Latest MB&F SP One Pavée Is Where Diamonds Meet Innovation
MB&F has never been a watchmaker particularly interested in doing things the conventional way. Since its creation in 2005, the brand has built its reputation on turning traditional horological ideas upside down, quite literally at times, and transforming the mechanical watch into three dimensional kinetic art.
So perhaps the greatest surprise came in 2025 when MB&F unveiled the SP One. Rather than another exuberant Horological Machine, the brand created something unexpectedly elegant. Measuring just 38mm, the SP One was conceived as a more restrained expression of the MB&F philosophy, yet beneath its smooth, pebble like exterior was a movement every bit as unconventional as its creators.
Now, one year later, the SP One returns in a new guise. The SP One Pavée is crafted in 18K white gold and illuminated by 255 diamonds, bringing a new sense of preciousness to a design whose appeal has always rested upon restraint, balance and an almost magical sense of movement.
For Maximilian Büsser, founder and creative director of MB&F, the idea was as risky as any of the company’s more radical creations. The first sketch dates back to 2018 and was initially known simply as Three Circles. At its heart was an idea based around a trinity of fundamental watch components, the barrel, the balance wheel and the dial.
Yet these three elements would not simply be arranged conventionally within the movement. They would appear to float. That idea became the defining characteristic of the SP One. Viewed through sapphire crystals on both sides of the case, the barrel, balance and inclined dial seem suspended in space, almost detached from the machinery that makes them function.
The illusion is created through an unusually open movement architecture in which bridges, screws and wheels are deliberately minimised. Much of the mechanism is concealed beneath the three principal elements, allowing them to dominate the composition. The result is a movement that appears remarkably simple while demanding considerable technical ingenuity.
The balance wheel sits at 2 o’clock, oscillating at 18,000 vibrations per hour, while the inclined hour and minute dial occupies the lower part of the composition. Its unusual angle is not merely aesthetic. It also provides a glimpse of MB&F’s expertise in conical gearing, a relatively uncommon solution in contemporary watchmaking.
Surrounding this mechanical theatre is what Büsser calls the amphitheatre. The beautifully bevelled flange frames the movement like the stage of a classical arena, drawing the eye towards the three floating components at its centre.
Turn the watch over and the illusion gives way to another aspect of the SP One’s personality. The open architecture is complemented by traditional hand finishing, with hand angled wheels, prominent chatons and a carefully balanced combination of satin, polished and micro blasted surfaces.
It is an important distinction. The SP One may have been conceived as the more classical face of MB&F, but there is nothing ordinary about its mechanics or its execution.
The same philosophy extends to the case. At 38mm in diameter and just 12mm thick, the SP One is MB&F’s smallest and thinnest watch. Yet thinness was never the objective. Instead, the proportions have been carefully considered to create a sense of equilibrium.
The case resembles a smooth pebble polished by years of movement through a river. There is no conventional bezel, while sapphire crystals flow almost seamlessly into the case, reinforcing the impression that the watch is less a traditional timepiece than a small mechanical object that has somehow landed on the wrist.
The lugs are equally unconventional. Rather than being attached directly to the upper section of the case, they rise from the lower case and leave a delicate gap between themselves and the hand polished upper section. It is a subtle detail, but one that captures the essence of the SP One. Everything has been designed to appear effortless.
For the SP One Pavée, MB&F has retained this architecture while introducing an entirely different relationship with light. The 18K white gold case is set with 165 diamonds, while another 55 stones illuminate the bevelled flange. The crown carries 14 diamonds and the buckle a further 21, bringing the total to 255 diamonds weighing 1.608 carats.
The diamonds follow the curves of the case, crown, buckle and amphitheatre rather than attempting to overwhelm them. The effect is therefore less about conspicuous brilliance and more about revealing the sculptural character of the watch.
Perhaps most significantly, the inclined dial changes from the black finish of the original SP One to dark blue PVD. Against the white gold and diamonds, the colour provides a deeper visual centre to the composition, giving the floating elements even greater definition.
Beneath it all beats the manually wound SP One movement, developed in house by MB&F. Its single barrel provides 72 hours of power reserve, while the 189 component movement contains 31 jewels and operates at 2.5Hz. The technical specifications may be comparatively restrained by MB&F standards, but that is precisely the point. The SP One is not an exercise in complication for complication’s sake. Its complexity lies in architecture, proportion, finishing and the extraordinary challenge of making mechanical components appear to levitate.
This is where the SP One Pavée reveals the real ambition of MB&F’s Special Projects collection. The brand has traditionally divided its creations between the fiercely unconventional Horological Machines and the more classically inspired Legacy Machines. SP One occupies neither territory comfortably. Instead, it inhabits the space between them.
The SP One Pavée takes that idea a step further. Its 255 diamonds introduce glamour without sacrificing the purity of the original design, while the dark blue dial and white gold case bring a different emotional character to the watch. For a company whose history has been built upon breaking conventions, creating something elegant and classical might initially seem like a contradiction.
The SP One Pavée is a classical watch that is anything but classical, a study in restraint built around an audacious mechanical idea. It is a watch in which the machinery seems to float, the case feels like a polished stone and diamonds become another means of describing form.
Technical Specifications:
SP One is available in three editions: platinum with a sky-blue bevelled flange, rose gold with an anthracite bevelled flange, and 18K white gold with a diamond-set case, crown and buckle, complemented by a diamond-set rhodium-plated bevelled flange.
Engine
SP One movement developed in-house by MB&F, featuring signature balance wheel and inclined time dial.
Manual winding mainspring barrel
72 hours power reserve
Superlative hand finishing; bevel angles highlighting handcraft; polished bevels; hand-made engravings, bridges with ruthenium finish (or rhodium finish for the SP One Pavée).
Inclined dial in black DLC (or dark blue PVD for the SP One Pavée).
Balance frequency: 2.5Hz (18,000 vph)
Number of components: 189
Number of jewels: 31
Functions
Hours and minutes on inclined dial at 6 o’clock
Case
Material: platinum 950, 18K rose gold or 18K white gold with diamonds
Dimensions: diameter 38mm x height 12mm
Lug-to-lug: 41.9mm
Number of components: 19
Water resistance: 30m / 3ATM / 100 feet
Sapphire crystals on top and display back treated with anti-reflective coating
Stones
Case: 165 diamonds
Flange: 55 diamonds
Crown: 14 diamonds
Buckle: 21 diamonds
Total (case, flange, crown and buckle): 255 diamonds – 1.608 carats
Strap & buckle
Calfskin strap with platinum, rose gold or 18K diamond-set white gold pin buckle.
Lug width: 18mm
Price
CHF 78,000 + VAT (USD 104,000 / EUR 85,000 + tax)
For more information please visit MB&F