T-REX
INTRO
Jurassic art
They say that art begets more art; that the act of creativity continues to generate and inspire other creations in turn. This is certainly true in the case of T-Rex, the 11th collaboration between MB&F and Switzerland’s premier clockmaker L’Épée 1839.
Coming straight back from the fusion, due to a black hole, of a spaceship and a dinosaur! The dinosaur appears through the legs – modelled directly on actual fossilised Tyrannosaurus-Rex bones and especially manufactured and finished to keep this real aspect, the black hole via the dial made by Murano Glass manufacturer, and the spaceship via the movement inside the literal time capsule.
THE STORY
Designer Maximilian Maertens was the creative incubator for the eventual rise of T-Rex as the 11th collaboration between MB&F and L’Épée 1839. The 1993 film Jurassic Park was a big influence on Maertens, being the first movie he remembered watching as a child. Said Maertens, “I just had the idea to do something with dinosaurs, and Max (Büsser) was very interested in biomechanical designs at the time, so we melded these two sources around his little desk sculpture and took the next step.”
T-Rex is closely modelled on the actual skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with Maertens studying 3D scans of dinosaur fossils to inject authenticity into the proportions and positioning of T-Rex’s legs.
In the course of designing T-Rex, Maertens even came up with a little backstory to inform the process of developing the perfect balance of mechanical and organic visual elements. “The story takes off from ideas given to me by past projects of MB&F, that we have a pilot in his starship discovering new planets. Eventually he got so far out in space that 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. You see the remnants of the starship in the body of the clock and the movement, the dinosaur appears via the legs, and even the black hole remains part of the design, via the dial that sinks inwards towards the centre where time originates.”
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INSIGHTS
T-Rex is powered by a 138-component movement, designed and produced in house by L’Épée 1839, and finished to the very highest standards of traditional Swiss clockmaking. At the very top of the hand-wound movement, clearly visible through the skeletonised clock body surrounding it, is a balance beating at 2.5Hz (18,000vph). The eight-day power reserve is rewound directly via the barrel axis positioned at the back of the movement, while time is set through the centre of the dial. Both actions are taken with the same key.
Hand-blown Murano glass forms the clock dial of T-Rex, a material that both MB&F and L’Épée 1839 became thoroughly familiar with in the course of creating Medusa, their 10th collaboration. T-Rex comes in variations of green, deep blue and red Murano glass dials, which are vividly coloured with metallic salts via age-old techniques of glassblowing.
The 30-cm tall T-Rex is made of stainless steel and palladium-plated brass and bronze, weighing approximately 2kg distributed over two finely sculpted feet.
Inside the movement
Hand blown Murano glass dial
T-Rex skeleton modelled legs
The capsule
SPECIFICATIONS
EXCLUSIVE LIMITED EDITION
T-Rex comes in three limited editions of 100 pieces each, with Murano glass dials in green, deep blue and red
DESIGN & DISPLAY
A minimalist clock-face of Murano glass and steel, suspended between two jointed legs
Hour and minute hands
201 Components
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT
265 mm tall x 258 mm x 178 mm
Weight: approx. 2kg
MOVEMENT
L’Epée 1839 movement, designed and manufactured in-house
Balance frequency: 2.5 Hz / 18,000 vph
Power reserve: 8 days
MATERIALS & FINISHING
Murano hand-blown glass dial
Stainless steel, palladium-plated brass and bronze
Polishing, satin-finishing and sandblasting
FEATURES
Time setting: winding key to both set the time (in the centre of the dial) and wind the movement (on the barrel axis at the back)
Reference
Red - Limited edition of 100 pieces
AVAILABLE Add to cart 
23'650.- CHF excl. VAT / In Stock
Reference
Green - Limited edition of 100 pieces
Inquire
23'650.- CHF excl. VAT / Wait List / Lead Time 4 Weeks
Reference
Blue - Limited edition of 100 pieces
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