MB&F MAD3 Review: Vincent Calabrese's Idea of Time
Berk OztoprakAuthor
MADEditions has never tried to produce a cheap MB&F watch. The MAD1's sideways hour hand and crazy rotor, and the MAD2's turntable-like dial, are clear evidence of this. The new MB&F MAD3, however, is surprisingly calmer at first glance. It has a central seconds hand, a round case, and a leather strap. In fact, from a distance, it looks more "normal" than previous MAD watches.
But this time, what's interesting isn't how bizarre the design is, but whose idea it is. The MAD3 reinterprets the Baladin system, developed by Vincent Calabrese in the late 1980s. This is where the watch's true value lies: MB&F isn't just recalling a relegated idea of independent watchmaking; they're transforming it into a mechanical watch of approximately 1.500 pieces, priced at around CHF 2.900.
To understand MAD3, you first need to know Vincent Calabrese.
Vincent Calabrese's name isn't as frequently mentioned as Gérald Genta or George Daniels. Nevertheless, he played a significant role in shaping modern independent watchmaking.
Born in Naples in 1944, he is a watchmaker who was largely self-taught. In 1977, he won a gold medal at the Geneva Fair of Inventions for his idea of a linear mechanism. This concept formed the basis of Corum's Golden Bridge model a few years later; Corum explicitly states that the original mechanism idea behind the Golden Bridge belongs to Calabrese. In 1985, together with Svend Andersen, he played a role in the founding of the AHCI, the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, with the aim of increasing the visibility of independent watchmakers.
There's a small but important detail here. According to Calabrese himself, his desire to establish AHCI was partly driven by the recognition problems he experienced after Golden Bridge. In other words, the idea of putting the names of independent watchmakers before the products stemmed from a rather personal experience, predating the "independent watchmaking" culture we romanticize today.
The dedication of MAD3 to Calabrese is therefore more meaningful than a simple design collaboration. Today, MADEditions is dealing with a different version of the problem that AHCI tried to solve in its early days: bringing creative watchmaking ideas to a wider audience.
Baladin's bizarre idea: The jumping clock shouldn't jump.
In a classic jumping hour watch, the hour number changes instantly when the minute hand reaches 60 from 59. The transition from 10:59 to 11:00 is a mechanically abrupt event.
Calabrese didn't like that.
His objection was less about technology and more about how time is perceived. In real life, the clock didn't "jump" from 10 to 11; time was constantly moving forward. So why would the clock face remain motionless for an hour and then suddenly change in the last second?
Baladin gave a mechanical answer to this question. As the window displaying the hour number moves across the dial, its position simultaneously indicates the minute. As the hour progresses, the window also moves around the circumference. As the hour approaches, the current number slowly rotates, giving way to the next hour. So the system still uses a digital clock display, but it transforms the transition from a sudden "click" into a visible process.
This idea is easier to understand when you look at the dial of the MAD3. A colored disc in the center displays an hour window and a minute indicator. As the disc moves around the dial, the minute pointer follows the outer 0-60 scale. At the end of an hour cycle, the number inside the window changes to the next. The independent central hand at the top shows the seconds.
It might initially sound like making reading the time unnecessarily difficult. In a way, it is. However, the aim here isn't to read the time faster than a traditional three-handed clock. What Calabrese has done is make it possible to observe the "passage of time," which we wouldn't normally notice on the dial.
That's exactly what makes MAD3 interesting.
Why couldn't MB&F use the old mechanism directly?
Baladin's original mechanism was not designed with industrial mass production in mind. As is often seen in Calabrese's work, the system was largely developed with a craftsman's approach, to be produced in small quantities.
MADEditions, however, faced a different problem: it needed a mechanism that could replicate the same behavior in roughly four-digit production quantities.
The solution is based on the La Joux-Perret G111 automatic caliber. To this, a bidirectional jumping-hour and trailing-minutes module developed by MB&F has been added. The brand states that instead of copying the original system, it redesigned the module. According to technical information provided by Fratello, tolerances have been tightened, amplitude control has been improved, and special components have been developed for the new module's energy transfer and long-term stability.
To simplify the energy chain, the system works like this: the energy stored in the mainspring of the automatic mechanism is transferred to the MAD3 module via the G111's gear system. The module continuously advances the central moving pointer, creating the minute position and ensuring the numeral mechanism moves to the next hour as it approaches the hour. The problem MB&F had to solve here wasn't just "moving the numeral"; it was managing this additional load while keeping the amplitude and power reserve of the main mechanism at an acceptable level.
The result is an automatic movement operating at 4 Hz, with 24 jewels and a 55-hour power reserve . The watch can be adjusted forward or backward; Hodinkee specifically noted that in the example he used, the transitions worked quite smoothly in both directions.
On paper, 55 hours isn't an impressive number. What's more interesting here is that this reserve was achieved with the help of a constantly moving auxiliary indicator system.
Why does MAD3 look more normal than previous MAD watches?
The case back features Eric Giroud's signature. The 316L steel case is 40 mm in diameter, 12,7 mm thick, and measures just 43,7 mm lug-to-lug. The last digit is particularly important; the short, "floating" lugs help the 40 mm watch sit quite compactly on the wrist. Fratello's test on an 18,5 cm wrist also found the proportions to be excellent.
There's none of MAD1's extroverted mechanical theater or MAD2's DJ equipment aesthetic here. In MAD3, the show is largely confined within the dial.
Thanks to the white bombé sapphire minute ring, the curved sunray disc in the center, and the Super-LumiNova placed beneath these layers, the dial does not appear as a flat surface. The hour markers are also read through a beveled opening. Therefore, the MAD3 feels traditional from a distance, but quite mechanical up close.
I think this choice is the strongest aspect that sets the MAD3's character apart from the previous two models. The watch is less loud, but it has more to tell.
Turning it over, MADEditions' playfulness returns. As the automatic rotor spins, different parts of the French sentence underneath become visible: “It’s quite easy to please others; it’s much harder to be proud of yourself.” This quote functions as a personal note quite fitting for Calabrese’s career.
Technicial Specifications
| Traits | MB&F MAD3 |
|---|---|
| Kasa | 316L stainless steel |
| Diameter | 40 mm |
| Thickness | 12,7 mm |
| July to July | 43,7 mm |
| Waterproof | 30 meters |
| Mechanism | Modified La Joux-Perret G111 |
| Frekans | 4 Hz / 28.800 vph |
| Power reserve | 55 hours |
| presentation | Wandering jumping hour, minute, central second |
| Strap | Leather, steel folding buckle |
| Price | CHF 2.900, excluding taxes. |
| Sales | The blue version will be distributed through a public raffle. |
Technical specifications are matched with MB&F's official documentation and Fratello's published product specifications.
Why is the price of CHF 2.900 important?
MADEditions should not be considered in the same product class as MB&F. MB&F explicitly states this: in order to maintain the price level of MADEditions, the mechanism development, level of complication, and finish are not on the same level as the Horological Machine or Legacy Machine family. This is why the series does not bear the MB&F logo.
This distinction is even more important in the MAD3 because, at first glance, the watch has a mechanical story that could be marketed as an “affordable MB&F”.
I think there's a more accurate way to read it.
What you're buying for CHF 2.900 isn't a cheapened version of MB&F high watchmaking; it's the idea of showcasing an unusual timepiece, re-engineered on an industrial scale. This distinction, though seemingly small, explains why MADEditions is so interesting.
The blue model offered to the public is said to have a production run of approximately 1.500 units . Raffle entries are open from September 1-7, 2026, and the price is CHF 2.900, excluding taxes. The pink version is reserved for MB&F's Tribe members and the Friends group.
But is it perfect? No.
The first objection is quite clear: MAD3 appears less original compared to previous MAD models.
As Hodinkee points out, the design references Baladin so directly that for some collectors, the MAD3 might be perceived less as an independent new design and more as a well-made, distinct watch. While the MAD1 and MAD2 built their own visual worlds from scratch, the MAD3 consciously continues the language of another watch.
30 meters of water resistance is also modest for a mechanical watch intended for everyday use. While the brief gap visible in the window during the hourly transition is part of the mechanism's character, it may not be appreciated by users who seek absolute readability.
MAD3's real success lies elsewhere.
The most interesting thing MADEditions did in its third hour might not have been inventing a new shape.
Looking at Vincent Calabrese's story, an ironic situation emerges. A watchmaker who spent a significant part of his life fighting for the visibility of independent watchmakers' names is back in the spotlight nearly forty years later with a watch bearing his own name, a watch that thousands of enthusiasts will strive to acquire.
Moreover, Baladin is one of Calabrese's ideas that doesn't have an easy history. According to his own archives, the mechanism won an award at the 1990 Geneva Inventions Fair, its patent was sold to the Italian fashion brand Pinko, and years later it was bought back by Calabrese. Today, the re-engineering of the same basic idea by MADEditions therefore doesn't seem like just a nostalgic reproduction.
MAD3 isn't doing what the watchmaking world often does: rescuing a forgotten design from the archives and reselling it. It's doing something more interesting: it's making a nearly forgotten watchmaking concept commercially viable.
For me, this is where the MB&F MAD3 stands in the collection. It's not the best everyday watch. Perhaps not the purest MADEditions design at all. But of the three models, it's definitely the one that most strongly touches the history of independent watchmaking.
And the fact that the subject of discussion on the back of a CHF 2.900 watch is not so much the case finish but "how time should move" is interesting enough in itself.
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