The Brigadier Flyback Chronograph

From Patria -

Courtesy of Patria

This is, admittedly, a quick pop of news and I hope to have something longer and more detailed for you shortly. Ray Grenon has once again found a really cool brand and is bringing it to the US. I have to admit, that I had not heard much about Patria before, so I went to the one man in Switzerland who knows pretty much everything about everything as it pertains to watches, and he informed me that it was a very, very historic brand with fresh life breathed into it. 

Courtesy of Patria

Ray Grenon has a sharp eye for cool things, and it seems fitting that he is the one who brought this over to the US.

As I said, just a quick dip, but hope to be reporting back with much more shortly!

Too Small To Fail - Siduna

The watch world is full of bullshit.  There, I've said it.  The polite way to put it is "hyperbole".
I tend to speak plainly, which does not always endear me to those who guard the hallways of Watch Town with jealousy and venom.  But a few brands have really made an impression.  And one brand that I have taken great pleasure in following and finally buying one of their pieces, is Siduna.

And the object of intense desire for me was the M3440.  

A wonderfully simple bi-compax chronograph.  I was lucky enough to get to test drive one during BaselWorld last year -

http://www.tempusfugit.watch/2019/04/overtime-with-siduna-m3440-professional.html
I saved my pennies, nickels and dimes and when I had enough I was able to pick up my own during the District Time show in Washington DC last Autumn.  Mine is lucky # Hachi (that's 8 to you).
I am a social worker/English teacher and I honestly cannot afford to buy everything that catches my eye.  With the exception of a SWATCH, each watch I buy requires a plan, some savings, some discipline.  So it has to be special.  And the Siduna chronograph is just that, special.


Siduna is a two-man band composed of -

Courtesy of Siduna

Peter Wadbro, the watch maker who assembles each chronograph.

Courtesy of Siduna

And Francis Jacquerye, the designer who also happens to handle administration.  They are truly a dynamic duo.  And they do not do this from some idyllic Swiss workshop.  No, Siduna is based in what I have come to call the "Copenhagen / Malmo" metro area.  In Landskrona, Sweden, to be precise.
Currently, Siduna gives you the option to have a chronograph.  In fairness there are more options than just that.  You can have the standard Compax model, or the Flyback version.  In addition, there is a tuxedo version which Siduna refers to as "Harlequin".  

Courtesy of Siduna

Siduna offers a wonderful watch at a fair price.  No goofy promotional partnerships, no instafamous hucksters, no faux-friends of the brand.  

The watch world is full of brands that want to sell you something - a marketing partnership, a celebrity endorsement, a lifestyle.  In fairness, Siduna wants to sell you something as well -

A Watch.

Siduna - Too Small To Fail.

The Super KonTiki Chronograph

From Eterna -

Courtesy of Eterna

I joined a cult back in 2001.  It wasn't anything I planned.  I had just finished a particularly grueling dentist's appointment.  Not feeling too sharp, I wandered San Francisco's downtown and found

Ahoy, Panerai!

This is the Luminor 1950 Regatta 3 Days Chrono Flyback.

Courtesy of Panerai 

47 mm of brushed titanium goodness!

Something intriguing from Baume & Mercier

Okay, while my "rescue mission" Baume et Mercier Classima is in the "critical care" unit of watch repair, I thought I'd have a peek at what the new wave from Baume et Mercier has to offer.

Courtesy of Baume et Mercier

This is part of the current Capeland collection.

If you have not seen the Ken Burns documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright - I highly recommend it.  In it, Philip Johnson (of the Glass House) spoke about the beauty of the Johnson Wax building in Racine, Wisconsin.  And what I was struck by was the refusal to make something "average" just because it was an office building.  In a time where row after row of identical skyscrapers shot up like weeds, Wright went the other way.  And that same sort of refusal to abide mediocrity is what I feel when I look at this watch from Baume et Mercier.

I can imagine what a lot of marketing and sales meetings sound like in the watch industry - having sat in on numerous ones myself -

"We need a chronograph."
"We have a chronograph!"
"No, something sporty..."
"I know, we'll take model X, and give it a black dial, and a carbon fiber style strap!"
"Perfect!  How soon can it be ready?"
"No time at all, we just need to change the dials on model X!"

YAWN....

This is something completely different - and special.  A beautifully imagined bi-compax chronograph with a La Joux-Perret 8147-2 flyback self-winding movement.  A tachy-tele of the first order!  And in this case, although beauty is more than skin-deep, this is a watch in which the outer beauty matches the inner beauty.  Rather than just going down the line and slapping together components, this is clearly designed with the whole picture in mind.  The result is a beautifully balanced, timeless design.  This is a watch that will be handed down from generation to generation.

When I think of a watch like this, I am reminded that Baume et Mercier is not just the quiet, middle sister in a family of over-achievers (Panerai, JLC, IWC).  

Baume et Mercier has quite a bit to offer, and does so in a wonderfully refined way.

And for the details obsessed of you out there, here they are:

CASE

• Size: 

  44 mm
• Shape: 

   round
• Material: 

  steel
• Finishes: 

   polished/satin

  finished
• Crystal: 

  "chevée" shaped sapphire, antiglare treatment
• Case back: 

  sapphire crystal
• Thickness: 

  16.5 mm

MOVEMENT

• Movement: 

  manufacture, automatic, La Joux-Perret 8147-2
• Functions: 

  flyback chronograph, tachymeter, telemeter, date

  
  

  DIAL

  • Features: 

    off-white, Arabic numerals
  • Hands: 

    blued steel

  BRACELET

  • Material: 

    alligator
  • Color: 

     black
  • Clasp: 

     pin buckle

  OTHERS

  • Water-resistance: 

    5ATM (approx. 50m)

www.baume-et-mercier.com