This week, the Palexpo facility in Geneva, Switzerland, will become the center of the watch world for the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie, or SIHH, a luxury watch show rivaled only by BaselWorld in relevance and prestige. We’ve got a team on the ground, there to bring you the most exciting releases. Follow our coverage here, and also be sure to check out Instagram. We’ll be posting to our feed throughout the week.
Just days before SIHH, Baume & Mercier has taken the wraps off its newest timepiece: the Clifton Baumatic. Wonky name aside, it appears to be one hell of a timepiece, especially given its $2,790 MSRP. While the outside offers up a handsome, if somewhat simple, design in a 40mm package, it’s the inside that should make watch enthusiasts swoon.
The movement powering the Baumatic is a self-winding, in-house caliber with a balance spring and escapement both made from silicon. Silicon components have been appearing in high-end watches for years now; they offer major performance benefits over their metallic counterparts, notably a reduction of friction (reducing the need for servicing), an increase in magnetic resistance, as well as gains in power reserve and accuracy. But recently, silicon technology has been making its way into lower-cost watches (the Tissot Powermatic 80 is a great example).
This means that despite its lower price-point, the Baumatic boasts a massive five-day power reserve, COSC-certified accuracy and magnetic resistance up to 1,500 gauss — all specs that are common on high end watches that cost three or four times as much. While the Baumatuc is set to go on sale later in 2018, here’s hoping that, in the meantime, other watchmakers will follow suit.
