British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori has turned his colourful lens to the world of watchmaking for the first time, creating three watches in collaboration with avant-garde watchmaker M.A.D. Editions.
The partnership began when Maximilian Büsser, the founder of M.A.D. Editions (the accessible, parallel brand to the out-of-this-world MB&F) was on the hunt for a future collaborator. While he was on holiday in summer 2023, he flicked through a magazine and landed on a feature on Ilori, and reached out. Six days later, the designer was in Geneva.
The three M.A.D.1S Grow Your Dreams watches
‘It’s been an incredible experience,’ says Ilori. ‘Two years in development, and now here we are. Although we’ve come from very different places, our stories have intersected, and we have created something very honest.’
Yinka Ilori and Maximilian Büsser
The three watches centre round Ilori’s mantra, ‘Grow Your Dreams.’ Each watch – themed around the sun, nature and water – is limited to 400 pieces each, and available by raffle. Unlike sister brand MB&F, the watches are available at a more accessible price point at under £3,000 each.
'It’s different with MB&F, where the pieces can keep going up in price,' Büsser says. 'Here, we had to find ways to make it just as beautiful.’
As you would expect from Ilori, a master of colour, vibrant hues reign in the three watch designs. Cutting slim silhouettes – the rotor is slimmer than ever – the watches, crafted from titanium, have been subjected to an anodisation process, which has transformed the colour, stretching even to the inside of the bezel, filled with a colourful high-tech liquid ceramic.
'It’s been great working with Yinka, as he has so many ideas,’ says Büsser. ‘I send them to my team and we go, now how do we do this?'
The watches ascribe wholly to Ilori’s 'grow' philosophy, from the blades on the rotor, milled with a tree motif, to the motto etched on the surface. It is a spiritual finish for a project which has been meaningful for both.
‘These collaborations allow you the window of time where you can meet someone and create great memories,’ Büsser reflects. ‘It's the products that will survive me, but the memories are what I cherish.’
The price of the M.A.D.1S Grow Your Dreams watches before taxes is CHF 3,200 + VAT. The raffle runs from 2 -8 September. Registration is free. Register for the raffle here
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