MB&F HM5 Macrolon

mb&f hm5 macrolon

Black. As a colour, or to be more accurate, an absence of colour, there’s nothing quite like it. Other colours go in and out of fashion, but black is always in. So adding a coat of black paint, a.k.a. PVD, to the case of the super-car-inspired HM5 would appear to be the sensible thing to do.

But since when has MB&F taken the sensible route?

While Horological Machine No.5’s striking, angular case architecture faithfully echoes the form of the streamlined supercars that inspired it, those sharp corners would make a black PVD coating more susceptible to being scratched than a more conventional design.

So rather than take the easier path of adding a black PVD coat to the existing HM5 case, MB&F went in search of a solid black material that:

• Could be polished and finished like metal.

• Felt as solid and substantial as metal.

• Was as hard as steel.

Unfortunately, no material with those properties existed. So MB&F asked a specialist supplier to develop one.

It took a full 18 months, but they finally did: MB&F calls it CarbonMacrolon. CarbonMacrolon is a dense black polycarbonate resin reinforced with carbon nanotubes. It can be polished and finished like steel, feels as solid as steel and is as hard as steel. And it is black right through, so no surface coatings to scratch off.