What are our Crunchers thoughts on Baumé and Mercier
I work for an AD in Australia for a couple of watch brands. One of them being Baumé and Mercier. I’m kind of curious what the watch community especially us in this forum have thoughts on Baumé and Mercier. It was a brand foreign to me until I started working this job. They have some cool stuff like the Riveria and the Clifton sharing the in house Baumatic movement (a repackaged IWC movement), and their Hamptons being redesigned Cartier Tanks, but the brands lacks identity to me.
To me, they have some interesting watches, but I have some problems with the watches as well. The Classima is a classy look and is a nice entry level range, but it doesn’t strike out much with its own identity and looks like a typical fashion watch with better finishing. I do love the Classima Chronograph, but the 42mm case size is intimating for my wrist. The Hampton is just a repackaged Tank and to me lacks brand identity. The Riveria is pretty cool and I really like the bold designs of it. However, I don’t really know what they’re trying to do with their flagship brand, the Clifton. It looks good, but you need more than good for a watch that cost well over 3.5k USD.
I’m currently thinking of getting the Riveria 39mm for myself in the stainless steel band, right now on the fence about it. What are my fellow crunchers thoughts?
I want more watches but I’m broke
Love the Riviera and Hampton!
Looks like I'll go first. They seem to make good quality watches and the classima chronograph looks gorgeous.
However each of the watches looks similar to anouther companies flagship. I.e the Clifton looks like a cartier tank, the classima chronograph looks like the iwc portofino chronograph, the riveria little bit like the chopped alpine etc to the point the collection, just looks like a pile of homages.
At that price point I'd opt for the original in most cases. But I appreciate the they do look nice and are definitely offee a wide range of affordable luxury watches.
Looks like I'll go first. They seem to make good quality watches and the classima chronograph looks gorgeous.
However each of the watches looks similar to anouther companies flagship. I.e the Clifton looks like a cartier tank, the classima chronograph looks like the iwc portofino chronograph, the riveria little bit like the chopped alpine etc to the point the collection, just looks like a pile of homages.
At that price point I'd opt for the original in most cases. But I appreciate the they do look nice and are definitely offee a wide range of affordable luxury watches.
Yeah I have similar feelings to this too. They are some nice watches, but there’s nothing that stands out to me aside from the Riveria as being a Baumé and Mercier watch. Longines has the conquest and hydro conquest as their entry level (and Le Grande Classqiue and Dolce Vita for female watches), and those are staples of the brands identity. Their Spirit line goes back to their roots in aviation, their revival of the Legend Diver is one of the best watches to get from them to have a distinct look, and the master collection have some really unique looking pieces.
I don’t necessarily like Tag Heuer, but they have a very big presence in the entry luxury market and the Monaco and all their chronographs takes pride in their racing heritage. They use this as their main key selling point and marketing strategy.
I don’t like the designs for some of the Rado watches, but they are the master of materials, being the first company to use a sapphire crystal and using ceramics in their watches. Gives them a real distinct look, and the revival of the Captain cook is arguably one of the best diver watches under $2500.
Love the Riviera and Hampton!
Yeah, I went from a hater, to a maybe, to quite liking the riviera. Staff discount does helps too 😂
Yeah I have similar feelings to this too. They are some nice watches, but there’s nothing that stands out to me aside from the Riveria as being a Baumé and Mercier watch. Longines has the conquest and hydro conquest as their entry level (and Le Grande Classqiue and Dolce Vita for female watches), and those are staples of the brands identity. Their Spirit line goes back to their roots in aviation, their revival of the Legend Diver is one of the best watches to get from them to have a distinct look, and the master collection have some really unique looking pieces.
I don’t necessarily like Tag Heuer, but they have a very big presence in the entry luxury market and the Monaco and all their chronographs takes pride in their racing heritage. They use this as their main key selling point and marketing strategy.
I don’t like the designs for some of the Rado watches, but they are the master of materials, being the first company to use a sapphire crystal and using ceramics in their watches. Gives them a real distinct look, and the revival of the Captain cook is arguably one of the best diver watches under $2500.
Totally agree with everything you just said! It's just missing their own iconic watch.... Maybe someone working over reads this and decides to pull a few all nighters to make one 😁
I like the Riviera line, but it is not my brand.
Totally agree with everything you just said! It's just missing their own iconic watch.... Maybe someone working over reads this and decides to pull a few all nighters to make one 😁
They should make a limited edition Riveria partnered with Shelby Motors. That would be interesting. They should also hire me for their marketing ahahaha 😂
I love their watches but I would not pay MSRP. You find them heavily discounted on eBay.
I think it's a strong overlooked entry level premium brand. It might be rooted to their old models, which didn't looke great in my opinion.
But since few years B&M made a phenomensl come back by redisigning the Riviera.
The only thing that disappoints me is on their see thrugh dials, where they just simply put two plastic pins between 2 and 3 and between 8 and 9. It's for fixing the dial on the case, but they made it quite "easy". Other brands solved this much more elegant.
Anyway I think it's a great alternative to the IWC Ingenieur.
Although I like the Hamptons line, B&M jas still a too small or too unclear product policy to get a clear brand shape.
But I would always consider them as an alternative to other more expensive watches.
Looks like I'll go first. They seem to make good quality watches and the classima chronograph looks gorgeous.
However each of the watches looks similar to anouther companies flagship. I.e the Clifton looks like a cartier tank, the classima chronograph looks like the iwc portofino chronograph, the riveria little bit like the chopped alpine etc to the point the collection, just looks like a pile of homages.
At that price point I'd opt for the original in most cases. But I appreciate the they do look nice and are definitely offee a wide range of affordable luxury watches.
Riviera has been released in 1973 and I thought it was one of the first integrated watches. A precursor, then. But maybe I am mistaken.
The Clifton has a round case and looks very classy. You probably have the Hampton in mind. It is rectangular and yet, to me, it doesn’t look like a Cartier Tank. On the other hand, it occurs to me the Longine DolceVita looks very close to the Tank
I really like the Riviera. That blue is stunning
This is on my list☺️
I like the Clufton with the Moon Phase.
The Riviera in the first photo is awesome!!!
It's ... fine? Doesn't so much for me.
I love them! Currently I have 3....my father's favorite watch ( which I now own) and my favorite B&M is the Clifton 5 day Baumatic.... such a great history as well!
Love their language
Underrated brand. Their Clifton Baumatic might be the most capable yet overlooked daily wearer. It has a chronometer rated 5 day power reserve, and has been on the market since 2018. It seems only recently that the Richemont group is sharing this movement across brands (ie IWC). If you like the Tissot Gentleman then the Clifton would be a logical step up the horological ladder. The new limited Rivieria 10742 Perpetual Calendar is a stunner as well.
They strike me as one of the many mid-luxury Swiss brands that's just...there. The kind of stuff you see for sale on cruise ships and international airport terminals. They all feel like slightly downgraded versions of something else, the movements are just Sellita or Richemont transplants, the quality/finishing is good but not remarkable, and I guess I just can't find anything that stands out about them in terms of design, craft, or innovation (not that the Swiss have innovated much in the last 50 years, but even so...). They just don't seem to stand for or represent anything, which is death for luxury brand. Every time I've seen them in an AD, they're always sorta displayed in the back of the store and always discounted heavily, which makes me think that even the dealers (at least in the US) are a bit unsure of their appeal.
I suspect a lot of brands are going to go away (again) as the market continues to consolidate and this strikes me as a perfect candidate when Richemont inevitably starts streamlining their portfolio.
I think it's a strong overlooked entry level premium brand. It might be rooted to their old models, which didn't looke great in my opinion.
But since few years B&M made a phenomensl come back by redisigning the Riviera.
The only thing that disappoints me is on their see thrugh dials, where they just simply put two plastic pins between 2 and 3 and between 8 and 9. It's for fixing the dial on the case, but they made it quite "easy". Other brands solved this much more elegant.
Anyway I think it's a great alternative to the IWC Ingenieur.
Although I like the Hamptons line, B&M jas still a too small or too unclear product policy to get a clear brand shape.
But I would always consider them as an alternative to other more expensive watches.
Yikes, I can’t unsee that now.
To me, Baume et Mercier is aggressively mid. Looking through their catalog, they’re all (Riviera excepted) perfectly fine, but not distinctive in any way. Why would I choose most B+M’s over anything else that looks largely identical and in their price category? It’s like the vast majority of Hamilton’s Jazzmaster line and older Longines models - they feel like they exist primarily to be reasonably affordable luxury options to fill space in jewelry counter display cases.
The reborn Riviera line is the exception, and points a legitimate way forward. They’re distinctive yet familiar, and feel like they have a point of view. If B+M redoes the rest of their line with that ethos - take familiar shapes and themes but put a distinctive twist on them - I think they could be the next Longines.
I like the Riviera but that's what I said on a watch group, we don't know if that's great or not and this kind of brands (Beaume et Mercier, Yema etc...) Don't advertise to make people buy their pieces. As a serious watch enjoyer, I seriously don't know if that's great watch or a made in china thing and this is quite problematic because from what I see I am not the only one in this situation and this kind of brands should make more communication on how their great, how some (for the case of Yema) of their watches weren't reliable but how they worked on the issue etc... They're missing on a huge chunk of money.
I love the Hampton. Great brand, no complaints.
I bought a B&M 10 years ago for my father who just gave it back to me last week. I did not know anything about watches then and was sold on the 'Swiss heritage and 'automatic movement'. The parting words of the B&M store employee to me was "this brand is an interim step to higher end brands like JLC. You will appreciate it when you are ready for the next upgrade". I did not know what the heck was a JLC then...
And you know what? My next watch is probably going to be a reverso but my B&M is here to stay.
In my eyes they have nice watches, they also have a wide range of models. I think being owned by richmont is good for them as they made their in-house movement was introduced in 2018 with help of the richmont group and with the movement maker val fleurier.
Now it's not something i would by for myself.
This is on my list☺️
If you’re in Australia I can get you a better price for that ahahaha. But yeah it looks good
My wife and daughters bought me a B&M Hampton City Chrono more than 20 years ago from the same ad that sold me my first luxury watches, a few steel Rolexes, an Omega and a Cartier Santos, that watch remains one of my prized tokens, 20 years later I purchased a 5 day moonphase that I hope to pass along to my grand daughter who made her entrance during the first days of October this year.
My ad who sells a lot of different brands became more intrigued with my interest in B&M when I informed him that I remain keenly interested in buying one of the 50 perpetual calendar movement Riviera watches that are already sold out worldwide. They will retail for around 25k cad before country taxes, I think that I will be getting enough value for my whimsical dollars. He is not confident that the agent will be able to assist but he knows about my interest and sincerity.
I have always bought watches that appeal to me, not concerned about the general marketplace’s buying patterns. People talk about straying from cookie cutter watches, I suggest that choosing B&M might be in that direction if the designs speak to the customer.
I am no apologist for the brand but I would be hesitant to announce too loudly that it is a brand that lacks identity or originality.
Fair enough. I also am intrigued by the brand, and I’ll give them that for having a really nice name, Baumé and Mercier, it sounds elegant. I just wish that their watches was tied to a specific era of watchmaking to give them more heritage then just a good looking watch, a story telling aspect you know. I think the Riveria being a watch worn I. The Le Manc race would be perfect for that kind of storytelling, but they just didn’t capitalise on it.
Overpriced watches with tacky designs and a name that sounds like Ali Express.
Besides 5 days movement quality I see nothing that would inspire me to buy one. It is just floating in mediocrity of Swiss brands and will remain so until they change something.
Meh