MB&F’s alien mothership features four detachable instrument pods and one all-seeing alien… called Ross.

by James Buttery 

MB&F have boldly gone where the brand has never been before, for its latest co-creation is neither clock nor music box nor automaton turtle and avian companion. Instead the science fiction-inspired mechanical mavericks have developed an extraordinary analogue weather station with Swiss clock specialist and long-term partner, L?Epée.
The concept is simple; an alien mothership with four detachable pods, each one a mechanical instrument in its own right namely clock (hours and minutes), thermometer (temperature), barometer (atmospheric pressure), and hygrograph (humidity).

In normal operation the four pods are housed within the mothership overseen by alien pilot Ross (a play on that most UFO of locations Roswell, New Mexico), who sits casually on a rotating wheel observing in all directions. However should the need arise each pod can also be detached to sit independently on its own three legs.
In total L?Epée uses 531 components to create each Fifth Element using brass, stainless steel and glass, while Ross himself is milled from bronze. The whole creation weighs 15kg and is 376mm is diameter, which will make a bold statement on even the grandest of coffee tables.

The clock pod uses a unique version of L?Epée?s vertical Eight Day, single-barrelled movement with the regulator repositioned at 90 degrees to the bridges because ...