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Baume & Mercier Classima 42mm Mens Watch
Ref. BM0A10330
Sits in Baume & Mercier’s upper tier here — more premium than three quarters of the Baume & Mercier watches we list, which start at £850.
Price range £850 to £2,900 across 12 Baume & Mercier watches in stock.The Classima is Baume & Mercier's longest-running dress line, and this chronograph sits at a considered point within it — a complication that needs to read cleanly on a silver dial without tipping into the overcrowded. The answer is a guilloché centre, borrowed from mid-century watchmaking, that gives the sub-dials something to sit against rather than a flat field to compete with, while blued steel leaf hands carry the hour across it in the manner of a much simpler watch. At 42mm the case is broad enough to carry three registers without crowding, and at 13.25mm it wears somewhat thinner than the Valjoux 7750 typically allows — not a flat watch by any measure, but composed on the wrist in a way that makes the leather strap feel appropriate rather than compensatory. The blue alligator strap is paired with a triple-folding deployant secured by push-buttons, which keeps the fit consistent and avoids the gradual loosening of a tang buckle against a suit cuff. The sapphire caseback is the detail most owners take a moment with: the 7750 is utilitarian by design and proud of it, and watching its column wheel and rotor through the display back is a reminder that the movement underneath has been serviced in watchmakers' drawers for decades, and will be again.
- Reference
- BM0A10330
- Brand
- Baume & Mercier
- Collection
- Classima
- Case size
- 42mm
- Case thickness
- 13.25mm
- Lug width
- 22mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Silver
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- Valjoux 7750
- Functions
- Chronograph, Date, Small seconds
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Blue
- Clasp
- Deployant clasp
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 48 hours
- Origin
- Swiss made
Learn more about Baume & Mercier
The Baume brothers opened a watchmaking business in Les Bois in the Swiss Jura in 1830, and built a substantial export operation through a London office. The company won significant honours at nineteenth-century observatory trials, including a record for a chronograph tourbillon at Kew that stood for years.
The modern company dates from 1918, when William Baume partnered with Paul Mercier in Geneva. Mercier brought design sensibility, and the house's Art Deco pieces of the 1920s — shaped cases, jewelled dials, and the Phi emblem representing the golden ratio — established a decorative direction it has largely kept.
Baume & Mercier was among the founding members of the Geneva Seal system and produced complications including minute repeaters and perpetual calendars in its earlier decades.
Its modern position is deliberately accessible: classical Swiss watchmaking at prices below the group's luxury tier, with the Clifton, Riviera, and Hampton collections covering round dress watches, integrated-bracelet sports watches, and rectangular Art Deco shapes respectively. The Riviera, introduced in 1973, was among the first steel luxury sports watches with an integrated bracelet, arriving a year after the Royal Oak.
The house has been part of Richemont since the group's formation, and produces around two hundred thousand watches annually.
- 1830
- The Baume brothers begin watchmaking in Les Bois.
- 1892
- A Kew observatory record is set with a chronograph tourbillon.
- 1918
- William Baume and Paul Mercier partner in Geneva.
- 1973
- The twelve-sided Riviera launches.
Also in 7 collections
This watch appears in the Baume & Mercier Classima range (9), Stainless Steel Watches (3,398), Back in Stock (2,765), Automatic Watches (1,752), Chronograph Watches (1,390), Leather Strap Watches (1,100) and Silver Dial Watches (762).
What the specifications mean
A mechanical watch for everyday wear.
Strengths
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
- One of Baume & Mercier's more premium watches
Worth knowing
- 50m suits rain and handwashing, not swimming
Baume & Mercier Classima alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | BM0A10330 | 85237AA35.BVA35 | FC-397HLBN5B6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £2,900 | £2,950 | £2,995 |
| Case size | 42mm | 42mm | 42mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 50m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Leather strap | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 48 hours | 38 hours | 62 hours |
| This watch | Closely matched | Closely matched |
Your new watch
Frequently asked questions, and things you should know about this watch
Can I swim with it?
Showering yes, swimming no. 50m covers splashes and brief immersion, but a swimming stroke generates well above the pressure that figure describes.
Will the glass scratch?
Unlikely. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness and shrugs off everyday marking.
Does it need a battery?
No. It is automatic — the motion of your wrist winds it, and there is no cell to replace.
How long does it run for when it's not worn?
About 48 hours fully wound — enough to survive a night off the wrist, but not a full weekend.
What size strap does it take?
22mm. Any strap of that width will fit, and on most modern watches quick-release bars make the swap a two-minute job with no tools.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's.
Cheapest place to buy
Mappin & Webb is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference new, at £2,900. There is nothing to compare it against today.
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