The SP One Pavée is the newest and most precious version of MB&F’s SP One, crafted in 18K white gold and set with 255 diamonds weighing 1.608 carats. The stones run across the case, the bevelled flange, the crown and the buckle, following the curves of a design that stays exactly as it was. Two further touches complete it, a deep dark blue PVD inclined dial in place of black DLC, and bridges in a rhodium finish that sit beautifully against the white gold.
It becomes the third edition in the family. Platinum 950 with a sky-blue bevelled flange and 18K rose gold with an anthracite one arrived first in 2025, and all three share the same hand-wound in-house movement and the same 38mm case.
The original was the brand’s most discrete watch, a deliberately elegant piece from a house better known for spaceships and jellyfish, and it worked. Rather than redesign a success, the team found a more precious way to say the same thing.
20 Years in
When the pandemic arrived, the maison responded by opening a basket of dormant projects that had been waiting patiently for years, full of flashes of intuition and sketches of skateboards and razors. One of them, the playful M.A.D.1, became a runaway success, and the years that followed brought fresh releases and a healthy run of GPHG awards.
Maximilian Büsser, who founded the brand in 2005 after leaving his managing director role at Harry Winston, decided the right response to good fortune was to reach deeper into the basket rather than sit still. Out came a project code-named Special Project One, first sketched in 2018 as three circles resembling a smiley face, later refined with designer Eric Giroud before the engineers took over.
“We asked ourselves: what if we did what no one expected, an elegant, classical watch?” Maximilian Büsser, Founder and Creative Director, MB&F
The floating trinity
Known internally as Three Circles, the movement is arranged so that the barrel, balance wheel and dial all share the same circumference and all appear to hover. Bridges, wheels and screws are tucked beneath the three visible elements, which is why a screw is hardly visible from the front.
Every edition runs the same in-house hand-wound calibre, with 189 components, 31 jewels, 72 hours of power reserve and an unhurried 2.5Hz, or 18,000 vibrations per hour. The single suspended barrel keeps the levitation intact, the balance wheel oscillates at 2 o’clock with the poise of a small flying saucer, and the tilted dial at 6 o’clock shows off conical gearing, a rare and rewarding piece of engineering.
The case measures 38mm across and 12mm tall, with a 41.9mm lug-to-lug span across 19 components. Bezel-free and smooth as a river pebble, it carries lugs that rise from the lower case rather than attaching to the upper section, leaving a neat gap that adds to the floating effect. Water resistance sits at 30m, and the anti-reflective sapphire crystals front and back earn their keep.
Inside the amphitheatre
Büsser calls the bevelled flange around the movement the amphitheatre, a Greco-Roman framing device that draws the eye towards the middle of the stage. Turning the watch over reveals the other half of that arena and the finishing that connects every edition to the rest of the family.
Every wheel is hand-angled, the chatons stand proud, and the surfaces balance satin, polished and micro-blasted textures so no single treatment dominates. Polished bevels and hand-made engravings appear throughout, and the brand remains one of the few still doing this work by hand across a two-hand watch.
Set in white gold
The Pavée carries its 255 diamonds effortlessly. The case takes 165 stones, the bevelled flange 55, the crown 14 and the buckle 21, each run tracing the existing lines rather than smothering them. That flange is rhodium-plated to match, and the 18mm calfskin strap is fastened by a diamond-set white gold pin buckle.
The dark blue dial gives the tilted hours a softer depth than black, the rhodium bridges keep the movement bright against the setting, and nothing has been enlarged or reshaped to make room for the stones. The result is a more precious reading of a design that already had the proportions right.
Platinum and rose gold
The original pair established the recipe and remain fine choices. Platinum 950 came with a sky-blue bevelled flange, while the warmer 18K rose gold took an anthracite one, each on a calfskin strap with a pin buckle in the matching metal.
Both carry a black DLC inclined dial and anthracite bridges in a ruthenium finish, giving the movement a cooler, more industrial tone than the Pavée. Alongside the white gold edition they show how much character the flange and dial finish can shift while the architecture holds firm.
The three editions now share one design, and the collection is stronger for it. Platinum brings coolness, rose gold brings warmth and the Pavée brings light, all within the same 38mm case and the same 189-component calibre.