The Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar

Giovanni Di Biase30 July 2021

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Here comes the preview of one of the first Baume & Mercier novelty watches, ahead of the SIHH 2016. Let me please introduce you to the chronograph-complete-calendar-hands-on/" target="_self" rel="noopener">Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar, the most complicated Clifton ever released by the manufacturer (if we don’t take into consideration “haute-horlogerie” timepieces like the Tourbillon or the 175^th Anniversary sporting an 8-day-power-reserve caliber that we have previously reviewed on here).

The Baume & Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar boasts a 43mm-wide-stainless steel case and it blends together the characteristics of a chronograph and of a complete calendar (i.e. “not perpetual”). A third additional central date hand complements the blue chronograph central seconds hand, at 12 o’clock lies the chrono hours hand while at 6 o’clock is the minutes hand.

If you take a look at the small register – at 12 o’ clock to be more precise -, you will notice two windows that are used to display the day of the week and the month of the year. In the window placed at 6 o’clock you will find a small opening that is used to view the different moon phases (a lunar month corresponds to a 29-day-and-an-half-full-rotation-cycle). A small counter located at 9 o’clock marks the 24-hour-indication and it allows the user to view in one go day/month/year and day and night indications also.

This timepiece is equipped with a Valjoux 7751 caliber that has been customized by Baume & Mercier; the oscillating mass features a Côtes de Geneve decoration, bridges and plates sport a perlage finish while all the screws have been dyed blue. Conceptually speaking, the Baume et Mercier Clifton Chronograph Complete Calendar, blends together two types of complication that, from an aesthetic point of view, are clearly separated from each other; the chrono complication can be clearly identified by the presence of blue hands. Further information about this watch will be available from the 18^th of January 2016 when the SIHH 2016 event will officially start.

(Photo credit: courtesy of Baume et Mercier)

Gaetano C. @Horbiter®

@Gaetano Cimmino

Chronograph: Complication that helps the wearer to measure time intervals without affecting the watch's standard time-telling function.
Complete calendar: A complete calendar displays the date, day, and month. Since the month's disc has 31 days, those with a 30-month length and February require manual correction.
Calendar: A feature that shows the day of the month and, in some cases, the day of the week. Some calendar watches show the date on sub-dials, while others display the…
Date: It indicates the date of the month. There are different types of display: via a window or a pointer, where an additional hand is usually placed centrally or on a…
Case: It encases the mechanical movement and is crafted in one or more parts. It can also be a single piece, as with some professional diving watches, or made of unconventional…
Complication: The addition of any mechanical complication to a movement that usually displays the time.