Horological Meandering

ThomasM
[PuristS]
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Baume et Mercier Capeland 44mm Flyback Chronograph - What a lovely blue!

You can own a watch for a long time but you don't really appreciate it until you spend some time with it on the wrist. This is so true of the Baume&Mercier Capeland Flyback Chrono.

At 44mm I expected it to wear like a tuna can on the wrist, so it got very little wrist time despite having a gorgeous retro-technical dial with both telemetric scales and a snailed tachymetric scale as well. The overall effect is so techno-cool, I have flights of fantasy of being an artillery man in some exotic foreign legion, or maybe a timing specialist for a world record speed run on the salt flats, with a thunder storm looming on the horizon...




For various reasons, I ended up having the Capeland Flyback Chrono on the wrist yesterday while wandering the streets near the Pacific Ocean, rushing to a meeting...

Have you heard about "distracted driving?" That usually refers to texting while driving, which is illegal in several states and rightly so.

With the fascinatingly complicated white dial and the stunning blue hands, I started to worry about getting arrested for "distracted walking."



but seriously, walking and staring at your watch on busy seaside streets can indeed be dangerous!

One thing that always left me wondering, a bit conflicted, as beautiful as the dial and hands are, was the movement -

Yes it's "just" a Valjoux cal. 7750 - not a bad thing despite its ubiquity; it is ubiquitous because it is a tractor movement - robust, reliable, can be adjusted to and hold chronometer levels of accuracy, and reasonably priced - but usually with a fairly stiff, slightly rough chrono pusher feel.

So I was always curious why the Baume et Mercier 44mm Capeland execution had such a nice start stop chrono pusher feel. And of course that nice flyback functionaity...

In fact the movement is not exactly a Valjoux 7750 but one BASED on a 7750 - the La Joux Perret cal 8147-2.

Flyback
improved start stop haptics
COSC chronometer level performance (in fact on mine even if not so certified)

The only downside?

The strap is a bit narrow for the case. This reminds me of the old Eberhard 8 Days; there is a certain vintage times look and feel to these proportions and I guess it is up to personal taste whether one likes it or not. It is consistent with the overall retro-vintage aesthetic of the watch - the nail head pushers, large demi-onion crown, techno-scientific dial, and blued pomme hands.

The other weakness, for me, is the lack of a 12 hour counter. I see why it was dropped - a third sub-dial really would have made the already busy dial TOO busy.

Still, I need an hour register for truly useful chronograph timings.

You know the saying "You can tell someone is a true watch enthusiast because they're the ones who keep staring at their watch but never know what time it is."

Well, that's true of me and this watch, except that it is so legible despite all that is going on on the dial, that I also do register the time, even subliminally...I guess the size, length and shape of the hands; and that incredible blue on the white background - not only beautiful, but functional too.

What more can you ask for?




Perfect to time when to order the next Sunday Bloody Mary



TM