Introducing MB&F The Milimilians a bunch of collectible, alien-like creatures with heads modeled after our Horological and Legacy Machines. There’s Minimilian Frog with its pop-out eyes, Minimilian Thunderbolt with those aviation vibes, and Minimilian Aquapod with its chubby round face. Since kicking off in 2005, MB&F has rolled out over 20 different calibres in about 30 distinct case shapes, and now each one has its matching figurine. And yes, their name is a nod to a well-known member of the MB&F team.

The Minimilians are a small token of gratitude to The Tribe —the MB&F owners club—, to thank them for making the MB&F adventure possible. Starting today, for every MB&F watch registered at The Tribe —whether it’s brand-new or a well-loved gem from the secondary market— owners automatically score a matching Minimilian figurine for free. This applies not just to new registrations, but also to watches already registered —with around 1,600 existing registered watches to cover. First deliveries just started last week.

MB&F stands for Maximilian Büsser & Friends, and the Minimilians are fittingly created by three long-standing Friends. Maximilian Maertens has been working closely with Maximilian Büsser; he is the designer behind several of their clock and music box Co-Creations with L’Epée 1839 and Reuge and was tasked with designing the figurines.

Aurélien Bouchet is the head of AB Concept and AB Product, who are experts in case engineering/manufacturing and have been crafting hyper-complex cases like those of HM9 and HM11. For the Minimilians, AB Concept brings a very different technology to the table: state-of-the-art 3D printing. 3D printing was a key element in the Minimilians project since many MB&F pieces have been crafted in very low numbers —but it was nonetheless important to thank the owners of those rare pieces with a matching Minimilian.

Finally, the packaging is taken care of by Olivier Berthon, who has created and manufactured the vast majority of MB&F watch boxes and packaging. Each Minimilian box is created from high-quality foam —the same foam as MB&F watch boxes— that protects the Minimilians as they travel to their new homes.

The HM4 Final Edition for example, which has a very characteristic angular case shape that is quite different vs. the other HM4 variants, was limited to only 8 pieces. For these very tactile figurines, the MB&F team chose a 3D-printing process followed by a coating of white paint that creates a textured, ceramic-like finish with an artisanal feel —an accurate reflection of the production process, which provides on average only about 10 Minimilians per day.

For more info on MB&F click here.