The Clifton Turns Ice Blue

Baume & Mercier is adding a limited edition to its Clifton collection: a 39 mm Automatique Date with an ice blue guilloché dial. A new shade inherited from the dressed dials of the 1950s, brought to life by the guilloché as it plays with the light. Behind this softness lies serious mechanics: the now well-known Baumatic manufacture movement. After being completely redesigned last year, the Clifton flourishes with this version, which is undoubtedly its most luminous interpretation. A discreet piece that reveals what the house seeks to achieve with its flagship collection: combining a vintage aesthetic with horological content that is anything but vintage.

A Clifton Redesigned in 2025

Born in 2013, the Clifton has become the house’s classic collection, the one of understated round three hand watches. Last year, it underwent a complete redesign for Baume & Mercier’s 195th anniversary. The house went beyond a simple refresh of its iconic model: a tightened case, more defined lines, revised finishes, and a domed sapphire crystal in the style of the dress watches of the past. Above all, the collection’s three hand models moved to 39 mm, compared with 40 mm previously, a small millimetre that brings the Clifton back towards period proportions and anchors it in its 1950s inspiration. The crown, now integrated, follows the side of the case, while the bracelet, also integrated, extends from the case in a continuous line. Since then, the collection has been enriched with several dials. It is within this renewed line that the ice blue edition now takes its place.

Ice Blue, a Shade of Light

What stands out about this new iteration is the dial. Ice blue, a pale, almost frosted blue, belongs to the palette of 1950s watches, whose understated freshness it captures. The shade comes alive and flourishes thanks to the guilloché. Depending on the angle of the wrist, the pattern catches the light, becomes darker or lighter, and makes the dial shift from one shade of blue to another. Otherwise, there is a black central crosshair, an azure minute track, and applied, rhodium plated and faceted trapezoidal indexes that are slightly elongated and also play with reflections, just like the alpha hands. A single Arabic numeral at twelve o’clock, and a date seamlessly blended tone on tone at 6 o’clock. Nothing superfluous, then, the Clifton gets straight to the essentials. Legibility remains the primary concern, in a pared back design that allows the colour and its texture to occupy the entire space.

The Heritage of the 1950s

Founded in 1830, Baume & Mercier has weathered every fashion, but the 1950s remain one of its most recognisable signatures. For the house, it was a decade of high standards, a period during which it placed the words « Finely Crafted » on its creations like a pledge of care devoted to details and finishes. It was the golden age of the dress watch, the round, slim watch with a clean dial, from which the current Clifton openly draws with its Arabic numerals positioned at key points, its curved lines, its domed crystal, and even a period model whose proportions it reproduces. The ice blue extends this story, retaining its spirit of restraint and clarity while giving it a certain freshness. The watch looks to the past, but is very much worn in the present.

The Baumatic, Substance Beneath the Colour

Beneath the dial beats calibre Baumatic BM13-1975A, an automatic manufacture movement whose reputation rests first and foremost on its five-day power reserve, or 120 hours. Baume & Mercier launched it in 2018 with silicon components that give it good resistance to the magnetic fields of everyday life. It beats at 4 Hz and contains twenty-one jewels; a movement designed for the long term. The screwed sapphire caseback allows the open worked oscillating weight to be admired, decorated with Geneva stripes and circular graining and engraved with the name of the house, while the bridge receives circular perlage and the mainplate a sandblasted and circular grained decoration. With such mechanics, manufacture, long power reserve and antimagnetic properties, the Clifton really stands out.

An Object Designed to Last

For the rest, the Clifton is housed in a 39 mm case, 11.22 mm thick, crafted from steel with a polished satin finish. It is worn on an integrated three row bracelet, designed as an extension of the case. Proportions that make it a watch that slips easily beneath a cuff. An interchangeable bar system allows the bracelet to be removed without tools and replaced with leather according to one's mood and to change its appearance. The triple folding clasp is fitted with safety pushers, the domed sapphire crystal is treated with anti-reflective coating on both sides, and the 50 metre water resistance allows everyday use without any particular precautions. Finally, the caseback bears the words « Limited Edition » and can receive a personal engraving.

The Pleasure of Detail

A light blue dial that reveals, up close, the grain of its guilloché as it changes with the light, the azure edging of the minute track, the facets of the indexes lighting up one by one, and the date blending tone on tone so as not to disrupt the harmony. And behind the sapphire crystal of the caseback, the movement reveals its decorations, which only the wearer will have the opportunity to admire. The luxury of details offered to those who take the time to look. With this new ice blue edition, Baume & Mercier brings light to and refines an already solid collection, while also reminding us that behind an appealing shade there can be real mechanics. A Clifton that makes itself noticed quietly and is savoured up close.