As part of high-end watch forum ThePuristS.com's 10th anniversary, MB&F will offer a (more) limited edition version of their Horological Machine No. 3 "The Frog" watch called "The Chocolate Frog." MB&F is really rewarding their fans and early adopters with this move. There are a fair number of happy MB&F watch owners who are part of the "PuristS" community, who themselves have helped to support MB&F in its early stages. More and more we see the best and more innovative watch brands working closely with the online content providers and communities that strive to support them. A win/win move? I'd like to think so.
The Chocolate Frog will be limited to just 10 pieces, and will be variation on the original HM3 Frog watch that I wrote about here. Funny how brown is a color that has been en vogue recently. There was once a time when a watch maker wouldn't think to ever make a brown colored watch (or one with a brown colored dial). Why? Retailers were afraid they would not sell. Scared that consumers might have 'odd' associations with brown colored dials. All of a sudden a couple of years ago we started to see more and more brown watches. I frankly like them. MB&F uses a PVD application to coat the titanium HM3 Frog case with the brown color. I have to say that brown melds with gold colors really well. Especially here with the 22k red gold automatic rotor of the movement.
The matte style finish of the brown toned titanium will mesh nicely with polished areas see in the exhibition movement as well as with the shininess of the large sapphire crystal "eyes." I swear you can read the time with this watch. I was fortunate enough to review an HM3 watch myself for a while (though the style of reading the time is slightly different) and can say that given the unorthodox nature of the design, it is still legible once you get the hang of it.
No doubt the Frog and now Mr. Brown Frog are weird watches. MB&F founder Max Busser proclaims, "we will never do another chocolate titanium Frog after this." On the back of the watch is reminder that the watch is for the PuristS online community. The people there loves these pieces. And these people and their effect is something really important to think about, because online communities that create a lifestyle and a hobby around watches are what really help to drive the most interesting things in the industry. To a large degree, before the Internet, there was not much of a "fan" community around timepieces. While the PuristS is not the oldest online watch lover community, it is still considered mature and has a lot of loyal followers who make up an important part of the high-end watch buyer segment.
According to the PuristS, their 10th anniversary year will see a few other limited edition watches as well. I will keep checking out what they have. The MB&F Chocolate Frog will be available only through the PuristS and will have a price of $79,000. To inquire about one you can e-mail: PuristS10th@puristspro.com. For more basic technical specs and info on the Frog itself, then refer to my initial article on it that I linked to above. Ribbit.
