MB&F’s LM101 Gabriel Colliard: three jungle tales in enamel

Gabriel Colliard, an independent enameller of singular vision, has chosen to populate the dial of the LM101 with three distinct tableaux from the natural world. The result is a trilogy of watches that feels less like a commercial proposition and more like the fulfilment of an artistic commission where the artist holds all the creative authority.

The first edition depicts a pair of scarlet macaws rendered in red, their plumage catching the light with the luminescence of fresh enamel work. The second introduces a mischievous monkey, captured in blue cloisonné against a jewelled background. The third conjures a crocodile poised at the edge of a green swamp, a predator in waiting. Each composition is executed with the precision that cloisonné demands: fine partitions of metal wire filled with coloured enamel, then fired and polished until the surface becomes as smooth as the dial itself.

What sets these watches apart is the refusal to contain the narrative to the front alone. The caseback continues the story, with an enamelled ratchet wheel echoing the jungle scene on the dial, so that even the mechanical heart of the watch participates in Colliard’s vision. The 40mm case is platinum, a metal that speaks to both durability and restraint. The calibre within was developed entirely in house by MB&F in partnership with Kari Voutilainen, the Finnish master horologist whose hand finishing techniques are evident in every bridge and balance cock.

Three editions. Eight pieces of each. The constraint itself becomes part of the appeal: these are watches that will scatter across the world, each one a finite expression of what happens when a watchmaker trusts an artist entirely to choose his own subject.

Imagery courtesy of MB&F (@mbandf).