Watch Dandy

Baume & Mercier has just released a new collection of sports watches for the “gentlesportsmen” of the world. I give to you the Clifton Club. The Clifton Club is a nice addition to one of the more affordable Richemont brands’ portfolios, offering up a sporty, casual vibe with some pops of color. The Clifton Club is available in five versions at launch and here’s a first look at them all.

MB&F launched the first Horological Machine in 2007, positioning itself as an independent watchmaker primarily interesting in futuristic design. Ten years and eight Horological Machines later, (MB&F actually skipped over the HM7 a few months ago when it released the HM8), Max Büsser and his friends have remained steadfast in their mission, creating watches that look as if they were made without any standard watch parts at all. Today, one of the great pleasures of MB&F’s sometimes strangely shaped horological machines comes not when the watch sits on the wrist, but off, discovering the watch from many different angles. The brand new Horological Machine No. 7 is MB&F’s first dive watch and it might be the maker’s most three-dimensional creation to date.

The annual calendar is an interesting complication for A. Lange & Söhne. It is both greatly respected by Lange aficionados and yet it hasn’t seemed a huge priority for the manufacture itself over the last few years. Well, say hello to the new 1815 Annual Calendar from A. Lange & Söhne. This one’s a beauty, and it takes the manufacture’s annual calendar into very new territory, with some new tech and a new look. It’s the Lange you didn’t know you wanted. Let’s dig right in.

The A. Lange & Söhne “Pour le Mérite” watches go way back with the modern incarnation of A. Lange & Söhne; the very first was the Tourbillon “Pour le Mérite,” which at the time of its introduction in 1994 was the very first wristwatch ever made with a fusée and chain. Yes, a fusée and chain is impractical in a wristwatch, and yes, it’s an anachronism (it takes up space, it’s not necessary in a modern watch with a lever escapement, balance spring, and which uses modern alloys for the mainspring).

The Zeitwerk family of watches is one of Lange’s most recognizable, even if it’s not quite as iconic for Lange as the Lange 1. Two chiming versions have been produced: the Zeitwerk Striking Time, which chimes on the hour and on the quarter hours, and the Zeitwerk Minute Repeater. The latter is a so-called decimal repeater; rather than chiming the hours, quarter hours, and minutes past the quarter hour, it chimes the hours, number of ten minute intervals past the hour, and number of minutes past the last 10 minute interval. Now we’ve got a third chiming Zeitwerk: the Decimal Strike, which chimes on the hour, and also at every ten minute interval.

The A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 is kind of a cult favorite (at least of the cult I am in), so I am pretty excited to announce the new pink gold Little Lange 1 with a guilloché dial. Last year, we saw a lot from Lange, including the Saxonia Moon Phase, the Richard Lange Jumping Seconds, the Datograph Perpetual Calendar, the Lange 1 in white gold, and the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar. Phew. Furthermore, just last month the German manufacture released the Lange 1 Moon Phase with hybrid moonphase indicator. Well, this year the Little Lange 1 is getting some attention with a little extra (understated) flair.