Longines rivals within $2800 Baumatic review

Many watches now use new hairsprings in the movement to replace traditional metal hairsprings. Among them, silicon hairsprings are the most popular, down to Tissot, medium to Omega, and up to Patek Philippe; followed by special hairsprings developed by various groups, such as Rolex Parachrom hairsprings.

Silicon hairspring

Compared with traditional metal hairsprings, these new hairsprings solve problems such as lubrication and anti-magnetic, and enhance the stability of watch movement. For example, silicon hairspring can continue to run without lubricant; Parachrom hairspring uses non-magnetic niobium alloy to achieve antimagnetic effect.

Rolex Parachrom hairspring

As the watch industry giant, Richemont Group also follows the trend of the times to launch a new type of hairspring. Is a people-friendly brand-Baume & Mercier.

In 2017, Baume & Mercier launched the Clayton Manual 1830 watch, equipped with a silicon hairspring and a gold case. This is also the Richemont Group's first silicon hairspring watch, but the price of 100,000 yuan is not very affordable.

Baume & Mercier Manual 1830

Fortunately, last year Baume & Mercier introduced a silicon-friendly spring watch of the people-the Crichton series Baumatic 10436, which also loaded the latest silicon hairspring technology of Richemont Group, but the price is only 20,000 yuan, of course, it is a steel case. Readers have been asking us to introduce more affordable watches. Today, we will analyze this masterpiece.

Looking at the dial first, the slender wedge-shaped hour markers and sword-shaped hands, and the slender cross line are like beautiful women with a pretty waist and a slender grip. The dial is porcelain white with a warm texture like jade. It's hard to see from the photos, but if you get the real thing, you can feel the bright and moist feeling. At this price point, the form factor is beyond imagination.

Less obvious is the date and crown. The 3 o'clock calendar window somewhat affects the visual balance. However, if you look closely, the three-dimensional grooved calendar window edge and flat retro calendar font are all very charming and make up for the fault of breaking the balance. In addition, the too small and thin crown affects the feel of the grip. However, considering the overall slim and elegant style of this watch, the crown is too large to be uncoordinated and helpless.

Table diameter 40mm, thickness 10.3mm, typical dress size. Some readers may think it's bigger, but a watch with rich disk elements like this is too small to look good, and it looks crowded. 40mm is already very good. The stainless steel case is polished and brushed to a normal price.

Looking over the case back, you can see the highlights of this time: the BM12-1975A movement. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, this is a movement that reproduces the silicon balance spring, as well as the silicon escapement. The use of silicon greatly delays the wear of the movement and enhances the anti-magnetism. Therefore, from the perspective of basic travel time, this 20,000 yuan famous man can be said to be one of Richemont's most advanced works.

In addition, the other performance of this movement is also very good. The 5-day power reserve is amazing, even if you don't wear it for a weekend, you don't need to worry about stopping; and it has also been certified by the Swiss Astronomical Observatory (COSC) with a day difference of -4 / + 6 seconds.

The movement has a diameter of about 28mm and a thickness of about 4mm. It is well polished. The Geneva-patterned oscillating weight, plus a large area of fish scale plywood, is not lost.

Overall, this is a very good work. The beautiful appearance represents the movement of the most advanced basic technology of Richemont Group. If there are shortcomings, first, the popularity of Baume & Mercier is not high enough (especially compared to Longines and Tudor at the same price), and second, some old-fashioned tablemates think that it is better to buy a quartz core than a quartz core.

The author thinks that it is not necessary to demand it. Silicon hairspring is now the general trend, and it is reasonable for celebrities to use it. The Richemont Group has given Baume & Mercier a personal brand instead of Jaeger-LeCoultre Panerai and others. It should also have this consideration.
Longines rivals within 20,000 yuan-Baumatic review

That's it for today's review.