The Franck Müller Master Banker
Franck Müller Master Banker ref. 6850 MB / Credit: HQMilton
The Franck Müller Master Banker. The holy grail for finance gurus who keep track of time in Asia, Europe, and North America. Back in the late 1990s, when the watch was released, financial markets were already global and bankers traveled between the main financial centres of Tokyo, London, or New York regularly. Keeping track of time in each location, whether the stock exchange was about to open or close or the lunch hours, and then translating it all into local time, would be a hassle for many finance professionals. Bankers didn’t always have the patience or physical ability to monitor multiple clocks and know the hours in the several different time zones.
It was by having a chat with a banker friend that Franck Müller was given the challenge to design a revolutionary watch to solve these issues. A watch with three separate time indicators, all operated by one lever. Müller may be known for their World Premieres but this was a unique feat that challenged Franck Müller’s abilities. The single lever had to manage three different hour and minute hands independently, another function for the seconds hand and one function for the date. A real technical nightmare that Franck Müller had to solve. The solution to his problem would come from where he least expected it. Construction vehicles engineered by Caterpillar. These highly complex machines would use one lever to activate different mechanisms, from the wheels to the shovel itself. Although the use was very different, the mechanical principle was the same.
Franck Müller Master Banker ref. 7880 MB LDT / Credit: ChronoExpert
By taking inspiration of this already existing piece of engineering, Franck Müller designer his own lever, capable of managing the three different time zones, one date, and one second hand, releasing the first Master Banker in 1996. Later, he went on to create an entire iconic collection out of this idea, initially developed for his banker friend, and thus given the name: Master Banker.
By: Simon Pontroue