Watches & Wonders 2021: Baume & Mercier finds inspiration in their past
Apr 24, 2021
Like many watchmakers, Baume & Mercier released new versions of their popular Classima and Hampton watch lines at Watches and Wonders 2021. For their headline, the Swiss luxury watchmaking company went back to 1973, to revisit the debut of the iconic Riviera, one of the world’s first steel sports watches.
Taking inspiration from the first version of that timepiece, Baume & Mercier have relaunched the line with 10 new models with different case sizes, movements and dial finishes – including two with the in-house Baumatic movement.
Riviera
This Riviera release could be seen as a comeback of sorts. It is the fifth generation of the collection, but its most current form has design cues dating from the original 1973 model: a clean, basic dial enclosed by the familiar twelve-sided bezel.
From there, the luxury sports watch is brought into the 21st century with four visible hex screws, an open case back, and built-in interchangeable straps. On the dial are large applied Roman numerals at the 12 and 6 positions, and rhodium-plated dauphine style hands.
This is a faithful modernisation of the original timepiece, reconfirming Baume & Mercier’s reputation as producers of luxury, precision sports watches.
The Riviera is available in 2 sizes: 36mm and 42mm.
Riviera Baumatic
Baume & Mercier amped up the Riviera release with a luxury version featuring the brand’s cutting-edge engineering. The 42mm model with their in-house Baumatic calibre has a five-day power reserve, a daily precision of -4 s / +6 s, and a magnetic resistance of 1500 Gauss that provides solid protection against magnetic fields.
It also comes with aesthetic upgrades: Opaque dials give you a glimpse of the highly-engineered watch movement, from the moving gear trains to the date ring. There are two variants: a smoky blue version with a sapphire dial with a built-in steel strap, and an all-black version featuring a smoked sapphire grey dial and a black steel-ADLC case, and a black rubber strap.
Find out more about Baume & Mercier’s latest watches
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