REVIEW: Hands On With The Baume & Mercier Classima

873

Somewhere in between dress and sports, the new Baume & Mercier Classima may be in a class of its own, but how does this piece traverse daily life?

In a recent article, I delved into the history of Baume & Mercier, and the brand today, like many watch brands with almost two centuries worth of history, is different from the one started back in 1830 by the two Baume Brothers. Over the decades, and now centuries, it has evolved from a brand that was specialising in high complications and winning awards at The Kew Watch Trials, to being a solid mid-entry level player in the Swiss watch industry. This is a similar story to many others out there, and this is not a negative thing by any stretch, it’s just the way the world works – watches and other industries alike.

The pioneers of the brands and industries were just that, pioneers and the inventors of their time. Nowadays, you still need this, but more so, you need to make sure your brand and business are profitable and viable, which except for the very few high-end independents out there, you need consumer uptake at scale, and where you decide to place your product in the market will in some part dictate your strategy moving forward. For Baume & Mercier, Richemont has placed them into what I call the mid-entry level at a price point where you’re not talking A$1,000 for a piece, but you’re not spending into the five-figures either.

As I recently discovered, or perhaps I should say, re-discovered when looking at our 20 Watches Under $5,000 piece with Sameera, this price point is highly competitive, but also, in what seems to be slightly paradoxical, not an easy one as many great pieces that used to be in the sub-$5k range are now not thanks to prices rises over the last few years. So for a brand such as Baume & Mercier with a lot of history, accomplishments and watch-making expertise, to sit at this level for many of its pieces is actually somewhat of an outlier, but in a very good way. And one such piece is the new Baume & Mercier Classima, reference 10784.

First Impressions

Now, I’m not the biggest dress watch person. I appreciate them, but as I’ve said in previous articles, my lifestyle isn’t all that conducive to a dress watch and it wouldn’t see a lot of wrist time. So for me personally, a piece that can bridge the gap between an everyday piece and a dress piece would be a preferable option, which is where I see the new Baume & Mercier Classima sitting. It has that dress watch style – the leather alligator strap, high polish case, elegant and non-lumed polished hands, and indices but combined with a sporty feel with the chronograph, big day and date window, and proportions that are not too dainty.

The first thing I noticed when I put it on was the wrist presence – something I always look for in a watch that isn’t meant to go unnoticed. The dimensions for me work well – not too big, with enough heft that you can’t help but to take notice. There is something about a slightly thicker polished case on a nice leather strap that just works on the wrist (in my eyes at least) and combined with the small facets and case details, breaks up the sides so you don’t get that “slab” look on other watches. All in all, not a bad first impression, and as the saying goes, first impressions count, right?

The Design

Baume & Mercier have looked back at some of their more classical routes for the new Classima collection, and with that, decided to incorporate a chronograph function back into the line again. I’ll talk about this a little more in-depth later in the article, but from a design point, it allows a little more depth to the dial and the case as opposed to a time only, or time and date. With the three sub-dials at 12, 6, and 9 o’clock for the 30-minute register, 12-hour register, and small seconds respectively, combined with the day/date window at 3 o’clock, you have a dial that is not overbearing and relatively balanced.

The blue sun-satin finished lacquer dial adds to the depth of the dial, but you do need a little bit of light on it to really appreciate the subtle finish of the sun-satin effect. In lower light, or really anything that isn’t in full sun, the main part of the dial is a deep, dark blue that almost looks like it could be black. Aiding this is the lighter blue minute track on the outer of the dial not to mention the subdials, which again are a lighter shade and helps to break the dial up.

The case is nicely done, with lots of high polish to catch the light and reflect whatever is in view – something I like about a more dressier piece as it catches the eye more. And with the Classima, you’ll find that the high polish is all over the case, bezel and lugs, even the steel on the caseback is mirror polished to keep with the overall aesthetic. On the crown, you have the now standard Phi logo and chronograph pushers, all of which is also polished to a mirror finish.

You can also see from the above image the lugs, which are rounded, assist with the way the watch wears on the wrist, more on that later. The Baume & Mercier Classima comes equipped with a blue alligator leather strap to compliment the blue dial, and like the dial, is a darker colour so aids in the versatility and more dressier nature of the watch. The strap includes the quick change springbar function, so you are able to swap it out without any fuss, and a double folding push button clasp, which like the rest of the piece is high polished. The part of the clasp that allows the strap to feed though has been done well, with a pin to set the sizing via the holes on the strap and a locking pusher that fastens it in place, which means the leather isn’t crimped and damaged at all like you can sometime get with folding clasps on leather or rubber straps.

The one aspect of the design that I found not quite up to spec was the crystal. The anti-relective (AR) coating doesn’t seem enough, as you do get a bit of reflection on the dial depending on the angle you look at it from. This is partly due to the dark dial as well, which is always an issue with dials that are dark colours or black. The saving grace here is the crystal is flat, so this alleviates some of the glare from different angles, which would not be the case if the crystal was more domed. On the upside, if you like taking pics of watches and are creative enough, it does give you a great ‘flecto’ effect! (see below). The sapphire also felt a little on the thinner side too, not giving that dull sound when you tap it, but more of a high-pitched ‘ting’. It’s a small thing, and for most won’t be an issue, but something I’ll point out in any case.

How It Wears

The one thing that always surprises me, and perhaps it shouldn’t given I do what I do, is the way a watch wears, and how one piece can be very different to another even though they are similar. It’s one of those things that you pick up over the years wearing so many watches – you almost become sensitive to slight nuances that you may not have been aware of if you’ve not worn many watches. On the positive side, it allows me to be more specific in what I think when reviewing a piece, on the downside, it means you become a whole lot more picky when it comes to watches in the case of what to buy. It’s a double-edged sword in my world! That being said, the Baume & Mercier Classima is a nice-wearing watch, and as I mentioned in my opening remarks, I did like the way it felt when I first put it on my wrist.

The specs of the Baume & Mercier Classima would suggest a slightly larger wearing watch, although these days, large vs small is highly subjective depending on what is what to you personally. For me, I don’t find 41mm or 42mm pieces all that big. Don’t get me wrong, they are not small, but I don’t see them as being too big, or not suiting my wrist. On paper, the Classima is a 42mm watch, with a lug-to-lug of 48mm, and a thickness of 13.25mm. So reading this, the specs would suggest it’s not dainty, and it isn’t. But when compared to my wrist which measures on average 17.5cm, the Classima seems to be appropriate for a piece that is an everyday wearer, which the Classima is designed to be. The major factor is the lug-to-lug across the wrist – 48mm and the design which helps the strap to just conform and drop away means this piece wears just that little bit smaller, without taking away the presence on the wrist, as I mentioned earlier and something I quite rather like.

While some people may comment on the thickness of the watch, at 13.25mm I find this sits somewhere in the zone of not too thick, but not too thin either. I feel that you can’t lump watches in general into the ‘too big’ or ‘too small’, or ‘too thick or thin’ baskets with blanket statements as there are so many different attributes that go into how a watch is perceived on the wrist. Things like the way the case is designed, like the amount of flat surface space vs details like faceting and beveling, how the crystal sits within the case and bezel, the lug design, width and lug-to-lug, all play a part in how it looks.

When you look at the image below, you can see that the case is sectioned. The main part of the case where the crown and pushers are has a flat surface, then the domed bezel on top of this breaks up the case profile as it is offset from the side. The case back is also domed and sits into the wrist a little, so the appearance of the watch is overall slimmer – your eye is drawn to the main case, and a little of the bezel, but optically, you perceive is as being thinner than the numbers would indicate.

The blue alligator strap feels relatively sturdy when on, and like most leather straps, needs some time to ‘break in’ and mold to the shape of the wrist. Very rarely is a leather strap super supple when brand new! On the wrist, it’s fairly comfortable, and over the course of the week, seemed to soften up well enough to wear without any issues. The push-button clasp was also comfortable and didn’t dig into the wrist, which I have had many times in the past on other watches, plus was easy to open, close and adjust the fit if needed.

The colour looks great as well, with the blue matching the blue shades in the dial, and again, not too blue, but not so dark that you mistake it for black. Baume & Mercier has done a good job here with the colour I feel and suits the watch perfectly with the overall look of the piece.

The Movement

Baume & Mercier have opted to go with a Valjoux 7750 movement for the Classima, most probably due to the fact that this is a chronograph with a day and date and currently, their in-house Baumatic movements don’t extend much past time and date models as yet. This being said, the Valjoux 7750 is a workhorse movement which is why so many brands use them in their chronographs – they just work! It’s not elaborately finished, but nor should it be at this price point, but Baume & Mercier have done some pearlage on the bridges and given the rotor some elegant Côtes de Genéve to ensure there is something to look at via the display case back.

Being a Valjoux movement, the rotors in these are notoriously noisy when you move the watch around – I recall a Breitling I had which used the same base movement, and it was the same. With the Classima, you can easily hear the rotor moving around, and while some people won’t like that, I personally don’t mind it. It gives the watch a more tactile quality, in a similar way people talk about manual winding movement allowing the wearer to connect to the watch more.

The crown is a pull outcrown, which for this piece having a 50m water resistance is standard, and allows for setting the time, day and date fairly easy. Pulling the crown out to the first position allows you to wind the crown both clockwise and anti-clockwise to change the day in one direction, and the date the other. Pull out to position 2 and you can set the time.

The chronograph function has a 30 minute counter at 12 o’clock, and once a full revolution occurs, the 12 hour sub-dial at 6 o’clock clicks over to the smaller half hour maker to track the elapsed time, whcih you can do up to, you guessed it, 12 hours. Pushing the chronograph start/stop button at 2 o’clock does provide some resistance due to the lever and cam system the 7750 utilises, and feels different to the way a column wheel with vertical clutch system operates. This system was an innovation by ETA back in the early ’70s to produce a chronograph mechanism that was easy to manufacture and was reliable and cost effective, and has been used by many brands over the years. As said, it’s a workhorse movement!

Final Thoughts

So, as I write this, I’ve been wearing the Baume & Mercier Classima now for just over a week. Unfortunately it’s been a busy week and I’ve not had the chance to take it out on any dinner dates, but it’s been with me most days for my daily activities. This being the case, it has served me well as a daily, and didn’t look out of place on my wrist as I was doing the school drop off, running errands, doing photo shoots and other work related activities. It felt good on my wrist as something a little different to my normal steel sports watches and made me feel that little more classy.

At a price point of A$4,850, it sits in a competitive price bracket, but being under the A$5,000 mark positions it well. I feel that while the Calssima has its flaws, as almost all watches do, it seems to punch above it’s weight in terms of it’s looks and design, but there are a few areas whcih I’ve mentioned where it does fall a little short. But it’s a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other, so I feel there’s a balance there. In all honesty, had the Classima an in-house movement with COSC certification, you would then be pushing the price up another few thousand dollars and entering the next price point at about $7k+ and this would then represent a different value proposition.

If you’re after a watch that offers the flexibility of going from the office in a suit to the cafe on a weekend in a t-shirt, the Baume & Mercier Classima could be a good option, especially if wanting something that bridges the gap between sports and dress. It has a good presence on the wrist as well, which I feel is a plus, and in most scenarios it won’t look out of place at all.

Reference: Classima 10784

Specification:

• Size: 42mm, 13.25mm thick and 48.1mm lug-to-lug
• Case: Polished steel case
• Dial: Sun-satin finished blue with flange and snailed counters – gilded ring on counters & riveted gilded indexes, leaf hands & minute track. Day and date aperture at 3 o’clock
• Movement: Automatic mechanical movement Valjoux 7750
• Power reserve: 48hrs
• Water resistance: 50m / 5 Bar
• Crystal: Sapphire crystal
• Case back: Steel case back with sapphire crystal display
• Strap: Interchangeable blue alligator strap with tone-on-tone stitching on the top, beige lining and triple folding stainless steel buckle with security push-pieces.

Australian Recommended Retail Pricing: A$4,850

Availability: Available now from authorised dealers, or online at Baume-et-Mercier.com/au

Full Image Gallery