baume et mercier clifton closeup

BAUME MERCIER – CLIFTON GMT POWER RESERVE

A GENTLEMAN TIME-TRAVELLER

The Geneva-based, soft-priced, luxury brand is absolutely clear about its intentions for 2017: to spark our desire for travel

Boasting the design codes of a 1950-crafted timepiece that is currently kept in the Baume & Mercier Museum, Clifton is a collection of classical-styled watches which, over the years, have integrated an increasing number of “useful” complications. A myriad of features have been added to the rather “simple”, historic 2013 Clifton, including a chronograph, GMT, day/date, moon phase and power reserve indicator, among others. For 2017, Baume & Mercier present us with a timepiece that incorporates two of the aforementioned complications: Clifton GMT Power Reserve.

baume et mercier clifton closeup

This latest-released Clifton GMT Power Reserve sports a royal blue dial with a sun-brushed finish enhanced with beams radiating out from the centre of the disc to the rim which embraces a fine white minute tracker. The hour chapter is adorned with rhodium-plated graphical teardrop indexes and exquisitely-rounded Arabic numerals. Two tapered silvered hands and a silvered direct-drive, poised at the heart of the blue dial, indicate the hours, minutes and seconds. The black-figured, white-backdrop date is displayed in a silver-white-framed aperture at 3 o’clock. An arc-shaped counter at 12 o’clock, completed by a tiny double-edged, two-tone hand, features the second time zone. The 0 to 40-graduated power reserve indicator is set in the lower half of the dial at 6 o’clock (although the timepiece actually has 42 hours autonomy).

The Clifton GMT Power Reserve nestling in a 43 mm-diameter steel case is water-resistant to 50 metres. The four-point screwed caseback with sapphire porthole unveils a self-winding Soprod 9035 calibre that drives the functions and complications featured in this newly-released Baume & Mercier timepiece.

Price: 3,700 EUR

By Sharmila Bertin