Remember when aliens were a thing not too long ago? Sigourney Weaver and the alien queen (the stuff of nightmares), Moulder and Scully, the propagation of the conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51, Rosswell, New Mexico and every teenaged kid rocking some sorta alien tee with those godawful baggy, Fubu jeans. May be the turn of the century had something to with it too. All that fear swirling around computers being unable to recognize the date January 1st 2000 and bringing the world to a crashing halt.

Whatever the case may have been, it’s undeniable that the world was fascinated by the prospect of extraterrestrial life, somewhere out there. So, for those of us who were the 90s kids — and owned one of those Fubu baggy jeans — the all new MB&F Horological Machine N°6 Alien Nation is sure to tug a heartstring, or two.

An evolution of the original Horological Machine N°6 Space Pirate and the later, Sapphire Vision, the Alien Nation is first and foremost now a completely sapphire clad timepiece. Because of the watch’s complex case structure though, it needs to be crafted for 12 individually milled pieces of sapphire before the case is assembled and reinforced with Grade-5 titanium elements.

Of course, now that the case is able to provide this vitrine-like visibility into the guts of the HM6, Max Büsser and the team has made sure to take full advantage of this to inject their hilarious sense of creativity into a movement, which was already incredible.

The Horological Machine N°6 Alien Nation’s movement incorporates five alien passengers and another mad one that sits outside on top of the watch case. These mirco-figurines are craved out of white gold and considering the delicate execution, requires the greatest of dexterity. The man tasked to give life to the creatures was engraver extraordinaire, Olivier Kuhn. He and his team of six required no less than an entire month to complete the figurines. But the idea was already there to whimsically incorporate the figures into the watch, so that they look like busy little aliens scurrying about their space craft.

With executions that push both technical and creative boundaries, time and cost of production, no doubt, becomes a challenge of monumental proportions. And MB&F is very aware of this. Therefore, in practicing prudence, the MB&F Horological Machine N°6 Alien Nation will be produced in the very limited run of just four pieces, with four varieties of accent colors: blue, green, turquoise and purple. Oh and, all four are already sold. Damn.

More details on MBandF.com

Technical Specifications

Movement

HM6 three-dimensional horological engine; flying tourbillon with retractable semi-spherical titanium shield; platinum 950 battle-axe automatic winding rotor; twin aluminum turbines with Super-LumiNova driven by winding rotor; 72-hour power reserve; hours and minutes displayed on separate semi-spherical aluminum indications

Specificity of HM6 Alien Nation

Aliens: Manufactured in white gold; 5 different aliens inside the movement and 1 on the case

Ambient Glow Technology (AGT Ultra): Internal circumference highlighted by the 4 slats in solid AGT Ultra

Case

Complete sapphire crystal case with some reinforcing elements in grade 5 titanium; 51mm x 50mm x 22.7mm

Strap

Hand-stitched alligator strap with stiches matching the gasket’s colors; custom designed folding buckle in titanium