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The glamorous Côte d’Azur, with its clear waters, its villages in pastel shades and the extravagance of its bon vivants, infiltrated in 1973 in a watch, named Riviera, illuminated by the Swiss brand Baume & Mercier. A child of its time, it was born as a sporty model with integrated bracelet, and has come down to the present day to become the most versatile specimen of the brand. This is demonstrated by the five versions of the Riviera that have been launched this year, designed for different times of the day in a hypothetical and idyllic vacation in this corner of the Mediterranean that includes the southeast of France and Monaco. Although very different from each other, they all share the characteristic 12-sided bezel with four screws. They are these:
1. Riviera Skeleton
With a very sporty image, the Riviera measures in this steel version 42 mm in diameter and 11.1 mm of moderate thickness. Its openworked dial allows to contemplate part of the automatic movement, which offers 38 hours of power reserve. As usual in the model, the octagonal crown is decorated with the letter Phi, chosen as the emblem of Baume & Mercier in 1964. Its water-resistance reaches 100 meters, approximately.
PVP.: 4.650 €.
2. Riviera Baumatic Mareografo
Very useful for sea dogs. The nautical character of the Riviera is reinforced here with a mechanical complication that is not very common in watchmaking: the one that measures the level of the tides. This edition limited to 500 pieces graphically records the ebb and flow of the sea at different times of the day. In a 43 mm format, its polished and satin-brushed steel case houses an automatic movement (a variation of the in-house Baumatic) that provides a very considerable power reserve of five days or 120 hours when fully charged.
PVP.: 5.400 €.
3. Riviera Baumatic 10769
To shape this two-tone iteration, the brand’s creatives have been inspired by the minerality of the French Riviera stone, while the depth of the sea is reflected in its dial, with its typical transparent wave motif. The 42 mm diameter and 10.6 mm thick case combines steel with blue PVD finish with the light titanium with gray PVD of the bezel. Inside it carries an automatic movement whose power reserve also amounts to five days. And it is water resistant to 100 m.
PVP.: 4.750 €.
4. Riviera Gold
Designed for when the sun sets on the Côte d’Azur, this watch reflects the current trend for rose gold, which is all the rage. It is the most sophisticated version of the model, and with a moderate size of 39 mm in diameter and 9.6 mm thick, it gains in elegance. Again the Baumatic automatic movement has been chosen to give life to it, and it is water-resistant to 50 meters.
PVP.: 20.500 €.
5. Riviera Perpetual Calendar
It has also been added to the collection a function typical of haute horlogerie, the perpetual calendar. The Baumatic mechanism (with a five-day power reserve), equipped with a specific module, moves autonomously from February 28 to March 1 and registers February 29 in leap years such as 2024. It indicates the day, month, year and moon phases, and has been present in the Riviera collection since 2023. It was then introduced in a 40 mm design in steel limited to 50 pieces. Since it was successful, it repeats this year, but with a gray dial instead of yellow.
PVP.: 21.500 €.
