentials are manifold, he is perhaps best celebrated for the Golden Bridge where the movement consisted of a narrow, linear gear train, airily suspended in space without a dial. Calabrese’s prototype won a gold medal at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions and New Techniques in 1977 and, later on, was bought over by Corum and developed into one of its most iconic watches. Calabrese also played a central role in the development of Blancpain’s 2008 breakthrough, the Carrousel Volant Une Minute or One Minute Carrousel. At launch, it laid claim to several firsts: the first carrousel wristwatch, the first flying carrousel, the first one-minute carrousel, et al.

Vincent Calabrese

But before that, Calabrese had worked on another innovative concept, the Baladin, which formed the inspiration of MB&F’s new M.A.D.3.

MB&F M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese (©Revolution)

First launched at the tail end of the 1980s, Calabrese described it as a “wandering jumping hour watch.” He was not satisfied with the abrupt snap of the traditional jumping hour as it changed from one hour to the next. So he decided to create his own version, one that mirrors the passing of time.

An example of Calabrese’s Baladin watch

In a traditional wandering hour watch, rotating hour disks or satellites take turns to move across a fixed, graduated minute arc. The numeral that passes across the arc tells the hour and, at the same time, does double duty by indicating the minutes by where it lands on the arc. Hardly a modern concept, the wandering hour display dates back to the 17th century when Pope Alexander VII had just such a clock made for him by the official watchmakers to the papal court in Rome, the Campani brothers.

MB&F M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese (©Revolution)

Calabrese’s Baladin, on the other hand, turns the concept on its head. Instead of rotating satellites, as in more contemporary examples like Urwerk’s UR-100V (2019) and Audemars Piguet’s Code 11.59 Starwheel (2022), here a single hour aperture travels or “wanders” around the entire dial. The number inside the aperture indicates the hour, which jumps to the next hour when the aperture reaches the 12 o’clock mark. The aperture also functions like a minute hand; where it lands around the dial tells the minute.  Over the years, there were various iterations of the Baladin, in different sizes, materials and dials, and with running seconds hand.

Comrades in Spirit

To be clear, M.A.D.3 was not meant as a reproduction or a vintage reissue of the Baladin, according to MB&F. In fact, the M.A.D.Editions technical team had to rethink and redevelop the wandering hours module from the ground up. Calabrese’s original module was artisanal in nature and complicated in construction, which made it difficult for the team to pursue at scale for larger production volumes.

MB&F M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese (©Revolution)

But what they do share is the courage of their convictions, to go against convention and tradition and, above all, take the wandering path less traveled. Indeed, flip the watch over and you will see this emblazoned on the movement in so many words, visible between the gaps as the rotor spins: “Il est assez aisé de plaire aux autres, bien plus ardu d’être fier de soi” (“It is fairly easy to please others, far more difficult to be proud of oneself”).

A hidden inscription appears in the gaps as the rotor spins

To preserve Calabrese’s poetic vision of the wandering hour and ensure the smooth progress of the hour aperture as it journeys around the dial, the team used a customized La Joux-Perret G111 base caliber, which was optimized for improved torque, stability and power reserve.

The dials are alive, even in darkness, thanks to the Super-Luminova

The case, meanwhile, is designed by long-time MB&F partner Eric Giroud, who was also behind the two earlier M.A.D.Editions. At first glance, it shares little with the edgy, wildly kinetic universe of the earlier M.A.D.Editions. Compared to the two, M.A.D.3 is more Legacy Machine than Horological Machine in its styling. It’s more subtle and elegant instead of the all-out wow of M.A.D.1 and the funky individualism of M.A.D.2.

But Giroud has retained the signature M.A.D obsession with small technical and visual details — evident in the domed sapphire minute ring, the Super-LumiNova niftly tucked beneath transparent elements that light up the dials in the dark, the floating lugs and, of course, the striking dial in raspberry or cobalt blue that shifts with the light. In the metal and on the wrist, M.A.D 3 comes alive.

The press release for M.A.D.3 ends with a quote from Calabrese, now 82 years old but still spirited as ever. It is one that sums up Calabrese’s motto in watchmaking, and that of MB&F and the M.A.D.Editions as well: “Do not stay on the highway. Take your own path.”

Even if it wanders. After all, not all who wander are lost; they just want to go their own way.

Tech Specs: MB&F M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese

Movement Self-winding caliber based on La Joux-Perret G111, fitted with module developed by MB&F; 55-hour power reserve
Functions Jumping hour, trailing minutes and central running seconds
Case 40mm × 12.7mm; 316L stainless steel; water resistant to 30m
Dial Raspberry red or blue; bombé minute ring with integrated Super-LumiNova
Strap Leather with stainless steel folding buckle
Price CHF2,900, excluding taxes
Availability Pink reserved for The Tribe and Friends; Blue for the raffle