Baume & Mercier Chronograph Cal.1873 18ct Pink Gold c1951

Baume & Mercier

Baume & Mercier was founded as “Frères Baume” in 1830 by brothers Louis-Victor and Célestin Baume, who opened the watch dealership in Les Bois, a village in the Swiss Jura. The Swiss watch manufacturer established a branch in London in 1851 under the name “Baume Brothers”, which led to expansion throughout the British Empire. By the late 19th century, the company had an international reputation, and its timepieces had set accuracy records and won a number of timekeeping competitions. In the 1940s, Baume & Mercier launched a number of modern watch collections, most notably the 2 and 3 Register Chronograph. Baume & Mercier is a highly respected and prestigious brand built on the success of its mid-century watches.

Description

Here we have a simply beautiful example of a Baume & Mercier chronograph in wonderful previously restored condition. This watch carries a triple register on a gold dial with the highly sought after blued steel hands, not only is the dial incredible, this watch carries the ultra high grade calibre 1873 chronograph movement which is also in remarkable condition.

The Dial

As mentioned above, here we have a truly stunning, beautiful, previously restored gold, triple register dial. The triple register chronograph dial here carries baton hour indices which are swept by the original blued steel ‘index’ hands.

The dial we have here is, of course, the more sought after triple register chronograph. These registers measure constant seconds at the 9 dial position, minute recording at the 3 position and hour recording at the 6 position. The outer scale in blue shows a Tachymeter scale, used in conjunction with the chronograph function to measure speed, or distance travelled. The constant seconds dial runs constantly and independently of the chronograph function while the large centre hand and the other two registers operate while the chronograph is operating.

This dial has been previously restored to a very high standards and remains in incredible condition.

The Movement

As mentioned above, this watch houses the Baume & Mercier Calibre 1873, chronograph movement which is marked as such and correctly signed ‘Baume & Mercier Geneve’.

The watch movement is in stunning condition and has been fully overhauled and serviced by our vintage chronograph specialist watchmaker. This involves the complete dismantling of the movement to each of its component parts, ultrasonic cleaning, microscope inspection and then careful reassembly and oiling, ready for final testing and careful calibration.

Each of the chronograph functions operates perfectly and the centre seconds hand resets itself instantly on pressing the bottom pusher. The normal timekeeping function is running perfectly, having been calibrated and timed at +8 seconds per day, which is truly outstanding for any watch of this age and the watch also has a power reserve of 40 hours in its fully wound state.

The movement is correctly and simply signed ‘Baume & Mercier Geneve’.

With care and with regular servicing, say every 4 years, we would fully expect this watch to run quite happily for many decades to come. Our watchmaker commented that he found the movement to be especially clean and in excellent condition. We are therefore more than happy to offer this watch with our 12 months’ warranty* and to assist with servicing again in the future.

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.

The Watch Case

The 18ct pink gold case is of a bold, three-piece design and at 35mm, excluding the correct unsigned crown, this is a very large-sized watch for the period. The case-back is of full thickness and has never been inscribed.

This watch case has been carefully inspected for fatigue marks and there are none. It has recently completed a full restoration by our team and is in excellent condition. Even under close examination, there are few scratches, dings or signs of wear visible to the naked eye, leading us to suspect that this watch has seen very little real use.

The interior of the case back is correctly signed with the 18ct hallmarks along with the case serial number 91594.

As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Strap and Buckle

The strap fitted is a high quality brown lizard strap with a plain pink gold-plated buckle. If a different colour or style of strap is preferred, please let us know and we will do our best to oblige free of charge. We carry Tan, Conker, Dark Brown and Black in stock and in plain padded leather, or crocodile skin or lizard skin. For a wider selection, please take a look at the wonderful choice of straps offered by our suppliers Watch Obsession here. We will be pleased to order and fit the strap of your choice, within 24 – 48 hours.

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating this watch to c1951.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.

This watch comes complete with a high quality hardwood presentation box included.

Payment and Delivery

If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this and pass on a 3% saving to you. Paying by bank transfer for a 3% saving will not affect your 12 months warranty. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.

Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.

We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.

For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.

As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.

In Conclusion

This beautiful Baume & Mercier chronograph is in superb condition, ready for use and completely practical and wearable today. It represents excellent value for money especially in such superb condition and is a highly desirable vintage gold watch from one of horology’s most respected names which will provide an excellent investment as well as be something to treasure and enjoy!

A word on our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post-sales care and service. This approach means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are some well-known stores in West London which are highly successful charging between two to three times the price you see here. We therefore consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.

If you have any questions, please call us on 0207 727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.

Please note, we welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss.

We will also be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at sensible prices. Please see here.

Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.

Thank you.