Pre-SIHH 2016 – Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar (specs & price)

Baume & Mercier offers nicely made watches with quality Swiss movements, for reasonable price. Their watches are typically the entry-level to the world of luxury watchmaking and we can ensure that they will provide great pleasure to those seeking an elegant, classic timepiece to be worn on a daily basis. One of our favorite here is the Clifton, that we reviewed in a rather complicated edition, the Retrograde Date. Another edition is about to be launched at the 2016 edition of the SIHH, with even more complication displayed on its dial. Here is the Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar.

As said, the Baume & Mercier Clifton is certainly our favorite of the collection, both because of its nicely shaped case and elegant dials and because it boasts the more complicated displays of the brand. It exists with a large date and power reserve, with retrograde indications, with a chronograph or more simply with a small second. For the 2016 edition of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (understand the SIHH), Baume & Mercier mixes calendar indications with a chronograph, for a watch that will give quite a complete package.

At first, the dial of the new Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar might appear a bit clustered, a bit busy, as it features no less than 8 hands, 3 sub-dials and 3 windows. You’ll have the indications of the time, of a complete calendar and a chronograph. However, the layout remains quite clear and cleverly executed, thanks to hands in different colours.

• timing: 2 hands on the central axis, that indicate the hours and the minutes, plus a small second running in the sub-dial at 9 (these 3 hands are silver-coloured) and finally a day and night indicator in the sub-dial at 9, with a 24h scale and a gilded hand.
• calendar: 1 hand on the central axis points the date that is printed on the periphery of the dial, 2 windows in the sub-dial at 12 indicate the day of the week and the month and finally a window in the sub-dial at 6 indicates the moon-phase.
• chronograph: indicated by blued hands (to set apart from the rest of the indications). The chronograph seconds are on the central axis with a long blued hand, the 30-minute counter is at 12 and the 12-hour counter is at 6 (circling the moon)

Many indications that in the end remain clearly separated. The rest of the dial is faithful to the other Clifton watches, with a silvery white main-plate and metallic applied indexes, still with this typical and elegant font. This display is easily recognizable and gives clues on what ticks inside the watch: the automatic Valjoux 7751. This robust movement boasts 42 hours of power reserve. It is here finished with an engraved rotor, adorned with Geneva stripes, blue screws and perlage on the main plate and bridges. The movement is visible through the sapphire caseback.

The Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar comes with the same elegantly shaped case as the rest of the Clifton collection. It measures 43mm, a case that wears actually quite nicely, as we’ve seen in our review, but that we’d like to see reduced at 40mm or 41mm, for a more understated elegance). This stainless case is brushed on the top and the side and features a nice chamfer that runs on the sides of the watch, from a lug to another. It will be delivered on a black alligator strap and a folding clasp.

The Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar will be officially introduced during the SIHH 2016 (starting on the 18th January 2016) and will be priced at 4,800 Euros in stainless steel and 5,450 Euros in stainless steel with a gold bezel. www.baume-et-mercier.com.