Our Editor-at-Large Isabelle Junod met Charris Yadigaroglou, Head of Marketing Communications at MB&F, on the house’s stand at Geneva Watch Days 2026, the day after the launch of the M.A.D.3, the third watch of MB&F’s more accessible label.
What the interview reveals: a house founded in Geneva in 2005 that calls itself a concept laboratory and puts ideas and values before products; two engineers, Maximilian Büsser and Serge Kriknoff, who never worked at a watchmaker’s bench; a 25 per cent stake taken by Chanel in 2024 as a long-term partner for succession planning, with daily operations kept as they are; a hundred collectors gathered the day before at the M.A.D.House in Carouge; a Middle East that became a strong market once a M.A.D.Gallery opened in Dubai with Seddiqi; and M.A.D.Editions, launched in 2021 at fifty times less than an MB&F, now a third of revenue.
MB&F at a Glance
- Founded in Geneva in July 2005 by Maximilian Büsser: MB&F, Max Büsser & Friends, a “creative concept laboratory” that turns ideas into three-dimensional Machines, from the Horological Machines to the round-cased Legacy Machines.
- Milestones: Horological Machine No.1 in 2007, Legacy Machine No.1 and the first M.A.D.Gallery in Geneva in 2011, Red Dot “Best of the Best” for the HM6 in 2015, the Aiguille d’Or of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève for the LM Sequential EVO in 2022.
- About 420 pieces a year and 70 people in 2025, at the M.A.D.House in Carouge since autumn 2022; Chanel holds 25 per cent since August 2024, Maximilian Büsser 60 per cent.
- M.A.D.Editions since 2021: the same spirit at around fifty times less than an MB&F, offered first to the Tribe of friends and collectors; the M.A.D.3 with Vincent Calabrese’s wandering hours, CHF 2,900, launched on 1 September 2026, pink for the Tribe and blue by raffle.
- Distribution through the M.A.D.Galleries of Geneva and Dubai, the MB&F Labs of Taipei, Singapore, Paris, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, the MB&F Lounge in New York, and a small circle of retail partners; one of the eight founding brands of Geneva Watch Days in 2020.
- The Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain): today one third of sales together with Europe. In Dubai, partner Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons from the beginning, a M.A.D.Gallery opened at Alserkal Avenue in 2016 and moved to The Dubai Mall in 2017.
MB&F, 2005-2026: The House in Ten Milestones
Three References Seen in Geneva
| Reference | Display | Case and material |
|---|---|---|
| M.A.D.3 Vincent Calabrese | Wandering jumping hour after Calabrese’s Baladin, La Joux-Perret G111 with special module | 40 mm stainless steel, blue or pink sunburst dial, CHF 2,900 |
| Legacy Machine Sequential EVO | Twin chronographs with the Twinverter switch, Aiguille d’Or 2022 | Zirconium, EVO shock-absorbing case |
| Horological Machine N°11 Architect | Four rooms around a central flying tourbillon, time set by turning the case | Titanium, 42 mm, coloured sapphire rooms |
A Concept Laboratory, Not a Watch Brand
MB&F calls itself a concept laboratory, not a watch brand. How do you market a philosophy rather than a product line?
Precisely, that is what defines us. We have never been about, first and foremost, a product. It has always been about the ideas that become, of course, materialised in a product afterwards. So all of our products start with an idea, whether it is a spaceship, whether it is a flying saucer, whether it is a sports car. There is always a concept, an idea that, until now, always comes from Max’s brain, and then we need to materialise that idea through the engineering and the final product.
But those ideas, and the values which we carry at MB&F, things like collaboration, creativity, treating people like we would like to be treated, those are more important than the actual products. Surprisingly. We love our products, we pay great attention to the finishing and the quality and the complexity and everything else that goes into them, but they are not first in the process. First in the process are the ideas and the values.
First in the process are the ideas and the values.
So the idea comes from Max, and the transformation comes from Serge Kriknoff? Are you a watchmaker yourself?
It comes from Serge and the rest of the team, of course, a team that has grown over the years. But if you want to simplify the way it works, absolutely yes. Myself, a watchmaker? Absolutely not. And by the way, Max is not either. Serge is not exactly a watchmaker either. He is an engineer, as is Max. They never worked on the bench, which is probably why they approach these projects differently, because they do not have that training as a watchmaker that gives you those reflexes.
Many of the things we have done at MB&F depart from what you would learn in a watchmaking school. The flying balance wheel, which we put on our Legacy Machines, is a solution you would rarely find in a watchmaking school textbook. And because Max and Serge are different, they see these things with a more open mind.
Chanel, a Partner for the Long Term
In 2024 Chanel took a 25 per cent stake in the company. The news drew wide attention. What did it change?
Our everyday operations and our business model stay exactly as they are. That was very clear from the very beginning, from the first discussions with Chanel: we want to continue doing what we are doing, at our own pace and with our own model, and we were looking for a partner for the long-term succession planning within the company.
That is why we chose to work with Chanel, because they are a private company, so there is no pressure from the stock market. And by the way, we have known the owners of Chanel for more than twenty years. So we actually had a very personal relationship with these people before becoming co-shareholders.
So the only reason was succession?
The only good reason for them to be a minority shareholder is, as I said, succession planning. Before we welcomed Chanel into the shareholders, Max, the head of the company, owned 80 per cent of the company. And we need to plan for the future. It was our responsibility, we felt, already a few years ago when we started tackling this question, to say: now that business is good, now that everyone is in good health, this is the time when we should plan the future. That is how the idea with Chanel came about. And you take these decisions better when you do not need to take them than when you need to take them. No urgency.
Geneva Watch Days, a Venue for Collectors
How central is Geneva Watch Days to your calendar? Is it still where you make your real announcements, or has its weight shifted with Watches and Wonders and Dubai Watch Week?
Yes and no, depending on which part of the question. It is an important part of the calendar, but it is not the only time when we present our big launches, not at all. We spread our launches throughout the year. Some of them might coincide with a fair, like Geneva Watch Days; some may be totally outside the watch fairs, because today a lot happens online. You do not absolutely require a watch fair to launch a piece. But this year, at Geneva Watch Days, the timing was right. We released yesterday, the day before the opening of the show, the M.A.D.3 from our sister brand M.A.D.Editions. The timing was right: many collectors were in town and could see the pieces.
And on the collector side?
It has become a remarkable event. Over the last seven years, I think this is the seventh edition, and especially in the last two to three years, the number of collectors who come to Geneva from around the world has grown, to see the brands and the products, but also to meet between themselves. It has become like a venue for watch-collecting friends to meet. The weather usually cooperates, again this year, so it is a nice city to be in at the end of August, beginning of September.
We had an event yesterday at our M.A.D.House, our workshops in Carouge: a hundred people, most of them MB&F collectors. Gathering a hundred MB&F collectors in one place is a rare moment anywhere in the world. And they come from everywhere, from Asia, from the US, from Europe.
The Middle East, from Alserkal Avenue to The Dubai Mall
We met last time at Dubai Watch Week. How important is the Middle East as a business and collector destination for MB&F today? Is it growing faster than your traditional European or US base?
It grew a lot for us five, six years ago. We have been in the Middle East from the very beginning of the company, and we have a great partner there, Seddiqi, from the very beginning. We had the right partner, a strong market and the same products as everywhere else, and for many years our growth came first from Asia and the US.
And then we changed something. We moved from a multi-brand environment within Seddiqi, the typical watch store presenting many brands, to a space of our own. MB&F is a brand that deserves explanation, and a collector understands the brand best in its own universe. We opened our second M.A.D.Gallery with Seddiqi, and that is when things started to shift, because all of a sudden we had an environment where people could understand the brand. Initially in Alserkal, which is like a mini design district, which already made a big difference. And then a few years after that we moved to The Dubai Mall, and that of course gave us more traffic and visibility.
So the Middle East caught up very fast and became a strong market for us. Today we are very fortunate to have a very balanced situation: about three thirds, one third each, between North America, mainly the US, Europe with the Middle East, and Asia.
Where do you see your biggest potential for growth in the next five years?
That is a very good question, and to be honest, we do not think that way. We do not look at the map and say we need to be here, we need to be there. It is always about finding the right partner. That human connection, finding the right retail partner that shares the same values, that has the same outlook, that believes in independent watches, is much more important to us than filling a blank in a city. In Switzerland, for example, we work only with our own M.A.D.Gallery here in Geneva. And for our watches, collectors are very mobile: they move around the world.
No Gen Z Strategy, but M.A.D.Editions
Your watches are expensive at entry level. Do you have Gen Z clients, do you target Gen Z?
Again, we do not really think that way, meaning that we do not target them. We do what we think is right, we do what we love, and hopefully that resonates with various people, including Gen Z. But we do not have a Gen Z strategy, clearly not. However, for bringing in a younger audience, the second brand we started five years ago with M.A.D.Editions has helped tremendously.
How was M.A.D.Editions born?
Five, six years ago, we brought back a project of ours that was waiting for the right moment: M.A.D.Editions, meaning a more accessible watch for our friends and family. As creators at MB&F, we love creating our MB&F pieces, which are very complicated and very well finished, and we wanted our close friends and family to share that world too. So Max brought this project to life: a second brand, which has the same spirit, the same creativity, but at a much more accessible price point, fifty times less than the original. Average price of an MB&F, 150,000. Price of a M.A.D.Editions, 3,000.
Average price of an MB&F, 150,000. Price of a M.A.D.Editions, 3,000.
We launched M.A.D.Editions, and it turned out to be a great success. People asked for more. In the last five years it has grown to a third of our revenue, beyond anything we had planned. And of course, at that price point, it brings in many new collectors, including Gen Z.
Twenty-One Years, One Set of Values
MB&F was founded in 2005, twenty-one years ago. What would you say was the biggest success in these twenty-one years?
Where Max was very pioneering, at least for watchmaking, is that he founded this brand twenty-one years ago not around the product, once again, but around the values of MB&F: the collaborative spirit, treat people like you would like to be treated. All these values serve as a very strong brand base, and that allows us to bring in very diverse products. Usually, there are exceptions, but usually watch brands do the opposite: they have a very strong product and they build the brand around that product. Max did not do that.
I think that is the biggest success of these last twenty-one years: staying very clear about those values, those principles that guide the brand, which allow us to do all kinds of things. MB&F, M.A.D.Editions, the M.A.D.Gallery, which is a gallery of kinetic art, the co-creations we have done with the clocks and the music boxes. All those things are not standard practice for a normal brand. Sometimes you do not even know that it is a watch. And because those values are very clear, we can be very diverse in our products.
Interview by Isabelle Junod, Editor-at-Large, for WATCHESPEDIA, Geneva Watch Days, September 2026. Photographs © WATCHESPEDIA; product images courtesy of MB&F and M.A.D.Editions.
