Baume & Mercier is beginning 2024 off sturdy with its new February launch of the Riviera 10761 Tideograph, which provides a novel nautical complication to its Riviera sequence. The Tideograph joins the lineage of the bigger Riviera assortment, which celebrated its fiftieth anniversary final yr. The unique reference’s 12-sided case and its use of chrome steel (as a substitute of the valuable metals widespread in gown watches on the time) shortly secured this sequence as Baume & Mercier’s flagship mannequin for the next 25 years. Although every new iteration has taken on quite a lot of design cues, they every embody the spirit of their namesake: quiet luxurious on the French Riviera.
This chrome steel watch is 43mm in diameter with a top of 12.3mm, so it can probably have some vital wrist presence on the common wearer. The dodecagonal case and its 4 screws give the Tideograph a utilitarian vibe, whereas the sunray blue dial makes the entire thing seem ruggedly refined. Anti-reflective coating is utilized to each side of the sapphire crystal, which might probably make this hyper-legible exterior within the solar, or on the water. The Tideograph comes on an built-in dial-matching blue rubber strap with a triple-folding buckle and simple adjustment function. The strap has a canvas patterning, which enhances the brushed bezel and lugs, whereas additionally giving the complete watch some visible intricacy.
The dial options Roman numerals on the 12 o’clock place and rhodium-plated riveted indices at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. These indices, together with the open-worked hour and minute palms, are coated with blue-hued Tremendous-LumiNova. The seconds hand is counterbalanced by the Baume & Mercier emblem — a Greek Phi image. This too, is coated with Tremendous-LumiNova, maintaining according to an all-blue motif. Diverging from the opposite choices on this line, a date window is noticeably absent from the Tideograph, maybe enjoying into the concept that, within the Riviera, the times of the week aren’t the precedence — time is measured by the tides.
The first tide complication is displayed prominently on the 6 o’clock place and has each sandblasted and snailed options. This complication is ready with a 4 o’clock pusher and is segmented into 4 quadrants marked by two 12-hour shifts. It’s a powerful mixture of blue tones — two color-matched to the dial that includes teal accents, and the opposite two snailed segments a darkish navy with white arrows.
The Riviera Tideograph is powered by the automated Baumatic BM14-1975AC3, which seems to be a modified model of the moonphase -AC2. Baume & Mercier point out that the motion is a manufacture caliber, and true to their phrase, the Baumatic BM14 actions are produced by ValFleurier, which can be owned by Richemont. The motion boasts a powerful five-day (120-hour) energy reserve and one 100m of water resistance. I feel there needs to be an emphasis positioned right here on this spectacular feat of engineering. A five-day energy reserve isn’t typical at any worth level, however to have a nautical complication, a 120-hour energy reserve, and a depth ranking of 100m is fairly exceptional. Plainly Baume & Mercier actually desires this watch for use as a instrument.
General, the Tideograph’s design seems to be as if it belongs within the ocean, and it’s geared up to do exactly that. It’s fashionable and substantive, and its measurement and form will probably stand out on the common wrist. Luckily, this watch appears in a position to deal with the eye. It is a limited-edition launch capped at 500 items and patrons can have their unit quantity engraved on the case again, with textual content studying “Particular Version X out of 500.” The Baume & Mercier Riviera Tideograph is presently priced at $5,140 USD. For extra data, please go to the model’s web site.
