Need for speed: Baume & Mercier makes a wearable Shelby Cobra

In the presence of a luxury timepiece, words like “It’s like wearing a car on your wrist” are not unlikely to be spoken, referring of course to the price of the watch, and how it’s worth a car — two cars, if you buy a tiny one, or maybe 18 pairs of sneakers. It seems, Swiss luxury watchmaker Baume & Mercier has caught a whiff of the ongoing analogy and decided to take it on a test drive: What if you can wear a car on your wrist? The 187-year-old brand that caters to “gentlesportsmen” chose not just any car, but a sexy one with a celebrated history of game-changing design and for beating time itself: the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe.

First, about the car. It was created in 1964 when Carrol Shelby wanted to beat Enzo Ferrari at Le Mans. He wanted a car that could beat the Ferrari 250 GTO, which can hold speeds of up tp 186 miles per hour. Shelby automotive designer Pete Brock designed a car that could go up to 190 miles per hour (or 310 km/hr) in just 90 days.

The Baume & Mercier watch created in its honor, the Clifton Club Shelby Cobra CSX2299 Flyback (after the chassis of the same number), was the second Coupe built and it clocked over 196 miles per hour (315 km/hr) at Le Mans in 1964, taking first place in the GT III Class. It was painted Guardsman Blue with two white stripes. Something of note, as Romain Lambert, managing director for Southeast Asia, said at the Baume & Mericer presentation in New World Hotel in Makati, the designer of the Shelby Cobra is still alive and he co-designed the watch with Baume et Mercier head designer Alexandre Peraldi to ensure its authenticity. The result is a watch that echoes the Shelby Cobra, from its bi-color face — white on the left and blue on the right — down to its push buttons, which look a lot like the car’s foot pedals. The red seconds hand bears the Cobra logo, designed by Brock himself. But perhaps its most fun feature is the oscillating weight. The rotor is designed after the Cobra wheels and is visible through the watch’s transparent caseback. It’s an automatic watch with a 42-hour power reserve. Only 196 pieces were made, to commemorate the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe’s record speed.

Available in the Philippines at Lucerne boutiques are equally handsome watches in the collection. If you like living on the fast lane, or just arriving fashionable on-time, there is the 1,964-piece limited-edition Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10343 has a 44mm dial with chronograph counters inspired by the Cobra’s dashboard, Daytona blue dial, oscillating weight, and carbon-like calfskin strap. The 1964-piece limited-edition Clifton Club Shelby Cobra 10342 comes with a sun satin-finished silver-colored dial, blue chronograph counters, an automatic movement featuring chronograph, tachymeter, day and date functions, and calfskin strap embossed with carbon fiberlike pattern.

Also presented were new pieces from Baume & Mercier’s best-selling Classima line, which features minimalist and elegant timepieces for men. Lambert says, “It’s for clients who want to buy their first Swiss luxury horology watch.” A timepiece from the 7th oldest watch maison in the world would not be a bad first pick, I’d say. Prices in this collection range from P50,000 to P80,000.

The Clifton Club line, apart from the Shelby Cobra collection, includes a wide range of timepieces for the “gentlesportsman”  — the surfers, the adventure seekers, the golfing enthusiasts. “It’s a classic, timeless line of elegant gentleman’s watches,” Lambert says. “Our motto is ‘Life is about moments.’ It’s about friendship.” He shows us a video of beautifully groomed men in the best fitting suits, James Dean hair (okay, James Franco), and not a beard strand out of place. They are having fun, driving topdowns and riding waves. If I were a man, it’s a club I’d want to be part of.  As for the watches, I imagine this would be an important feature for the stylish: Clifton Club watches are 10.3mm thick, which is very thin, making it fit well under suits without unsightly bunching, and are light enough for weekend sports and/or shenanigans. Watches in this collection range from P95,000 to P100,000.

For women, wew from the Promesse line is the Promesse ladies moon phase watch, 34mm dial with Swiss made quartz movement, a stainless steel case with 30 diamonds, a midnight blue dial with diamond set indexes, and blue alligator strap. The watch is actually slightly oval in shape, which just adds to its mystical aesthetic. Great for keeping track of those Clifton Club boys, observing the lunar cycle, or flashing elegantly at brunch.

* * *

Baume & Mercier is exclusively distributed in the Philippines by Lucerne.