By Kien Lee
The LM Perpetual EVO, a "sportier" and more life-driven version of the award-winning Legacy Machine Perpetual (LMP), was first launched in zirconium with options of PVD/CVD dial-plate colour in blue, black and for the first time in a high-end piece of Swiss watchmaking, atomic orange.
Now, the horological laboratory has launched a new piece in grade 5 titanium, with a green CVD dial plate.
The 44mm diameter remains unchanged from its original LMP predecessor in 2015, the LMP EVO boasts a case that has no bezel, with the domed sapphire crystal fused directly to the case. To execute this, a new geometry for the sapphire crystal had to be proposed, to obtain the mechanically opposing aims of maintaining structural strength and decreasing its height-to-diameter ratio. Freeing LM Perpetual EVO from the bezel also necessitated the use of a sophisticated thermal bonding system between the sapphire crystal and the case.
The previously circular pushers for adjusting the perpetual calendar have been enlarged into double-sprung oblong actuators, boosting the tactile comfort and ease of adjustment.
For the first time in any MB&F creation, the LM Perpetual EVO is also water resistant, up to a depth of 80 metres, enabled by its screw-down crown. A small, but essential, detail of implementing a screw-down crown is the débrayage of the winding stem, disengaging the crown from the winding mechanism when it is pushed in and tightened, which eliminates the chance of manually over-winding the mainspring barrel.
An additional new element of the LM Perpetual EVO is the FlexRing: an annular dampener fitted between case and movement, providing shock protection along the vertical and lateral axes. Machined from a single block of stainless steel, the dampener imparts exceptional robustness to the perpetual calendar, a function that is associated with classicism and elegance, but is arguably the most pragmatic and utilitarian of all the high complications.
The LM Perpetual EVO represents the next evolution of the MB&F journey, from mechanical art and innovation, to becoming a part of the wearer's journey on more robust activities.
