Baume & Mercier Clifton 39mm

Jamie Weiss

• Baume & Mercier tweak the Clifton, introducing three new metal 39mm Baumatic-powered fashions with groovy crosshair dials, alongside a stable gold variant.
• The metal fashions function tasteful dials in blue and salmon, with the white dial that includes in each the metal and gold circumstances.
• The large distinction is that the watches are not COSC-certified, although the value has come down as properly.

Named after the ritzy beachside Cape City suburb that’s house to a number of the most lovely seashores (and costliest actual property) in South Africa, the Baume & Mercier Clifton is a watch that has all the time exuded quiet confidence. Charming however unflashy, it’s a super on a regular basis watch that may take you from boardwalk to boardroom and again. Watches and Wonders 2025 sees Baume tweak the Clifton line, refining its worth proposition additional.

There’s 4 new fashions within the vary – three metal, one gold – all of which function 39mm circumstances, which represents a 1mm shrink-down from earlier time-and-date-only Cliftons. In addition they sport tasteful, ’50s-inspired sector (or maybe extra precisely, crosshair) dials, with a single Arabic 12 on the high, a date window at 6 o’clock, and riveted baton indices for the opposite hours. Transferring the date window to six will please those that love visible symmetry.

All three are powered by the Baumatic BM13-1975 A, which has a formidable five-day energy reserve and is completed to a formidable stage for this value level, with côtes de Genève, perlage and, within the gold mannequin’s case, a gold rotor.

First up, now we have a metal mannequin, the ref. 10771, which contains a darkish blue lacquered fumé dial of a mode we’re used to seeing from Baume, however that’s no unhealthy factor. Barely extra attention-grabbing is the ref. 10778, a restricted version with an opaline salmon dial that feels notably ’50s. However essentially the most classic-looking of the three is the 18k pink gold ref. 10802, which has a grained off-white dial that makes the watch seem like it’s straight from a classic public sale. This mannequin shares a dial with the metal, bracelet-equipped ref. 10793, although Baume & Mercier’s imagery suggests that every one the metal variants might be obtainable on a bracelet, too.

One notable distinction between these Cliftons and the final era of time-and-date-only Clifton references is that these new fashions are not COSC-certified. Nonetheless, they haven’t modified the motion – so maybe they’re simply sparing the price of having to submit these items to COSC. On that, they’ve additionally dropped the value by A$250 – a rarity in an trade the place some manufacturers bullishly push a number of value rises a 12 months and nearly no model lowers their costs – and the gold mannequin is exceptionally keenly priced for a stable gold watch.

Baume & Mercier Clifton 39mm pricing & availability

The Baume & Mercier Clifton 39m is on the market now. The salmon ref. 10778 is a restricted version of 350 items. Worth: US$3,450, A$5,250 (metal, strap), US$3,600, A$5,400 (metal, bracelet), A$14,000 (gold)