MB&F is launching today the Legacy Machine Thunderdome, a new creation of the Geneva-based brand that features the world’s fastest triple-axis regulating mechanism. The result of the collaboration of MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser with Eric Coudray for the movement development and Kari Voutilainen for its design and finish, the Legacy Machine Thunderdome offers an incredible spectacle that will certainly fascinate any mechanical watch enthusiast.

Rising above a blue guillochage dial, the proprietary new “TriAx” mechanism stands out for its large size and for being visible from all sides during its fast rotations. To achieve this, instead of associating one cage with each rotational axis, the TriAx has a two-cage configuration.
Controlling the rate at which energy escapes from the barrel is the unusual Potter escapement, which utilises a fixed escape wheel in place of the mobile escape wheels seen in virtually every type of modern rotating escapement. The fixed escape wheel of the Potter escapement ? named for 19th-century watchmaker and inventor Albert H. Potter ? allows for higher rotational speeds in such a mechanism.

Integrating a fixed escape wheel within a tri-axial rotating mechanism helped to optimize the energy consumption, a requirement in consideration of the high speed of the three rotation axes performing a full rotation every 8 seconds, 12 seconds and 20 seconds, respectively.

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