I first met Max Maertens at Dubai Watch Week last year. The young designer already has a storied career under his belt, working on projects with brands like Chopard, Vacheron Constantin, Cartier, and MB&F, where he started out as an intern. Here, something clicked. For several years, Maertens firmly fell in the “F” or “friends” category of the brand, collaborating with MB&F and L’Epée on the T-Rex clock before being given free rein to create the TriPod and the Orb.