alain silberstein

One of my favorite watch designers, Alain Silberstein has paired up with one of my favorite independent watch makers MB&F to create this limited edition of 8 pieces Horological Machine 2.2 (HM2.2) "Black Box" watch. It uses the existing HM2 watch and adds Alain Silberstein's special character. The telltale signs of his involvement are the three multicolor shapes on right-hand dial, the shapes of the hands and indicators, and the character rick face of the moon phase. You also have both MB&F (Max Busser & Friends) and Alain Silberstein's signature or logo on the rear of the watch.

This HM2.2 Black Box version of the HM2 watch is done in black PVD coated titanium and silicium. The combination of design cues makes the watch look like a nice little Bauhaus inspired instrument. If you've worn one of these watches you know how large it is - but cool looking. 59mm wide and 38mm tall. Relatively thin for a watch like this at 13mm thick. Movement is an automatic (with a blue 22k gold version of the signature battle ax rotor) and has two distinct faces. On the left is a small moonphase indicator and retrograde date. On the right is the time via retrograde minutes an jumping hour. I actually feel like this HM2.2 version of the watch is more legible than the original, and certainly presents a unique presentation on the already unique watch. Really nice, and just for a few people who can get one of the eight MB&F "Black Boxes" out there.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

This fantastic new French watch from Alain Silberstein has been made to be exclusively sold at the Parisian boutique store Colette located on the famous Rue St. Honoré. Alain Silberstein, a designer who makes quintessentially French watches has developed the iKrono Blue Ring watch for the "concept design" store. Little information is known about the new watch, and it won't be available until the fall. I am quite thrilled however with design. Alain Silberstein watches almost always feature the iconic blue, red, and yellow color scheme with corresponding square, triangle, and circle shapes. You can tell how fluidly that has been incorporated here. The watch case is unique for featuring a square base with a round case and "lefty" oriented pushers and crown.

The namesake of the watch, "Blue Ring" comes from quite simply that - the lovely toned blue ring with the tachymetric scale around the dial of the watch. The movement appears to be an ETA Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph with a curious substitution for the day of the week indicator. Next to the date you'll see a little window with a smiling face. Either each day of the week will have it's own face, or more appropriately, the weekends will have a smiling face, while the week days will have some manner of serious face.

While Alain Silberstein watches almost epitomize French avant garde, his timepieces are always quite legible, and of a solid high quality. Here the soft edged case has a simple rubber strap attachment. A nice watch that I hope will enjoy good production numbers and perhaps make it here to the United States. The watch will available at Colette in Paris starting in September 2009.

Ariel Adams publishes the popular watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.