By Dhananjay Pathak
The world of horology has begun to heat up once again, as participating brands have started lifting the veil off the products which they would be showcasing during the event. Although SIHH is mostly about the surrealist watches with cutting-edge technologies from the world of Haute Horology, there are some more practical and rather attainable options from brands such as Baume & Mercier as well. During last year’s SIHH event, Baume & Mercier released a versatile daily wearer sports watch called the Clifton club, but this time around the brand is leaning towards the dressy side of things and is adding another new member to the Clifton family in the form of the Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic. Yes, another dress watch you might say, but what makes this watch truly special is the new in-house movement which is antimagnetic, is COSC certified and offers a power reserve of a whopping 120 hours.
The Clifton collection from Baume & Mercier offers some nicely executed, sharp looking watches and the Clifton Baumatic is also no slouch in the looks department. The dial on watch featured here is white in color and has a very clean and legible layout. The applied hour markers have been nicely faceted giving a sense of the depth to the dial and point inwards towards the center of the dial. At the center is a crosshair section which segregates the dial into different sections and gives the watch a distinctive appeal. The minute markings have been presented here in the form of finely printed thin black lines accompanied by numerals at intervals of 5 and provide a nice contrast against the white background. And for those who love the date complication, there is a nicely executed date window at 3.
Now, coming down to what makes this watch really intriguing, the movement. This watch is powered by Baume & Mercier’s first self-winding proprietary movement – the Baumatic BM12-1975A calibre. This movement is a giant leap forward for the brand and as per them improves upon the four important aspects of a mechanical movement namely anti-magnetism, accuracy, autonomy and durability. To put things in perspective, it is resistant to magnetic fields of at least 1500 Gauss, is COSC certified (implying an accuracy of -4sec/+6sec per day), offers a power reserve of around 120 hours and would have service guidelines of five-year intervals (as opposed to the previous three-year guideline). The movement beats at a frequency of 4 Hz, is decently decorated with Côtes de Genève and snailed decors, and can be viewed in all its glory through the sapphire crystal exhibition case back.
Till now Baume & Mercier was, in general, looked upon as a brand offering some really nice, aesthetically pleasing watches powered by reliable Swiss movements, but the Clifton Baumatic would certainly bring about a change in this perception, and propel the brand into a totally different league, especially given its relatively affordable price point. The watch would come fitted to a black alligator leather strap and would retail at an impressive £2290. baume-et-mercier.com
