Baume & Mercier Baumatic BM12-1975A

Movement manufacturer

Baume & Mercier

Frequency

28,800 vph (4 Hz)

Power reserve

120 hours

Winding

automatic

Complications

Centre seconds · Date

• MovementProbable

  The reserve is the test, and the test takes five days

  Wind fully, set aside, check on the fifth day. A conventional Swiss automatic will have stopped after roughly two. This is slow but conclusive, requires no expertise and no equipment, and is one of very few specification claims in this catalog that an owner can settle for themselves.

• MovementProbable

  Silicon components are visually distinguishable, and there are three of them

  The Baumatic uses silicon unusually thoroughly: a TwinSpir balance spring of two silicon layers, plus a Powerscape escapement whose escape WHEEL and LEVER are silicon too. Silicon differs from steel in colour and surface character and is recognisable under magnification through a display back. A substituted generic movement will have none of it, and the absence of all three on a caliber specified to use them is a finding rather than a detail. Note that the caliber is ValFleurier-built — a Richemont group movement operation — rather than made by Baume & Mercier itself, which is the ordinary arrangement at this tier and not a discrepancy.

Silicon escapement components do not require lubrication in the way steel ones do and are not repairable — they are replaced. Servicing runs through Richemont rather than through the generic Swiss supply chain.

• Baume & Mercier Clifton BaumaticFactory

  Clifton · Whole production