World-renowned Swiss watchmaker MB&F has raised its flag at The Villa Menlo Park – Silicon Valley’s new cultural centre and destination for world-class experiences. Now open at 500 El Camino Real in Menlo Park, California, the MB&F LAB Silicon Valley invites visitors to experience one of the most extensive collections of MB&F watch creations in North America, including complex watches, conceptual desk clocks and mechanical sculptures – in one of MB&F’s only LABs in the world.
MB&F founder Maximilian Büsser joined Stephen Silver Fine Jewelry president Jared Silver, collectors, customers and friends for the intimate opening event and ribbon cutting on 23 January 2025. The important opening event also marked the Swiss watch brand’s 20th anniversary and its two decades of unbridled creativity, bold designs and innovations that have forever changed – and challenged – the global watch industry.
“From the outset, it was clear that MB&F, a radical and forward-thinking independent brand, belonged in the most innovative part of the world – Silicon Valley – and at The Villa Menlo Park. The spirit of the company shines through in all its creations, and its emphasis on collaboration and appetite for risk are highly valued here in Silicon Valley,” says Jared Silver. The retail boutique offers one of the world’s largest selections of rare and collectible MB&F watches and conceptual art watches in one place, including an 18-piece limited edition exclusive to Silicon Valley LAB of the Legacy Machine Perpetual EVO, recently developed with long-time retail partner and Villa Menlo Park promoter Stephen Silver Fine Jewellery.
Maximilian Busser commented: “This is MB&F’s fifth laboratory after Paris, Singapore, Taipei and Los Angeles: proof of how important Silicon Valley collectors have become to our brand. On the one hand, there is a natural symbiosis between this part of the world, so driven by technology and innovation, and our innovative thinking and highly complex engineering. I think this connection is deeper thanks to something more unexpected: the traditional craftsmanship we put into our watchmaking, which offers a welcome dose of warmth in the high-tech universe of Silicon Valley.”
Jared and Stephen Silver were among the first retailers in the United States to specialise in independent watchmakers, pioneering this category. In 2015, they met with Maximilian Büsser in Switzerland to discuss a partnership. Since then, the brand has been an important part of the Menlo Park luxury retailer’s watch collection. MB&F LAB Silicon Valley is the first single-brand retail store to open its doors at The Villa Menlo Park, a mixed-use development led by Stephen Silver Fine Jewellery with the aim of creating a cultural hub for Silicon Valley.
Designed as a destination where the community can connect, play and explore, The Villa Menlo Park offers a range of quietly sophisticated experiences, including retail shops, partner restaurants and community events.
