P o c k e t W at c h e s
Baume & Mercier
Devoid of excess on the opaline dial, Baume & Mercier’s Clifton pocket
watch reveals its true mettle via the see-through back and the slide
‘trigger’ on the side. Modestly sized at 50mm x 14.4 mm, the Clifton
case is crafted in rose gold with a sapphire back revealing a nicely
dressed five-minute repeater movement, designed by Baume and built
by Dubois Depraz. Actuated and powered with a slide of the lever on
the lower right, the Clifton repeater will audibly chime the time on two
gongs to within five minutes on demand. Interior bridges have been
hewn and relieved of excess metal creating a framework above the
mainplate casting a metallurgical web of engineering artistry. As
nicely finished as this movement is, it is a unfortunate not
to be able to view the gongs, racks, and hammers of the
repeater mechanism which are out of necessity situated
under the dial side of the movement leaving them
hidden from view. The components that are visible
on this slow beat (18,000 bph) movement are well
executed and have seen the private attention
of skilled decorateurs. Only 30 of these golden
chiming timers will be made and are available for
$54,900. www.baume-and-mercier.com
Off
The
Cuff
Retro rages on – but are you willing to
take a leap into the past?
A
t this point in timekeeping there is no doubt that nostalgic designs have taken hold. Dials & cases from
the past are reborn in modern proportions, as well
are the historic color combinations, shapes, and even
strap styles from various points along the 100-year (or so) timeline
of the wrist-worn watch. For the earliest portable timekeepers,
design patrimony grew out of functional necessity. First in the
larger format of the pocket watch, and then later as a host of new
possibilities emerged as the timepiece migrated from the pocket to
the wrist. One look at today’s trends in watches makes it clear that
these once-useful complications and additional information has
become the latent lackey of “style”.
48
Wristwatch | 2016
Today, the anachronistic pocket watch is an horological sideshow; the modern editions that follow on these pages simply would
not exist at all had they not snuck back in to our consideration
on the coattails of the mechanical wristwatch renaissance. And
even if they do represent only a miniscule portion of the overall
market, they retain an air of nobility and perform a service beyond
the time and complications within their cases; they remind us few
happy watch nuts of what came before our battery operated lives
- in an era where remarkable ingenuity required only rudimentary
tools and basic materials to create the mechanical magic of the
era. Modern pocket timepieces run the gamut from traditional
homage types to modern and innovative designs.