Unlike many of its fellow exhibitors inside the Palexpo, Baume & Mercier makes no claims to be a manufacture. Given the brand’s price point, it would be a folly to suggest this or aspire to this. Nevertheless, Baume & Mercier now has its own movement, the Baumatic, which has been developed by Richemont’s ValFleurier movement production facility in accordance with the brand’s specifications. And what a set of specifications: silicon hairspring, magnetic resistance to 1500 Gauss, chronometer-level performance and a power reserve of 120 hours. All for a price of 2,450 Swiss francs that would take some beating at Baselworld, never mind the rarefied atmosphere inside the halls of Palexpo. Oliver Müller brings you the full story tomorrow.

I really wanted to put on this watch after viewing it as it would have perfectly looked the part in my wrist, driving the sunset-lit California coast’s HWY 101. Surprisingly, the larger watch felt better on my dainty wrists and the clasp was quite comfy, which got me more excited about the Burt Munro Tribute slice as it would feel more or less exactly the same. Even with its slightly bigger lug size, grip, and pushers, it had been relatively simple to slip beneath my riding gloves when gearing up, making me believe the Tribute piece could make it in the daily watch spinning. I hear the chatter of watch enthusiasts… “a limited version mechanical watch at the daily rotation?” Speaking of limited variations, this whole weekend was filled with classic, rare, and custom motorcycles, that were built in household garages, custom workshops, and collectors’ warehouses. One of the numerous names repeated over the duration of the event could be RSD, Roland Sands Designs. Roland Sands is motorcycling’s equal to George Bamford from the watch world, except more badass and winning an AMA national championship. His drag race winning system of this weekend would be the “RSD Wasp,” that a Yamaha MT-09/FZ-09 franken-street tracker. This bike construct would be something equal to carrying a Rolex 116610 Submariner Case and squeezing in the newer Calibre 3255, slapping a few DLC on the case, screwing on an exhibition caseback, coating the hands in yellow stone, and pulling off the dial an Air-King, finished off by stringing it on a hand stitched, custom perforated, humanely treated, organically tanned young calfskin strap.

Clifton Baumatic © Baume & Mercier

Fourteen years after the Double Split, A. Lange & Söhne spoils us with the Triple Split. The former was the world’s first split-seconds chronograph that could record comparative measurements with an aggregate duration of 30 minutes; the latter, quite logically, pushes the boundary further and is the only split-seconds chronograph in the world that can measure additive and comparative times for elapsed times of up to 12 hours. Find out more about this technical marvel in my article on Wednesday.

Triple Split © A. Lange & Söhne

Since the Ferdinand Berthoud brand was launched barely two years ago under the leadership of Karl-Friedrich Scheufele its development has been staggering. Its FB1 chronometer, which is now in its fourth iteration in less than two years, scooped the most coveted prize in watchmaking at the GPHG in 2016. The new FB 1R.6-1 will certainly be among the contenders for this year’s awards, too. Its name might not trip off the tongue, but like its predecessor this new regulator version houses the same highly-complicated fusée and chain constant-force mechanism and conical power reserve function. The aesthetics may not be to everyone’s taste (but there is a mini trend for excessively uncluttered dials among the upper echelons of the industry, with Greubel Forsey’s Nano Foudroyante going down a similar route) but with only 20 models available demand will undoubtedly exceed supply. Oliver Müller brings us all the details on Friday.

FB1R.6-1 © Ferdinand Berthoud

The launch of the Indian Scout Bobber brings a fresh and hip look challenging the brands standard conservative style, much like what the Clifton Club has done for Baume et Mercier. The slick, understated utilitarian look of the bike makes you believe that could ride this everywhere, at any time, wearing anything, maybe even a slim-fitted suit. The fit and finish of the Bobber may be best described as bang for your buck with a huge emphasis on bang and less on the buck; yet another similarity with the Clifton Club’s tight and satisfying build quality not commonly found on rivals’ watches at precisely the same price range.Baume et Mercier had already made a limited edition for the Shelby Cobra, therefore it was natural that they would be publishing a bit to kick-off their venture with Indian Motorcycles, the Burt Munro Limited Edition. Meaning, I truly want the brand to embody whatever they’re attempting to accomplish with this “particular” piece. Some brands will simply combine a logo, possibly change the colour of the dial, or even simply put the watch on a different strap and call it a day. Luckily, Baume et Mercier put some actual thought into the Burt Munro Tribute timepiece.Much like the Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 1964, the new piece is styled in an 44mm polished stainless steel case with dual pushers and beveled lugs. The engine powering the watch is the same automatic Valjoux 7750 running smoothly on 25 stones at 4Hz, capable of keeping up to 48 hours in its book tank. Thus far, so familiar, but in which the watch really stands besides the Shelby Cobra sibling is in the details of the tachymeter and dial.

This is, of course, just a bite-sized appetiser ahead of a veritable feast of watchmaking this week. As usual, we will be updating the site regularly throughout the day during the SIHH and posting wristshots and behind-the-scenes coverage on our social media accounts. If you don’t want to miss the news make sure you sign up for our newsletter, which will summarise all our new articles every evening.