Luxury watchmaker MB&F has teamed with Chinese artist Xia Hang to create an intriguing and animated edition of MB&F’s Legacy Machine 1 (LM1).

This watch features a mechanically animated power reserve that MB&F describes as an emotional metaphor for watch collectors.

Xia has recreated one of his signature “comma men” that is part-alien, part-baby, in miniature and articulated format.

The tiny aluminum creature on the dial of the watch will slump over as the power reserve diminishes and only stands back once you wind the crown.

It is quite a clever piece of work, or as MB&F aptly calls it “performance art”.   The creature — surely a major technical and artistic challenge to actually craft — is made of aluminum and measures just 4mm high.

“I call these little men ‘comma men’, and their distinctive shape comes from a selection of art I created from 2005 to 2008,” he said. “Commas do exist in Chinese writing and for me the ‘comma man’ represents a chubby boy.”

As a reminder, Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode developed the LM1 calibre, which features the world’s first vertical power reserve and allows completely independent setting – including minutes – of both time displays.

Mechanically, the LM1 Xia Hang remains identical to the original, both in terms of size (the case is 44 mm) and function.

LM1 Xia Hang is two limited editions of 12 pieces each, in red or white gold. And each timepiece is delivered with a larger pair of creatures – “Mr. Up” and “Mr. Down” – crafted out of solid steel and signed by Xia Hang himself.

Both versions of the LM1 Xia Hang are priced at 99,000 Swiss francs before taxes (around $111,000). For more information, please visit mbandf.com.

“Legacy Machine N°1 Xia Hang is the first time that there has been a cross-pollination between a MB&F M.A.D. Gallery artist and a MB&F watch.”

“In curating these amazing artists at our M.A.D.Gallery section. in Geneva, it opens a world of possibilities in possible co-creations with MB&F’s Machines” says Maximilian Busser, MB&F’s founder.

In 2011, MB&F collaborated with Chinese artist Huang Hankang to create the HM4 Only Watch, which features a solid gold panda riding the HM4 watch.