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Baume & Mercier Riviera Automatic, Date Display 39mm Mens Watch Black
Ref. M0A10787
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 £18,000 across 34 Baume & Mercier watches in stock.The Riviera line dates to 1973, when Baume & Mercier introduced a twelve-sided case at a moment when the industry was moving hard toward the sports-luxury look. This piece carries that dodecagonal form in 18-carat solid rose gold, with the bezel secured by four matching screws and a crown cut with the same faceted geometry — small details that show the design was thought through rather than applied. The dial is the less obvious choice: a smoked black sapphire that reads as dark from straight on but opens up under angled light to reveal the movement working beneath it, so the watch behaves differently depending on how it catches the room. At 9.6mm the case sits closer to the wrist than the gold construction might suggest, and the interchangeable strap system means the alligator can come off without tools, which matters more in daily use than it sounds. The Baumatic BM13-1975A is built in-house and carries a five-day power reserve alongside unusually strong resistance to magnetic fields — the kind of movement that asks very little of the person wearing it and rewards leaving it on the winder only when travel demands it.
- Reference
- M0A10787
- Brand
- Baume & Mercier
- Collection
- Riviera
- Case size
- 39mm
- Case thickness
- 9.6mm
- Case material
- Rose gold
- Case shape
- Octagonal
- Dial
- Black
- Crystal
- Sapphire
- Movement
- Automatic
- Calibre
- BM13-1975A
- Functions
- Date
- Water resistance
- 50m
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Black
- Clasp
- Buckle
- Lume
- Luminous
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Additional specifications
- Power reserve
- 120 hours
- Strap
- Interchangeable
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 5 collections
This watch appears in the Baume & Mercier Riviera range (14), Automatic Watches (1,472), Leather Strap Watches (844), Dress Watches (451) and Solid Gold Watches (149).
What the specifications mean
A slim watch on leather, made for wearing with a shirt.
Strengths
- 39mm suits most wrists
- Sapphire crystal, which resists scratching
- 120-hour reserve survives a weekend off the wrist
- 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 Riviera Automatic, Date Display alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | M0A10787 | H7189 | 49555-52-132-BB60 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £18,000 | £16,600 | £18,400 |
| Case size | 39mm | 38mm | 40mm |
| Water resistance | 50m | 50m | 30m |
| Movement | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Strap | Leather strap | Ceramic bracelet | Leather strap |
| Power reserve | 120 hours | 70 hours | 46 hours |
| This watch | 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 120 hours fully wound — enough to sit off the wrist over a weekend and still be running.
Is it a men's or women's watch?
Listed as men's, though at 39mm it sits in the range that suits anyone.
Cheapest place to buy
Mappin & Webb is the only UK retailer we track stocking this reference new, at £18,000. There is nothing to compare it against today.
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