Pushing the limits
Alexandre Peraldi, Baume & Mercier’s Design Director describes this year’s high-octane collaboration with Indian Motorcycle as a confluence of minds. “After our Shelby Cobra experience, we wanted to find an automotive partner who could intersect the line between competitive and vintage,” Peraldi says, noting that his own team possesses a couple of members who originate from automotive design.
Rather fortuitously, Indian Motorcycle, which is the first motorcycle company founded in America, was also nursing the same idea of partnering with Baume & Mercier – one of the most foremost wristwatch brands in the United States. Together, they offered design input into each other’s product lines. “We offered some ideas for the seat on the motorbike, and they provided us with ideas for the case,” Peraldi says, noting that the high-level cooperation is poised to be even more amazing.
As a starter to this brand collaboration, the Clifton Club Indian Burt Munro Tribute 1967 Limited Edition is one of three collaborative wristwatch projects unfurled for 2018. A 44mm case of stainless steel is adorned by Burt Munro’s lucky number on a yellow seconds counter. Munro, who personally modified his Indian motorbike and went on to set three land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats, is also commemorated through 1,967 limited editions, the year in which he made a one-way run at 305.89 km/h – the fastest-ever speed recorded on an Indian.
