The M.A.D.Editions M.A.D.2 is finally here. This is, perhaps, the most inevitable release of the year. It’s like starting your series of space operas with “Episode IV,” you know that at some point V is coming (and, indeed, I-III, but we’ll save that conversation for another day). Following up one of the most discussed watches of the last few years is certainly no easy task, and the M.A.D.2 comes to market at a very different time than its predecessor, at least in terms of what’s desirable at the moment.
At this point, we all know the story: Max Büsser, in an effort to make something for his friends and collaborators who could likely never afford the high priced watches they helped him create, created a small batch of watches with an inverted rotor and an unusual time telling apparatus read from the side of the case. The M.A.D1 became a viral hit in the watch community, spawned a bunch of variants, and an improved “S” model just last year. Along the way, the M.A.D.Editions project became a brand unto itself, generating around 20% of MB&F’s total revenue in 2024. And in the three short years since the first M.A.D.Editions watches appeared, the appetite for avant-garde and experimental designs at approachable price points has increased dramatically. In other words, M.A.D.Editions is no longer the only game in town (but they’re still the only affordable way to get a little bit of that Max DNA in a watch without spending tens of thousands of dollars, or more).
Perhaps as a response to that shifting market, the M.A.D.2 feels, well, quite a bit less “mad” than the M.A.D.1. That’s not a bad thing, but if enthusiasts were expecting these watches to get progressively or exponentially more insane as the number at the end got larger, this edition proves that’s not part of the current plan. What we have here is a relatively straightforward circular cased watch with a time telling display made up of a rotating hours ring on one side and a rotating minutes ring on the other. They are encircled by a winding rotor which is once again viewable from the dial side, but here only partially, and via a series of apertures at the dial’s perimeter that are meant to evoke a Technics SL-1200 turntable, which it does quite effectively. The entire design, by frequent MB&F collaborator Eric Giroud, is based around the idea of the 1990s club scene. The dial itself has ridges like that of a record, and the pointers that draw the eye to the hours and minutes are shaped like guitar picks.
The M.A.D.2 is powered by a La Joux-Perret G101 movement with a module designed by MB&F. One important note about the caliber and the display is that the hours jump, which makes this a M.A.D. edition substantially more practical than the M.A.D.1, which always provided an approximation of the time, sometimes in a manner that was difficult to see. You won’t have those problems with the M.A.D.2. The case is 42mm in diameter and 12.3mm tall, so this watch certainly finds itself in “normal, wearable” territory, a space rarely occupied by anything in the MB&F universe.
The M.A.D.2 as seen here in green is not a limited edition, but the first batch will be just 2,000 pieces. The orange version is available to members of the MB&F “Tribe” (their owner’s group) only. Allocations will once again be governed by a random drawing to take place at the end of March. The retail price is CHF 2,900. M.A.D.Editions
