Bucherer launched yesterday the 16th model in its Bucherer Blue Editions line: the Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby® Cobra Bucherer Blue Editions. The timepiece, a tribute to the legendary Shelby Cobra Daytona coupé racing car, is limited to 100 watches and will be on sale exclusively at all Bucherer boutiques.

I actually wanted to wear this opinion after seeing it as it would have flawlessly looked the part on my wrist, driving the sunset-lit California coast’s HWY 101. “Regrettably,” the best I could do was that the Limited Edition Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 1964. Surprisingly, the bigger watch felt better in my dainty wrists and the clasp was quite comfortable, which got me more excited about the Burt Munro Tribute piece as it’d feel much more or less exactly the same. Despite its slightly larger lug dimensions, grip, and pushers, it had been comparatively simple to slip under my riding gloves when gearing up, making me believe the Tribute bit could make it into the daily watch spinning. I hear the chatter of watch fans… “a limited version mechanical watch at the daily rotation?” Speaking of limited editions, this entire weekend was filled with vintage, rare, and custom bikes, that were constructed in household garages, custom paths, and collectors’ warehouses. One of the numerous names repeated over the course of the event would be RSD, Roland Sands Designs. Roland Sands is motorcycling’s equivalent to George Bamford from the watch world, except badass and winning an AMA national tournament. His drag race winning system of this weekend are the “RSD Wasp,” that a Yamaha MT-09/FZ-09 franken-street tracker. This bicycle build would be something equal to carrying a Rolex 116610 Submariner Case and squeezing in the newer Calibre 3255, slapping a few DLC on the instance, screwing in an exhibition caseback, coating the palms in yellow gold, and yanking off the dial an Air-King, finished off by stringing it onto a hand stitched, custom perforated, humanely treated, organically tanned young calfskin strap.

A long history ties Baume & Mercier and Bucherer, both companies with strong traditions. Since the 1920s, they have cultivated an excellent relationship and share common values, such as a love of watches, watchmaking and stylish design. The latest addition to the Bucherer Blue Editions fills the two companies with pride. “The result of a relationship based on so much mutual affinity is an elegant sport watch that reflects the universe of both brands and will certainly appeal to customers who like an exclusive watch with a historical background”, explains Alain Zimmermann, CEO of Baume & Mercier. The partnership between Baume & Mercier and sports car manufacturer Shelby has inspired a watch designed to serve as a reminder of the legendary American Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé. “Mechanical watches and vintage sports cars fascinate people with their combination of aesthetic design, sophisticated technology and tradition. They are an expression of an individual lifestyle”, says Patrick Graf, Director of Watches with Bucherer.

Moving inwards, the dial is sandblasted in a silverish-white color to mimic the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and also the amount indices are black rhodium plated. The brushed finish of this dial is interrupted with a controlling black horizontal line running the length of the dial from 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock, which was inspired by the livery of Burt’s bicycle, the Indian Scout based streamliner. Breaking up that flat line is a yellowish seconds sub-dial in 9 o’clock stamped with Burt’s lucky number “35.” The texture of this pre-production bit was strong, from its buckle, straps, case, and finish. I really liked the theme of the watch and the best thing about it was that it looked classic. The subtle “Phi” stamping of the bottom strap, near the lugs, is really a nice touch without screaming “It’s a Baume et Mercier watch.” Another nice touch is that the chronograph hand counterweight, that is the Indian Motorcycle’s “I.” Finally, the caseback, although still not an exhibition caseback, is engraved with the Indian Motorcycle’s headdress logo with all the limited edition number engraving, one from 1967.
Initially a tiny double-digit gathering of family and friends who ride and socialize together, it’s become an yearly migration of motorcyclists and surfers to the amounts exceeding 10,000 attendees, entirely open to the general public. The stateside version, on the other hand, has been an invitation only event staged in Cayucos, California. It is a tired little wild wild west, Cowboys and Indians-like shore town consisting of a skate park, two pubs, three cafes, and a well-known taco store serving up tasty smoked albacore tacos. Baume and Indian equally referenced the long time parallel and tradition of timepieces and motorsports; both embodying the DNA of engineering progress and the pursuit of operation. Baume et Mercier told that a catalytic narrative of observing Lee Munro race a modified Indian Scout in the Bonneville Salt Flats to commemorate his uncle’s historic record breaking run 50 years ago, and the way that it solidified their wanting to partner together.
Racing could ensue, the thunder of pistons bashing away as the riders pinned back their throttles at the beginning line, hammering their brakes a 1/4 mile afterwards, then ripping through the gears again back to where they’d started from. A combination of drag racing and barrel racing; each rider would begin in neutral with their left hand in their own helmet, and when the flag fell, they’d change into gear, race down to the barrel, whip a u-turn and return-to-home as fast as they had left it, all while riding side by side with their competitor.In involving all of the racing would be an easy, lively, peg dragging 3 hour joy ride beginning along HWY 101 afterward into Templeton, Paso Robles, along with Big Sur.The weekend could be about the Clifton Club collection of watches and, later in the weekend, the unveiling of this Burt Munro Tribute Limited Edition. I had been excited about trying out this collection as I had to get some hands-on time with these watches. I’m a sucker for everyday use divers, so my first watch of this weekend was the stainless steel Clifton Club using a sunburst satin-finished blue dial, strapped to a textured orange rubber NATO. The daring color blend was fitting for the coastal city setting as it reminds me of the sea and the sun reflecting off the water’s surface. The rubber NATO was a fantastic touch as it felt like a miniature hi-viz wetsuit round my wrist and it was amazingly comfortable, as the substance would give a bit during small impacts and vibrations with consistent wear. The 42mm case size and the 10.3millimeter thickness fit snuggly around my 7.25 inch wrist, fitting comfortably under my riding gloves during long kilometers and hours of street vibrations. The Sellita SW200 movement isn’t glamorous, but it’s reliable and with all the street vibrations being exposed to it over this weekend, I would not have wanted it to become a in-house, handmade marvel.

Frankly, I just liked these layout cues because they mix up the style of a rectangular opinion. Sure, it would be easy to make a thin rectangular case, slap a level crystal onto it, and call it a day. Together with the Baume & Mercier Hampton, you do have that appearance when viewed from straight on, but when seen at any sort of angle, you see the design work they put into the watch to make it stand out out.Tucked to the situation (and viewable through the caseback) is a 4 Hz automatic motion, which of course, drives the three hands and the date display down at 6 o’clock. While I do generally like seeing a date display on a watch (especially one that’s very likely to view daily wear duty, not worn just on special occasions), here, it seems like it may be a little bit of a miss. With the numerals after the straight edges of the situation and keeping things balanced, the date window just feels slightly off-kilter, both in terms of placement and sizing. These two facets are, of course, constrained by having a date wheel (around) in a case of the shape. It may only be me, but I believe the overall design would be served by deleting the date complication. And, while we’re at it, the “automatic” text: they really do this to differentiate it in the quartz model, but it seems to only be a distraction on the dial.What should not be altered, however, is the handset. For starters, we have a three-hander here, and I like using a second hand on the move to let me know the watch is alive. Next up, lets talk dimensions on the sword-shaped hands. On a rectangular case, it can be tricky to get the lengths right so they don’t appear to crowd the short side of the dial or get lost on the lengthy run. On the Baume & Mercier Hampton, they did a nice job of balancing both, while maintaining the palms in proportion to each other. Finally, let us talk about the bluing.
The three day event would consist of long joy rides, flat track racing, Sons of Anarchy-esque convoy expeditions, an unconventional drag race, along with a key window at which us “outlaws” could hide and reminisce about the day’s tomfoolery.Vincent Prat along with Paul d’Orleans were the organizers of Wheels and Waves California and many of the motorcycle industry’s trendsetters and influencers were in attendance that afternoon for example Jamie Robinson from MotoGeo, Roland Sands from RSD, as well as Steve Caballero, a world renowned pro skater, simply to name a few. Brands such as Alpinestar and a ton of all-star modification garages were current too, such as Deus ex Machina, Revival Cycles, Brat Style, and Suicide Machine Company, just to name a few.The occasion was tightly packed with all kinds of motorcycle “anti-racing.” Hurry day one was at the Santa Maria Raceway, where I’d spend my hot day running across the dirt trail, photographing and viewing the Vintage and Super Hooligan horizontal track races. The sweltering sun required the race to deploy the watering truck onto the dirt track to get it nice and slick to the races to come and boy were they sideways.Race day two had me roaring towards Santa Margarita, where I would embark on a private landing strip for Crooked Sprints. Drones over, the finish line banner dance in the dry 105 degree weather. One by one, motorcycles would trickle on the tacky hot tarmac. One hundred feet away, a decommissioned train on which seemed to be a railroad going to nowhere became a shady refuge from the heat lamp above. Still, more racers arrived, proudly piloting their custom creations, waiting for when the checkered flag could fall for them.

Clifton Club Shelby® Cobra Bucherer Blue Editions © Bucherer

Baume & Mercier’s designers were particularly impressed by the aesthetics and unmatched power of the racing car built during the 1960s. The spokes in the wheels were the inspiration for the rotor inside the movement. Made of titanium, it leans on the car’s lightweight aluminium construction. Design elements, such as the racing car’s typical stripes and Cobra logo, are cleverly integrated into the subdials and second hand. The main dial in blue harmonizes perfectly with the black, carbon-look calfskin strap. It has a blue seam and a blue lining, giving the watch additional character.

The special edition is limited to 100 pieces and watch lovers who secure one of the watches will belong to an exclusive circle. The Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby® Cobra Bucherer Blue Editions will be on sale only at all Bucherer boutiques.

If this was an invitation only watch occasion, it would play out as such: Maximillian Busser and Friends would organize a personal gathering in Lake Geneva together with the best watch influencers to discuss the state of the watch business, possess a “watch series” full of one-off collectibles, also, importantly, drink copious quantities of “hot” beer with a side of gloating to help wash down it. A Few of the invitees are Andreas Strehler, Kari Voutilainen, Roger W. Smith, and Vianney Halter, as headliners. Last, Bamford Watch Department and Motorcity Watchworks would round out the modifiers segment, bringing with them a collection of DLC coated, mil-spec divers and custom altered watches, which were remarkably common in recent years.Uber-geeky “watch races” will be held; Chronometre Classic (best timekeeping watch), Chronograph Drags (most precise time stop), Chronograph Drags (Vintage Class) and the all too famous Redline Renegades Hurry (fastest VPH). The bonus round are the Deep Dive Sprint (most water and pressure resistance). Completing the festivities would be a “watch show” along with a tribute movie of the late George Daniels. Obviously, Baume et Mercier are the title sponsor of this shindig with everyone riding in on Indian Motorcycles.