Baume & Mercier brings together three very different timepieces that are all special editions, to join the brands existing Classima Collection of watches.
The Classima Collection by Baume & Mercier brings together both traditional and contemporary watchmaking. The simple timeless designs of the pieces in the collection remains faithful to classic elegant styling. The beauty of the collection goes past just the aesthetics of the timepieces, as the collection also features a variety of complications with some pieces carrying more than one complication. The different watches in the Classima Collection also come in a variety of materials, including gold and steel, leather and fabric to dial material and colours including mother-of-pearl, peacock blue, burgundy, green and slate gray.
The three new editions to the Classima Collection brings diagonally lined patterns, dark and vivid colours, fabric straps along with a classic styling that embraces the designs of Baume & Mercier watches since 1830. The fabric straps are specially done by Holland & Sherry. Back in December 2022, Baume & Mercier for the Classima Collection created a special edition timepiece with “British” styling. The styling including taking fabric from gentleman’s suits to create the watch straps. Holland and Sherry are well known for exceptional quality of its fabrics as well as its tailoring savoir-faire and the excellence of its finishes.
These three new timepieces are all very much different from each other when it comes to the complications involved. Firstly we get a GMT watch, a watch featuring a open-worked balance wheel and power reserve, and lastly a timepiece with a transparent dial that gives view to the movement underneath, greatly enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the watch.
Self-Winding Classima capsule edition, GMT (M0A10734)
The first of the three capsule editions is the GMT Classima. The iconic 42mm x 8.80mm round case is made from polished stainless steel and houses a deep blue sunray finished dial that has a diagonal lined pattern. The outer part of the dial has a black coloured flange, which is also where the contrasting white minute track lies.
The hour indices are a mixture of sharp refined baton-style and Arabic numerals for the 3, 6, 9 and 12 o’clock indices. The hour and minute hands are done in leaf design. The GMT hand is displayed in a aqua/light blue, which stands out against the white hour indices and the dark navy blue dial.
Baume & Mercier has used a “Swiss made” movement inside this GMT Classima capsule edition. The GMT function can be easily read from the dial, with the 24-hour markers being displayed between the minute track and the hour indices. Each hour marker corresponds to a 2-hour gap on the 24-hour scale. This movement is able to operate at a high-frequency of 4Hz (28,800 VpH) and gives out a power reserve of 42 hours.
The case back of the timepiece comes closed, however, with this it means that it can be custom-engraved. The watch is offered on a interchangeable dial colour matching blue Holland & Sherry Super 120 wool strap with colored saddle stitching. A second black alligator leather strap is also offered.
Self-Winding Classima capsule edition (M0A10718)
This timepiece follows similar design styling as the GMT (M0A10734), however, instead of the GMT function, it now comes with a open-worked balance wheel and power reserve indicator on the dial. The watch is housed in the same 42mm case as the GMT (M0A10734), but now is slightly thicker at 10.1mm.
The timepiece has comes with the same hour indices design, which is the mixture of sharp markers and Arabic numerals. The diagonal patterned dial now is done in gray, which allows the indices and hands to stand out beautifully. The hands themselves have the leaf design, however, this time is finished in gold-tone.
The main attraction of this timepiece is of course the complcaitions on the dial. The open-worked balance wheel can be seed underneath the 12 o’clock hour marker, while the power reserve indicator counts down at the 6 o’clock position on the dial. The “Swiss made” movement powering these complications operates at a frequency of 4Hz (28.800 VpH) and gives out the same power reserve as the GMT (M0A10734) with 42 hours.
To closely resemble the gray tones of the dial, Baume & Mercier have gone with a Holland & Sherry 120 wool brown strap, which can be changed out for the more standard black alligator strap.
Hand-Wound Skeleton Classima capsule edition (M0A10735)
While the stainless steel case design is the same with the previous two models in this Classima capsule edition collection, it now measures in at 42mm x 8.95mm. In terms of similarities with the other two models, this is as far as it goes. Baume & Mercier have given this timepiece a transparent blue sapphire dial with a black flange for the contrasting minute markers.
The blue transparent sapphire dial gives way to the movement underneath, and while all the components aren’t fully visible, it does make for a pretty cool artistic like dial design. The hour indices and hour and minute hands have all been rhodium plated, which allows these elements to stand out nicely against the blue transparent dial. Instead of the 6 o’clock Arabic hour marker, we are presented with a constant seconds sub-counter.
While the dial side is certainly artistic, we feel the real beauty of the timepiece lies on the case back. The case back shows the wearer the beautifully decorated and coloured hand-wound Swiss movement that’s powering this timepiece. Just the right amount of colour is used with a mixture of blue screws, pink jewels along with the gray and gold gears, to give the case back a very aesthetically pleasing look. This hand-wound “Swiss made” movement operates at a frequency of 3Hz (18,000 VpH) and gives out a decent power reserve of 46 hours.
Finally the timepiece is finished off with two interchangeable strap options. The first being a dial colour matching dark blue Holland & Sherry Super 120 wool with colored saddle stitching, while the second is in black alligator.
With these three new editions, the Classima collection gets a refreshing update. All three timepiece bring something different to the table, whether it be aesthetic design, or the complications involved. All three timepieces are released just in time for Christmas. An ideal gift for any watch aficionado, with simple classic elegant styling, the watches address the historical aspirations of Baume & Mercier: to conceive of a fine watch as a designer object.
Reference: Classima 10734
Specification:
- Case: 42.1 mm and thickness 8.8mm
- Case Material: Stainless steel
- Dial: Diagonal patterned blue sunray finish
- Crystal: Scratch resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
- Water resistance: 30 meters / 3ATM
- Movement: Swiss Made (unspecified calibre)
- Power reserve: 42 hours
- Bracelet/Strap: Holland & Sherry 120 wool blue strap or American alligator leather strap. Both straps come with ardillon steel buckle.
Australian Recommended Retail Price: AUD $4,600
Availability: Available now, through Authorised Dealers or via Baume-et-mercier.com.
Reference: Classima 10718
Specification:
- Case: 42.1 mm and thickness 10.1mm
- Case Material: Stainless steel
- Dial: Diagonal patterned gray sunray finish
- Crystal: Scratch resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
- Water resistance: 30 meters / 3ATM
- Movement: Swiss Made (unspecified calibre)
- Power reserve: 42 hours
- Bracelet/Strap: Holland & Sherry 120 wool brown strap or American alligator leather strap. Both straps come with ardillon steel buckle.
Australian Recommended Retail Price: AUD $4,850
Availability: Available now, through Baume & Mercier E-commerce or boutiques.
Reference: Classima 10735
Specification:
- Case: 42 mm and thickness 8.95mm
- Case Material: Stainless steel
- Dial: Transparent blue sapphire dial allowing movement to be seen underneath.
- Crystal: Scratch resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
- Water resistance: 50 meters / 5ATM
- Movement: Swiss Made manual-wound (unspecified calibre)
- Power reserve: 46 hours
- Bracelet/Strap: Holland & Sherry 120 wool blue strap or American alligator leather strap. Both straps come with ardillon steel buckle.
