Baume & Mercier unveiled the new Clifton Club
collection — a sporty offshoot of its Clifton line of men’s dress
watches — at SIHH 2017. The undisputed showpiece of the new collection
is the Clifton Club Shelby Cobra CSX2299 Limited Edition — the latest
timepiece borne of the brand’s partnership with the Carroll Shelby
Company and the first to debut within the Clifton family.
The Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra Limited Edition
draws its inspiration from the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe (CSX2299), one
of the most iconic cars in the history of American motorsports. The
Daytona Coupe (pictured below, at SIHH) was the first American car to
win, in 1964, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and brought America its first GT
class World Sportscar Championship in 1965. After subsequently setting
25 USAC/FIA world speed records at the Bonneville salt flats, the
Daytona Coupe was retired from racing; the original six models are now
worth several million dollars each, and their curved, streamlined
bodies, flat roofs and chopped tails have influenced automobile design
ever since.
Fifty years after developing the Daytona Coupe with Carroll Shelby,
legendary automotive designer Peter Brock collaborated with Baume &
Mercier’s watch design team to create the look of the new timepiece,
even returning to his original sketches for inspiration. The result is
this distinctive chronograph bearing the half-black, half-silver color
scheme of the traditional Shelby livery used for the car’s tail, limited
to 196 pieces (in honor of the 196-mph land speed record achieved by
the Daytona Coupe at Le Mans in 1964).
The watch contains an automatic mechanical movement, La Joux-Perret
Caliber 8147-2, which is equipped with a flyback chronograph function.
The 44-mm case combines titanium with polished stainless steel and
features sweeping lines echoing the revolutionary, aerodynamic lines of
the Daytona Coupe. The two-tone dial is ringed by Arabic hour numerals
and a tachymeter scale (with red text used to highlight the
record-setting 196-mph position). Chronograph minutes and running
seconds are tallied on two snailed subdials at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock,
and the central red chronograph hand is topped by the Shelby Cobra logo
(also created by Brock). The hour and minute hands are treated with
Super-LumiNova C1 blue emission for nighttime legibility.
Other details that evoke the look and spirit of the classic Daytona
Coupe include the foot-pedal-shaped chronograph pushers; a Cobra
insignia forged into the caseband, a tribute to the powerful Cobra 289
engine that powered the Daytona; and the movement’s winding rotor, which
echoes the shape of the Daytona’s wheel rims. Visible through a
sapphire caseback, the movement has a 28,800-vph frequency and a 42-hour
power reserve, and is decorated with circular graining on the bridges
and plates. The watch comes on a blue “automotive carbon-like” calfskin
strap with rubberized soft-touch lining and red contrast stitching.
The Baume & Mercier Clifton Club Shelby Cobra CSX2299 is packaged
in a special black and silver box, accompanied by a collectible 1:43
scale model of the original car, a card signed by Brock, and a custom
brochure detailing the history of the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. The
price is $7,950.
We got our hands on the watch at SIHH 2017 last week. Scroll down to see some live photos.
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