BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
The Classima collection from Baume et Mercier comprises of elegantly styled watches that provide a port of entry into the Baume et Mercier brand. For 2019 the Classima collection is being expanded with a trio of watches which include an annual calendar chronograph, a GMT and a time only watch with sub-seconds. Featuring a 42mm stainless steel case with intricate blue dials these new watches add a nice dose of useful functionality to the existing collection.
Classima Small Seconds
First up we have the Classima small seconds which is the simplest of the new lot. Featuring a seconds subdial at 6 along with a date window at 3 the face of this watch is clean and uncluttered with a high focus on legibility. Rendered in a nice shade of blue the dial is a mix of several finishes and textures with a prominent guilloche pattern at the center giving the watch a distinctive visual appeal. The applied batons and Roman numerals at the four quadrant positions give the watch its classic look and the well-proportioned leaf shaped handset adds just the right amount of elegance. Powering this watch is the Sellita SW260-1 automatic movement which operates at a frequency of 4Hz and offers a power reserve of 38 hours. The movement is nicely decorated and can be viewed through the sapphire crystal case back. The watch would retail at a price of EUR 2,500 on a steel bracelet and EUR 2,250 on a leather strap.
Classima GMT
The Classima GMT keeps the general aesthetic of its three-hand sibling intact and brings an extra hand into the mix. The blue dial continues to emit a dressy vibe through the courtesy of the Roman numerals and the leaf-shaped hour and minute hands which are now accompanied by a centrally mounted seconds hand for precise tracking of time. The central guilloche section is now surrounded by a 24-hour chapter ring which can be utilized to track a second-time-zone using the red GMT hand which also adds a nice splash of color to the dial. To make things even more interesting the 24-hour ring has been represented in two different colors with the lower half in silver indicating day time and the upper half in blue indicating night. The watch is powered by the reliable ETA 2893-2 movement which operates at 28800 bph and offers a power reserve of 42 hours. The watch would retail at a price of EUR 2,650 on a steel bracelet and EUR 2,550 on a leather strap.
Classima Calendar Chronograph
Featuring a complete calendar and a chronograph complication this is the most complicated and feature-rich watch out of the three new watches. The dial has a conventional tri-compax layout that has been thoughtfully executed with some interesting details. There are 3 sub-registers at 6,9 and 12 which not only display the elapsed hours, running seconds and minutes but also double up to indicate the moon phase, a second-time-zone and the day/month. This implementation keeps the symmetry of the dial intact and makes it impressively readable. Further to that the in yet another endeavor to keep the legibility intact, the date feature on this watch has been cleverly executed using a pointer date mechanism wherein a centrally mounted hand extends to the outer periphery of the dial to indicate the current date. The hour markings this time around are just applied batons and all hands except for the stick style chronograph hand and the crescent moon tipped pointer date hand have a leaf style shape. Powering the watch is a Valjoux 7751 automatic chronograph movement that offers a power reserve of 48 hours. The movement has been beautifully decorated and can be viewed through the display case back. The watch would retail at a price of EUR 4,200 on a steel bracelet and EUR 4,100 on a leather strap.
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