Baume & Mercier Brings Back The Riviera Perpetual Calendar – 50th Anniversary Edition
Baume & Mercier, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Riviera model this year, is now presenting a limited edition with a perpetual calendar of just 50 pieces, whose main showcase is its beautiful dial in shades of yellow.
The Riviera collection, which today has a variety of models with different complications such as time only, time and date, moon phase, diver, GMT and chronograph, now introduces the perpetual calendar, which despite being new in this latest model update introduced in 2021, it is not an absolute debut as in the past, namely the 80s and late 2000s, some variants of the model already incorporated these ingenious functions.
The new Riviera arrives in the traditional formula of a stainless steel case with an integrated bracelet with a mainly brushed finish, which here measures 41mm in diameter by 11.84mm in thickness, dodecagonal bezel secured by four screws, sapphire crystal on both sides, octagonal crown embossed with brand’s logo and an underneath blue ring on the profile, and 50m water resistance.
But it is the dial in faded yellow tones, called salmon-gold dial by the brand, which comes with a vertical sunburst finish, that makes the new Riviera Perpetual Calendar shine the most—divided into four sub-dials in the positions of the four cardinal points at 3-6-9-12 o’clock, where we can find a pointer date display, a moon-phase aperture, a pointer day week indicator and a pointer month register with a leap year indicator respectively. Finally, rhodium baton hour markers, skeletonized Dauphine hands, and a blue centre seconds hand match the tone of the hands of each of the three registers and the blue sky of the enamel disk of the moon phase indicator.
Inside, the Baumatic Caliber BM13-1975 AC2 automatic movement with Dubois-Dépraz module operates, which reaches 28,800 Bph and offers up to five days of power reserve.
The exclusive Riviera Perpetual Calendar does not come cheap, with a price of €19,500. Still, if we compare it with other premium brands such as Audemars Piguet, namely the Royal Oak in steel Perpetual Calendar with a price of CHF 94,800, then the new Riviera is a bargain.
Our Opinion
The watch transcends class and elegance, its dial in shades of yellow/champagne seems to us to be the right choice for the debut of the new complication that is now arriving in the collection and that fills a gap, at least for a more demanding clientele looking for an alternative to the three top known brands.
With no negative points to point out, we leave some considerations, it would be interesting for Baume & Mercier to have a Perpetual Calendar in the regular Riviera collection and not just a limited edition, so let’s hope that this is the starting point for it to arrive in the near future. The size, although not exaggerated, taking into account the complications it presents and being in line with what happens with other brands, for us the brand missed an opportunity to differentiate from different brands, offering a unique alternative on the market with a more consensual size, such as 38mm. The last consideration is related to prices, without undoing what has already been said in this chapter, the five-figure price seems too high, even for a perpetual calendar, which almost leads us to believe in a fixed market pricing strategy, which is not good and which will probably continue leaving out many enthusiasts.
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General Specifications:
Brand: Baume & Mercier
Model: Riviera Perpetual Calendar 50th Anniversary Edition
Reference: 10742
Dial: Salmon-gold
Lume: No
Case Material: Stainless steel
Case Dimensions: 40 mm Diameter, 11.84 mm thick
Crystal: Sapphire
Case Back: Sapphire
Water Resistance: 50 Meters
Strap: Stainless steel bracelet with folding buckle
Caliber: BM13-1975 AC2
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, month, leap year, moon phase
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 Vph
Jewels: 21
Power Reserve: 120 Hours
Price: € 19,500
Limited Edition: Yes, 50 pieces
