For Baume & Mercier, 2018 will be a year of surprises and audacity. As ever, our aim is to offer enthusiasts timepieces that are increasingly ambitious and higher performing, with a position that accurately reflects the market and fulfils their needs.

Baume & Mercier makes it a point of honor to guarantee this vision, which has been part of its DNA since 1830. At this 28^th SIHH, this history will evolve further with the unveiling of its first in-house caliber, developed with the support and expertise of the Richemont group. The customer has been placed at the heart of all decision-making to ensure the best possible results.

Faithful to its heritage of always producing the highest quality watches, Baume & Mercier decided to rise to the challenge of developing its own Manufacture movement, which boasts rare qualities while being particularly affordable. Named the Baumatic, it meets all the needs of daily life.

These timepieces, which are wholly in tune with the demand for relevant, unique products, ful l all the expectations of a public hungry for authenticity.

The mechanical watch is an extraordinary distillation of ingenuity that has currently reached stunning levels of performance. Operating 24/7/365 and across the years, it maintains phenomenal efficiency and reliability over time. By way of comparison, could one imagine a car running for five years at full speed without ever stopping, while essentially continuing to perform as expected?

Despite its intrinsic qualities, the watch is impacted by a number of inherent and external factors that can prove inconvenient for its user. These involve four fields:

• Sensitivity to magnetic fields
  
• Chronometric precision
  
• Autonomy
  
• Durability

Engaged in a constant quest for quality and after several years of development, in close cooperation with the Manufacture Horlogère ValFleurier and the Richemont Research & Innovation teams, Baume & Mercier is able to reveal the launch of its very first mechanical self-winding Manufacture movement – the Baumatic™ BM12-1975A caliber – delivering significant improvements in each of the above-mentioned domains.

Thus, the Baume & Mercier watch equipped with the Baumatic™ BM12-1975A caliber is

+ reliable Resistant to the magnetic fields encountered in daily life as well as small impacts Higher quality and thus requiring less frequent maintenance

+ efficient Displaying greater accuracy throughout the power reserve

With the Baumatic™ BM12-1975A caliber,
Baume & Mercier is rolling back existing limits
and enhancing the user experience
in four key sensitive areas

Baume & Mercier has for years been thinking about developing its own mechanical movement. It was however clear right from the start that this movement would have to feature authentic advances while remaining affordable.

The “stars aligned” to make this project possible. The manufacturing capacity of ValFleurier (created in 2005), coupled with the establishment of the Richemont Research & Innovation teams which was incorporated within Microcity in 2017, were suddenly compatible with the philosophy and expectations of Baume & Mercier. In a nutshell, the three players in this trio were now speaking the same language.

Building on its partners’ expertise, Baume & Mercier has brought its competencies to bear throughout the production process: from development to industrialization. Based on its highly ambitious specifications with regard to the four sensitive fields known to watchmakers, the project was successfully brought to fruition: delivering authentic innovations and a number of optimized characteristics while ensuring effective cost management.

Nothing was left to chance in the development of this new caliber. All parameters were carefully examined so as to find the best possible compromise. Firstly, by pinpointing certain functions for which ValFleurier had achieved enhanced reliability. Then by working on costs and quality, while incorporating the recent innovations developed by the Richemont Research & Innovation teams and meeting the goals set by Baume & Mercier. And lastly, by rethinking production, assembly, adjustment and processes, as well as maintenance.

Baumatic™, a reliable and ultra-efficient caliber
at an extremely competitive price


The advent of the Baumatic™ movement represents the Richemont Group’s first combined introduction of a silicon balance-spring and a high-performance escapement.

Antimagnetic, three times lighter than the ordinary alloys used for hairsprings, resistant to corrosion and less sensitive to small impacts and repeated vibrations, silicon enables spectacular progress in terms of horological innovation.

Silicon facilitates longer maintenance service intervals for both the watch and its movement.

• The hairspring
  
• The anchor
  
• The escape wheel

of the Baumatic™ BM12-1975A movement are made from silicon.

Requiring very little lubrication, the new high-performance escapement equipped with POWERSCAPE™ technology comprises an anchor and escape wheel distinguished by highly unusual geometry. Its new design based on complex shapes serves to:

• drastically reduce losses relating to friction = increase efficiency
  
• improve torque transmission between the components
  
• thus ensure 30% higher autonomy

The new hairspring is endowed with the TWINSPIR™ technology also developed by the Richemont Research & Innovation teams. Twinspir™ technology is applied to a new hairspring with a composite structure, combining two cores of silicon, alternately set at a 45° angle and bound by a silicon dioxide layer that also plays a role in ensuring thermocompensation

Combined with a newly shaped variable-inertia balance wheel, it delivers the following benefits

• Improved accuracy of the movement various positions and over the long term
  
• Reduced sensitivity to magnetism
  
• Greater resistance to small impacts and repeated vibrations

The issue: Numerous objects emit magnetic fields liable to disturb the smooth running of a mechanical watch. Our daily surroundings are increasingly pervaded by these fields.
The implications: A number of mechanical watches returned to watch brands’ after-sales service departments display symptoms relating to the effects of magnetic fields, the two most frequent being a movement that has stopped or a loss of precision. These flaws are due to the fact that certain components – notably the hairspring made from a ferromagnetic alloy – become magnetized. Addressing these phenomena results in significant improvement of the watch’s robustness.

The Baume & Mercier response
A Baumatic™ movement resistant
to the magnetic fields of daily life.

Norme 2002- ISO 764 (NIHS 90-10):
According to this standard, a watch is considered antimagnetic if it is able to withstand a magnetic field of 60 Gauss (4,800 A/m) while maintaining a precision of +/- 30 seconds per day

The Baume & Mercier Clifton Baumatic™ watch is resistant
to at least 1500 Gauss without residual effect.
Twenty-five times higher than the current norm

How?
There are two ways of counteracting the effects of magnetism: either protecting the movement by means of a magnetic shield; or tackling the problem at its roots by using antimagnetic materials. We have chosen the latter option. Thanks to the use of silicon and non-ferromagnetic elements for the two particularly sensitive parts of the movement, the regulating organ (including the hairspring) and the escapement system, BaumaticTM movement achieves exceptional performance.



The issue: The power reserve of a standard watch movement ranges from 40 to 70 hours when it is fully wound.
The implications: If the owner removes the watch on a Friday evening, it will have stopped or lost precision when picked up again on Monday morning. A more efficient the power reserve offers more comfort.

The Baume & Mercier response
A Baumatic™ movement endowed with a high-performance
120-hour power reserve.
Three times the power reserve of a standard watch.

How?
This gain in efficiency is due in equal measure to three elements:

• ⅓ of the improvement relates to the barrel (optimized size and the material used for the spring)
  
• ⅓ of the improvement relates to the escapement (silicon anchor and escape wheel, POWERSCAPETM technology for optimized geometry)
  
• ⅓ of the improvement relates to the use of silicon for the hairspring, (TWINSPIRTM technology, increased quality, new geometry of the variable-inertia balance wheel)

The issue: Mechanical watches are not always very accurate, and are even less so when their power reserve runs low. Their precision deteriorates still further when the movement has to draw upon a dwindling amount of energy.
Watches boasting good precision (-4/+6 seconds/day) are chronometer-certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute (COSC).
Acting on the precision of watch mechanism makes it possible to offer the user enhanced performance.
The implications: A standard watch requires regular time-setting, given its daily variation in rate of around 20 to 30 seconds per day.

The Baume & Mercier response
Baume & Mercier intends to be a frontrunner. In addition to its model chronometer-certified by the COSC, all Baume & Mercier series production watches equipped with the Baumatic™ movement are also adjusted in a range corresponding to-4/+6 seconds per day.

A -4/+6 seconds/day degree of precision
for all watches equipped with the Baumatic™movement,
a level that remains STABLE throughout the power reserve.

How?
The new hairspring equipped with TWINSPIR™ technology, coupled with the new variable-inertia balance wheel, serve to guarantee rating precision in the watch’s various positions and to improve its isochronism.



The issue: A watch movement is a complex mechanism comprising numerous mobile miniature components. Their perpetual interaction results in friction and wear. The latter can be minimized by lubrication which is a sensitive issue in any watch movement. Various oils with distinctive properties are used to lubricate a watch movement, according to the given function (winding mechanism, balance wheel pivot, escapement, gear train).
The implications: The ageing of lubricants is one of the causes resulting in disturbances to the smooth running of a movement, and thus one of the reasons why watches are returned for service. Acting on lubrication and the quality of different oils serves to decrease the frequency of watch service and maintenance interventions.

The Baume & Mercier response
The quality of the various lubricants
for the Baumatic™ movement make it possible
to lengthen the maintenance service intervals
beyond the generally recommended five years.

How?
In order to preserve the performance and enhance the reliability of our time pieces over extended use, the Richemont Research & Innovation teams focused its research effort on both developing dedicated oils so as to maintain optimal lubrication conditions and devising new test procedures to assess long term performance under relevant stress conditions. Through fine understanding of wear conditions, intense laboratory investigation and modeling, lubricants formulation have been adjusted to fulfill their long lasting mission under severe strains. Each key function is being thoroughly tested with new procedures and test benches developed specifically to account for strains that our watches encounter. These stress tests not only include thousands of repetitive cycles to simulate more than 10 years of intense use, but also newer tests reflecting more accurately todays activities and lifestyles.

The reliable, high-performance Baumatic™ BM12-1975A caliber has been introduced in five new models in the Clifton collection. Launched six years ago, the Clifton collection exudes an elegant, urban style while upholding traditional watchmaking values. This contemporary addition delivers a new vision for the assortment featuring a 40mm case and a refined white dial with a porcelain finish, making it truly of its time as well as a watch for the future. Most importantly, it is powered by a revolutionary in-house mechanical self-winding caliber: simple, robust and accurate, it is endowed with the best watch technology available today.

With their refined, porcelain-like finish, the five new models in the Clifton Baumatic™ collection by Baume & Mercier epitomize the brand’s masculine identity. Designed for the confident and urban man, this must-have accessory comes with an immaculate white or intense black dial. The understated, easy-to-read display features slender riveted hour-markers, slim lancet hands and an oversized date aperture at 3 o’clock. Topped with a domed sapphire crystal, the minute track - in anthracite gray or white - follows the perfectly proportioned curves of the 40 mm polished/satin-finished steel case. Water-resistant to 50 meters, the transparent case back reveals the new Baumatic™ BM12-1975A caliber, the first mechanical self-winding movement developed in-house, in collaboration with the Richemont group. This timepiece, attaches to the wrist with an alligator strap that fastens with a pin buckle. The strap is easy to change without the need for a tool, and comes in dark blue, deep black or warm brown for the two-tone version. A five-row bracelet in polished/satin-finished steel, which fastens by means of a triple folding buckle with security push-pieces, is also available to complement this line of contemporary watches.

Baume & Mercier intends the qualities of its timepieces to last, and takes pride in the reliability of its products. It will therefore extend the international warranty for the Clifton Baumatic by one year after the owner registers their details at Baume& mercier website using the form provided.