Imagination Maketh Man

The word 'visionary' is bandied around a lot, but MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser might just deserve that title. He tells us about innovation and creativity.

- WORDS SUFFIAN HAKIM PHOTOS VARIOUS

MAXIMILIAN BÜSSER CREDITS HIS MOTHER for his success.

"My mother was Parsi Zoroastrian," he shared in a 2021 interview with Hodinkee, "and I was brought up with three simple sayings: good thoughts, good words, good deeds."

Guided by these principles, Büsser has built an impressive horological résumé. He began his career in the watch industry in 1991 at Jaeger-LeCoultre after graduating with a degree in microtechnology engineering, where he spent seven years in a senior executive role during the brand's post-quartz crisis rebuilding phase. In 1998, he was recruited to become the CEO of Harry Winston Rare Timepieces, where he spent the next seven years transforming the business and steering it through a period of recession. During this period, Büsser gained renown for conceiving the revolutionary Opus series, which brought together the brand's resources with independent watchmakers' creative vision. This collaborative, high-concept approach laid out the groundwork for his next venture, and in 2005, driven by a desire for complete creative freedom, he resigned to found MB&F (Maximilian Büsser & Friends).