Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. MB&F and L’Épée Unleash the Mighty T-Rex Table Clock
Jurassic Art, refined Swiss mechanics and Italian Murano glass bring MB&F’s latest figment of imagination to life.
T-Rex is back in town. You might recognise him after his first apparition as MB&F’s contribution to the upcoming Only Watch 2019 charity auction with a small boy sitting astride the clock. An unconventional table clock by any standards (except for MB&F’s), the T-Rex is a clock with dinosaur legs. Not a walking clock, but a clock, made by L’Épée 1839, suspended between the bony legs of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Like so many of Max Büsser’s wildly imaginative pieces, the T-Rex was hatched as a co-creation with designer Maximilian Maertens and counts on the participation – the 11th to date – of Swiss clockmaker L’Épée.
Weighing close to 2kg and standing tall at almost 30cm, MB&F T-Rex is made of stainless steel and palladium-plated brass and bronze. The most striking feature is his realistic legs and sharp, deathly talons. The legs were made using 3D scans of real, fossilised T-Rex bones and are sandblasted in contrast to the polished biomechanical structure linking them to the suspended clock.
Described as a “time capsule”, MB&F T-Rex’ clock face is made of Murano glass and suspended in an openworked metallic structure. The dial – available in blue, green and red glass – has a large crater in its centre. Designer Maximilian Maertens explains that the sunken “black hole” effect on the dial alludes to an essential part of the fantasy behind this clock: “…we have a pilot in his starship… he got so far out in space the only way back to Earth was via a black hole, but it time-warped him back to the time of dinosaurs and the starship was fused with a hatching dinosaur egg.” Mind-blowing stuff.
The hand-blown Murano glass features another fun detail and the hour and minute hands are bent to follow the contours of the sunken centre. Perfectly visible from the back and sides, the entire movement of T-Rex was designed and produced in-house by L’Épée. A special key is provided to wind the clock, which has a robust 8-day power reserve, and to set the time: the clock is wound on the barrel axis on the back and the time is set directly on the dial.
The T-Rex comes in three limited editions of 100 pieces each, with Murano glass dials in green, deep blue and red. The retail price is CHF 22,500 (excl.tax). More details at mbandf.com.
