Independents

The watch show Belles Montres in Paris in November was a first opportunity for me to see the HM4 by Max Busser and his friends. I had seen the base calibre in Basel in March, but the full watch was still yet to meet.

I've really appreciated the HM2 and would like to wear it  but was far less appealed by the HM1 and HM3. I can say that the HM4 is my favourite so far.

I'll have to see if I dislike HM5 and love HM6 to see if there's a rule there.

I think I know why I love the HM4. The first three models were primarily watches, what HM4 is no longer IMO.

A bi-reactor engined vessel

I see the HM4 as a toy, a plane engine model, a fantasy spacecraft, a sculpture on the wrist.

To some extent the HM4 is a teleportation wrist remote control. It eventually indicates the time, but that's not the point.

In my opinion the point is to make us forget the time we are in.

Fantasy

You can strap on the watch and forget present time. You can forget present life. You can forget limits.

You can become the adult the child you were wanted to become.

Is it a pen a bullet or a pair of glasses

I arrived a bit too late for the Star Trek generation and know much more of Star Wars.

I can just say of Star Trek that I see the spirit of this watch as a pure fantasy exploratory watch. While many wear tool watches that they will never use as intended (or marketed) some may want to wear watches aimed at dreaming……

If you've ever dreamt of exploring the outer space, this watch is for you.

Something of a Star Wars Parmigiani Bugatti

Obviously this watch design is linked to the engine part of a craft, to the power, the energy, the speed, the crossing of unlimited spaces.

How far will you go with it?

How fast is this watch

The watch functions, or indications, are really simple. You get the time, hours and minutes, and the power reserve. For once you don't need more.

If you want to check that the watch is running, you can look at the balance on the top side.

Time remaining and time elapsed

Looking at this watch I wonder if some watchmaker could imagine another indication of the power reserve, linked to the present time. The left hand dial could indicate not the remaining power reserve, but the estimated time when the watch would stop if not winded. I'm pretty sure that would a very complicated way of indicating a very simple information.

A kind of fuel gauge and odometer

Some may want to remind the Parmigiani Bugatti watch that had such time indication. Let's say that the HM4 links the indication to a very different world. While the Parmigiani Bugatti watch is/was a very beautiful and appealing watch, the automobile world is in my opinion less and less a fascinating world. It's getting harder and harder to dream about cars that show their limits everyday, while the outer space can still be a source of inspiration.

From the Earth to the Moon with Jules Verne perhaps

Will we ever see the fictions of the sixties and seventies ever become a reality?

Should the fantasy remain a fantasy?

Will we even be able to visit our planet so easily in the future, as men are building walls of hate among them?

Where is the vortex

The common aspect of Star Trek and Star Wars is in my opinion the wish of an extended universality, the installation of a generalized democracy and the openness towards the unknown. In our tourism modern cultures the spirit of exploration has disappeared. We certainly lack it and the HM4's appeal certainly revives that desire.

A balance is certainly needed

The fascination for extreme powers is another aspect that the HM4 revives. Such aim and the corresponding technology have always been flirting with the Pandora box myth. Should such power remain a fantasy is another question we may ask!

Can you imagine one of your modern heroes wearing a HM4? No I doubt! We're talking about fantasy.

Is that the center of the nuclear reactor

Why shall we dream only about serious watches? Let's dream of this one, with this one!

For once I don't see any status symbol with this one, any show of any wealth. I just see fantasy!

A space craft powered through a balance spring

That's the watch for the man who wants to be a child, not for the child who wants to be a man. It's up to you to choose your side. The HM4 is not the ultimate watch, but it could well be the watch of your ultimate dream!

Born to be wild

For me this watch will remain a dream, but it definitely makes me dream! Will we dream and travel the outer space together?

Simply extraordinary

What will be your 2011 year ?

Cheers

Dje