Every hour, the MB&F Albatross comes alive. Sixteen propellers spin in opposite directions for exactly seven seconds, then stop. At 17 kilograms and spanning nearly two feet, this mechanical airship functions as both clock and sculpture.
MB&F and L’Epée 1839, Switzerland’s oldest clockmaker, have created their most ambitious collaboration yet. Over the past decade, this partnership has produced mechanical robots, spiders, tanks, and dual-faced figures, each blurring the line between horology and kinetic art. The Albatross surpasses them all, combining striking chimes with animated movement in an object that transforms any space.
Mechanical Artistry
Drawing inspiration from Jules Verne’s Robur the Conqueror, designer Eric Meyer has created the Albatross as a metal airship more than half a metre long, mounted on a steel display stand. The construction uses brass, steel, and aluminium, all finished to the same standards as luxury wristwatches.
Inside are two distinct movements. The first drives traditional hour and half-hour chimes through finely decorated barrels, their plates adorned with Côtes de Genève striping. The second orchestrates the sixteen propellers, which rotate in perfect unison for seven seconds each hour. Safety systems prevent damage, whilst manual pushers allow owners to activate the chimes or propeller display at will. The riveted hull, miniature cockpit complete with ship’s wheel, and polished surfaces give the piece its airship presence.
Earlier Creations
MB&F’s co-creations with L’Epée have consistently pushed the boundaries of mechanical timekeeping over more than a decade.
Arachnophobia (2015)
Moving from robotic forms to organic inspiration, Arachnophobia transforms Louise Bourgeois’s spider sculpture into a dynamic clock. The piece measures 405mm across its span, with eight articulated legs that owners can position for table display or wall mounting. Available in black anodised aluminium or gold-plated brass, the spider’s body houses an eight-day movement visible through a sapphire crystal dome. Hours and minutes appear on the spider’s back, whilst the legs create shadows and visual depth that shift throughout the day. Each joint incorporates precision bearings that maintain smooth movement whilst supporting the timepiece’s weight in any configuration.
Balthazar (2016)
Similarly ambitious in scale, Balthazar marked a further leap, standing nearly forty centimetres tall and weighing over eight kilograms. This dual-faced automaton presents either a robot’s cheerful countenance or a ruby-eyed skull after a single torso rotation, each face offering unique time displays. The movement supports jump hours, sweeping minutes, retrograde seconds, and moon phase, with articulating limbs and over six hundred hand-assembled parts.
Grant (2018)
Taking a different approach entirely, Grant expresses timekeeping through the language of machinery. This transformer-like tank sports rubber tracks and a dial capable of three viewing angles—from horizontal to upright. A cannon-shaped key sets and winds its eight-day movement, visible through the open back. Grant’s body comprises 268 steel, nickel, and palladium-plated brass elements, retaining MB&F’s commitment to playful engineering.
Astrograph (2017)
The Astrograph, realised jointly with Caran d’Ache, explores kinetic art through a writing instrument. Its rhodium-plated rocket form stands upright on three retractable landing gear legs, extended via ingenious hidden levers. The pen’s chequered body, shock-absorbing struts, and miniature ladder draw upon MB&F’s horological vocabulary, making the act of writing as much a ritual as a tactile display of mechanical creativity.
Design Philosophy
Every MB&F kinetic creation merges inspiration with precision. Albatross captures aviation’s early dreams and mechanical theatre. Balthazar explores robotic and science-fiction themes through an expressive figure with unique time displays. Arachnophobia translates contemporary art into horological movement, whilst Grant adapts military motifs to tabletop scale. The Astrograph channels imaginative engineering into a functional writing instrument.
Cultural references from literature, sculpture, and industrial history become mechanical reality in these collaborations. MB&F and L’Epée combine narrative and engineering to create objects that move, chime, and perform, reaching far beyond conventional clockmaking.
Future Direction
The MB&F Albatross demonstrates horology and mechanical art at furniture scale, transcending the limits of traditional clocks. It signifies the outcome of years of collaborative invention—and hints at new directions for expressive, kinetic design.
For those encountering these machines, the experience is one of transformation: timekeeping evolves into performance and story, animating interior space with a rhythm unique to MB&F and L’Epée’s creative legacy.
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