Right in time for the holiday shopping season, Baume & Mercier will hit the stores with a new limited-edition William Baume Jumping Hour (ref. M0A08857, also known as ref. 8857). It is what it is: a dressy automatic watch featuring a not-so-common jumping hour complication.
What’s even more exciting about this timepiece is that this is a true limited-edition model: with just a handful of individually numbered devices to ever be released, there is a good chance that it will become a rarity in no time at all.
Like some of the recently released gadgets with the same “jumping hours” complication, the M0A08857 is powered by the well-known Dubois Depraz 14400 automatic movement. Popular among second-tier brands who can’t afford to design their own caliber from scratch, it, in its turn, is a modification of the ubiquitous ETA 2892A2 ebauche: a good old three-hander caliber that has proven its reliability and robustness during the many decades it stays in production.
The same movement, by the way of speaking, was used in Baume & Mercier’s older Classima Executives L Automatic Jumping Hour model, as well as in the last year’s handsomely rugged Edox Grand Ocean Sea Dubai. Both featured completely the same dial layout -a jumping hour display at 12 o’clock, a slightly off-centered along with the vertical axis minute hand display, and a smaller seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock- that was dictated by the design of the cal. 14400 that, as I understand it, was used in its base form with just some minor embellishing on visible parts.
Of course, being a member of the classic-styled William Baume collection (i.e. sold at a much higher price than the rest of the pack,) the William Baume Jumping Hour features a completely different styling of its body and face.
Available only in a rose gold case, the limited edition comes equipped with either a silvered or black dial, both featuring a cross weave guilloché motif and sunburst satin-brushed finish on the minute and second subdials.
Sure, in terms of technical ingenuity, this model doesn’t even come close to the 2009 A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk. Also, equipped with a mass-produced movement developed by a third-party company, it is by no means a high-end product as some bloggers try to position the device.
However, if you are more interested in style rather than in technical specifications, the William Baume Jumping Hour is among the best offerings on the market.
B&M plans to start selling this model in September 2010, limiting the production to only 40 units (since the black-dialed and silver-dialed versions sport different reference numbers, I gather that the total run will be 80 examples.) In the U.S., it will retail at about $19,900, but I am sure that you will be able to find a good bargain and get it well below the $15,000 mark.
Or you can simply get yourself the gorgeous Patek Philippe 5196R Calatrava model for the same price.
WWR Verdict
Originality 5/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall Legibility: 4.5/5
Nighttime Legibility: 1/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
See also: Bvlgari Octo Bi-Retro in Steel and Ceramic
Photos: Baume & Mercier
Baume & Mercier William Baume Jumping Hour (ref. M0A08857) specification:
Price range: $19,900 (MSRP)
Movement: Dubois Depraz 14400 (base caliber ETA 2892-A2), automatic, Swiss Made
Cadence of balance: 28,800 vph
Jewels: 27
Functions & Complications: Jumping hours, minutes, small seconds
Power reserve: Up to 44 hours
Case: 18-karat Red gold
Shape: Round
Size: 41.00 mm
Case height: 9.60 mm
Dial: Silvered, guilloched
Numerals: Arabic
Hands: Red gold, polished
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Brown crocodile leather on a red gold tang buckle
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Back: Sapphire