BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
It’s been a while since we’ve talked about Baume & Mercier, and in that time they’ve been very busy changing and improving things across the range. The Clifton Baumatic 39mm is evidence of this, and it’s here to tempt you.
Made from stainless steel and measuring 39mm x 11.22mm with 50m water resistance, I can imagine the Clifton being used as a classy dressy/sporty watch, although that 50m of water resistance is weak, so the focus is on the dressy side.
With a simple dial in a cooling blue featuring fine guilloché, plus ‘crosshairs’ indicating the quarters, the dial is classy. The date window is colour-matched, too, which ties in with the appearance, and the refined shape of the applied markers adds to the mix.
Behind the Clifton’s dial sits the self-winding calibre BM13-1975 A, which is what Baume & Mercier calls an “in-house” calibre. Whether you believe that depends on whether or not you consider movements being made by a company in the same group as “in-house”. Baume & Mercier is owned by the Richemont Group, as is ValFleurier which produced the movement in the watch. I’m not 100% sure if it’s a bespoke calibre made for Baume & Mercier, as ETA does for some of the Swatch Group’s brands, but the calibre does come with decent specs including 21 jewels, a 4Hz beat rate, and a power reserve of 120 hours (five days). The BM13-1975 A is also on view through the caseback, which one would expect at this price.
The price is where we bridge from the last paragraph into this one, and I wanted it to have its own paragraph because, well, I think it’s a bit mad. Baume & Mercier’s Clifton Baumatic 39mm M0A10870 is priced at €3,700, and I’m struggling to see where the money’s going.
I know things have gotten more expensive for everyone, but with this, it’s really difficult to see. The manufactured movement is one thing, but those are made in bigger numbers, and there are no precious metals in the case, and only 50m water-resistant. I think you’d have to be a really big Baume & Mercier fan to buy this one new.
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