Sunday Morning Showdown: Urwerk EMC SR-71 Vs. MB&F HM8 Mark 2

Our Sunday Morning Showdowns are usually quite sensible. Okay…relatively sensible. We often pit two attainable everyday watches against each other to see which wins the popular vote. Well, today is a bit different. Today, we have a brawl between two Nouvelle Horlogerie watches that, unless you are reading this from the sundeck of your 200-foot yacht, are completely unobtainable. This is the Urwerk EMC SR-71 versus the MB&F Horological Machine 8 Mark 2, two high-end, ultra-modern, highly creative, and unconventional watches.

We are sometimes criticized if two SMS competitors aren’t perfectly comparable in every way, including specs, price, genre, color, and so on. Well, today is a statement of intent that our showdowns aren’t limited to sensible consumer advice. Sometimes, they are merely fun thought experiments or purely hypothetical comparisons. Today’s fighters are miles apart in price, concept, and specs. You will get over it, my dear Fratelli. Most wounds heal with time.

But first, last week’s showdown

Before we get into the artsy-modern-watch violence, we should have a quick look at last week’s showdown. The contrast with this week’s could hardly be greater because we pitted two entry-level divers against each other. I (Thomas) defended the Seiko King Turtle, while Daan brought a gun to a knife fight with the Certina DS Super PH1000M.

Not surprisingly, Daan won. The Certina, after all, shows that almost doubling your outlay in this segment truly does get you a lot more watch. In this sense, today’s SMS is a cool follow-up as it demonstrates the law of diminishing returns. The higher the segment, the smaller the refinements every additional dollar (or even doubling) buys you. The Certina, at almost twice the Seiko’s price, is clearly twice the watch. The Urwerk, at almost twice the MB&F’s price, is not. More on that later!

My only hope last week was the King Turtle’s legendary status. And indeed, it turned out very close. The Certina won by just 6% with 53% of the votes. Commenters pointed out the superior specs of the Certina. The King Seiko’s date magnifier (aligned or not so aligned) caught flack too. But, as I hoped, there is still a lot of love for Seiko Turtles in the community. So, with only a relatively small dent in my ego, I step back into the ring with Jorg today. Let’s get into Urwerk versus MB&F!

Thomas: Urwerk EMC SR-71

I am afraid I have ended up defending the underdog once more today. In true B-Rabbit style, let me diss myself first to take some low-hanging fruit away from Jorg. The first big knock against the Urwerk is the price. We are talking CHF 150,000 versus the MB&F’s CHF 73,000. I will make an effort to justify that gap, but I will admit it is a tough pill to swallow. On the other hand, if it is, you are probably not the target audience…

Then, there is the brand perception. Max Büsser & Friends is quite simply much more visible and prominent in the modern watch industry. The brand is perhaps the go-to for artistic, ultra-modern watchmaking. Urwerk is much more niche in this sense. It seems to fly a little more under the radar. SR-71 Blackbird…get it?

The Urwerk EMC SR-71 is more relevant

One of the returning criticisms we see on Fratello regarding this genre of watch is that it is all just decadent stuff for the 1%. While this is perhaps true, it is also only part of the story. I think it is good to have a handful of artists working on the fringes. These are creatives who aren’t tied to budgets and who get to experiment and push things further than anybody else. Even if it doesn’t result in trickle-down technology, it can at least push boundaries creatively. I respect this infinitely more than brands just throwing diamonds at every part of an otherwise mundane watch.

But, while we are on the subject, I do feel the Urwerk EMC SR-71 is more relevant in this sense. In case you missed my announcement article, this is an ingenious watch with a useful complication. The mechanical movement is augmented with a circuit running a reference time. At the push of a button, you can measure the watch’s accuracy and display it on one of the watch’s dials. The idea is to provide more feeling with mechanical timekeeping, allowing you to see in real time how your surroundings affect your watch. If the deviation gets too big, you can even adjust it yourself through a screw on the case back. The electronics are wound via the crank on the case flank. This crank is made of original SR-71 Blackbird titanium alloy.

Meanwhile, the MB&F “only” finds a very complicated and expensive way to display the time. It doesn’t offer anything new beyond complicating existing things. To me, this justifies the Urwerk being the more expensive of the two, although such things are impossible to quantify.

The Urwerk EMC SR-71 has a better design

This point extends to the designs of both watches. While both are fully in-house, hand-built works of art, the Urwerk is still a watch. The MB&F is more of an ornate objet d’art. Its shape is in no way inspired by the function it aims to perform. It is odd for oddness’s sake.

The Urwerk EMC SR-71, meanwhile, isn’t much less creative. It is, however, much more functional. Its shape is more naturally formed around a set of dials with distinct purposes. It even pays homage to traditional watchmaking, referencing the classical sub-seconds layout in reverse. The hours and minutes are presented in an abstracted sub-dial under the running seconds. I will admit that at 47.55mm × 49.57mm × 17.58mm, the Urwerk is probably less wearable than the HM8 at 41.5mm × 47mm × 19mm. But hey, you’re not buying either of these for their subtle, everyday appeal, right?

I could do without the slightly gimmicky Blackbird connection, but things like this are omnipresent in the watch world today. Apparently, they work. Still, the Urwerk is conceptually stronger than the MB&F. The EMC SR-71 is a modern take on traditional watchmaking, developing new complications, and applying them in congruent yet creative ways. Now, Jorg, Papa Doc, take the mic and tell the good people why I am wrong.

Jorg: MB&F HM8 Mark 2

Thanks, Thomas! I would like to add that I don’t think it’s necessarily a case of right and wrong. In the world of horology, I consider both Urwerk and MB&F brands to create extraordinary timepieces that could be considered art. And as you know, there is no right or wrong in the world of art, just a matter of taste. On top of that, it also sparks the discussion of what “functionality” means and how that should play a part in the preference for either one of these two. It’s such a highly personal opinion that it’s hard to spin it as a universal truth. While I love functionality when it comes to regular watches, I like to be swooned by the visual magic of the watch as an object I enjoy as much off the wrist as on it.

But enough with the philosophical approach to the technical and stylistic wizardry that these two brands grace us with. For me, the preference for either one starts with the brand rather than its creations. As a creative medium, I love what Max Büsser has done with MB&F. With Max Büsser & Friends, he has created a collaborative platform led by imagination and outside-the-box thinking. By working together with different independent creatives, Büsser manages to come up with spectacular timepieces time and time again.

A creative platform that turns into a relatable story

Essentially, MB&F has put technical and aesthetical creativity at the center of the brand. As a result, design is never one of the parameters on a checklist. For me, it translates into a love for the brand that starts with a philosophy I admire rather than simply loving the watches. But if we switch to those, I also prefer MB&F’s conceptual design approach, which is vastly different from the one Urwerk chooses. There is a lot of romance in Büsser’s work that can be traced back to the 20th-century world of design, particularly automotive design. Urwerk feels less romantic and more utilitarian, almost sci-fi-like. It’s a completely different vibe, and I feel more connected to the former.

My respect for the creative platform and appreciation for the design influences ensure that I have an underlying love for all the MB&F creations. It doesn’t mean I like or would wear all of them. I just have a general bond with the brand and its stories. That also doesn’t mean I do not love Urwerk as a brand or its creations. I adore the UR-100, the EMC Time Hunter, and the EMC SR-71. However, I do not feel the same connection to the last one that I feel to the MB&F HM8 Mark 2.

Getting used to the HM8 Mark 2

Speaking of which, the HM8 Mark 2 was first unveiled in 2023. Its design is inspired by the great supercars of the world. The first two Mark 2 variants featured white or green body panels with the sapphire crystal’s distinctive “double bubble” shape. It immediately reminds me of the cars I admired as a young boy. And the brilliant way to read the time is not just “a very complicated and expensive way to display the time.” It also taps into the memories of a lot of watch fans who also happen to love cars. As you will know, Büsser himself is one of them and doesn’t hide his influences for the timepieces. That makes the story so much more than one based on form following function.

But enough rambling out emotions and memories because the execution is also inspirational. The HM8 Mark 2 has a unique case construction. The chassis is made from Grade 5 titanium, and the colorful body parts you see are made from MB&F’s proprietary CarbonMacrolon. Lastly, both the exhibition case back and hood are made of curved sapphire, which is not easy to achieve. The case measures a neat 41.5mm × 47mm × 19mm, making it more wearable than the Urwerk EMC and the previous driver’s watches that MB&F created, like the HMX and HM8. In his review, Daan called it “a nifty little roadster on your wrist,” and I love that description.

Under the hood

It’s a roadster with a special engine. The automatic movement is composed of a Girard-Perregaux base caliber and an in-house-developed module for jumping hours and trailing minutes with a unique time display. Once on the wrist, you see the 22K gold battle-axe rotor spinning as proof that the engine is running. A fun and remarkable detail is that the hour and minute discs are placed horizontally. To ensure you can read the time at a 90-degree angle, the MB&F watchmakers install two prisms that serve as magnifiers for better legibility. 

The result is a trio of watches in different colors that stand out immediately. The HM8 Mark 2 is a lot less divisive regarding wearability than its opponent today, though. It might look less conventional than your EMC SR-71, Thomas. But while you might think that the MB&F would need to win people over with the brand’s popularity and the concepts behind the design, the HM8 Mark 2 turns out to be the more wearable watch in this battle. It shows that functionality is a relative way to judge these timepieces. It just depends on what you are looking for when you are putting these two great watches on the scales of our Sunday Morning Showdown. I don’t know about our readers, but I would choose the MB&F HM8 Mark 2 every time.

It’s time to vote!

But it’s not up to us, Thomas! It’s up to our readers to vote! So, Fratelli, which one is your favorite, the Urwerk EMC SR-71 or the MB&F HM8 Mark 2? Cast your vote, and share your motivations in the comments section below!