New French-based watch brand Balmont makes its debut with the BDX watch collection, which offers an assortment of affordable everyday watches featuring steel cases, legible dials, leather straps, and automatic movements. In case you weren’t aware, BDX stands for Bordeaux, France, which is where the founders, Benjamin Chamfeuil, Aurelien Cram, and Ludovic Barrois, are based.

The 316L stainless steel cases of the Balmont BDX watches measure 40mm in diameter, 12mm thick, and 48mm lug-to-lug and include alternating brushed and polished finishes. They’re also fitted with slightly domed sapphire crystals (coated with anti-reflective treatment) and screw-down crowns, which play a role in the cases’ water-resistance rating of 200 meters.

Dial legibility is clearly the focus of the watches as illustrated by straightforward time-only layouts with a trio of hands at the center pointing to applied hour markers. The dials are ceramic coated while the luminous hands and indexes benefit from Super-LumiNova BGW9 for nighttime readability. Furthermore, the dial periphery is home to a seconds track that’s marked down to 1/5th of a second.

Powering the BDX watches is the Caliber Soprod P024 self-winding Swiss Made movement, operating at 28,800vph and supplying 38 hours of power reserve. The movement’s precision rate is -7/+7 seconds per day, and it is fitted with an Incabloc shock protection system for improved resistance to accidental impacts. The movement is visible via the sapphire caseback.

Balmont offers four versions of regular production BDX watches as well as a limited-edition one. There’s the BDX001 with a black dial and black leather strap, the BDX002 with a sunburst gray dial and gray suede strap, the BDX003 with a sunburst silver dial and tan strap, and the BDX004 with a white dial and green suede strap.

The limited edition version, labeled LAX001 features a black California-style dial (see what they did there? LAX and California, clever), characterized by Roman numerals on the top, Arabic numerals on the bottom, horizontal batons at 3, 6, and 9, and an inverted triangle at 12. Limited to only 100 examples, the Balmont LAX001 is paired with a cognac suede strap with Italian stitching. All five BDX references also come with an additional black fabric strap, and the drilled lug holes and provided tool come in handy for easier strap switching. All straps are mounted with stainless steel pin buckles, engraved with the Balmont logo.

The Balmont name may be new to the watch landscape but its founders aren’t. Benjamin is the founder of Vasco watches, Aurelien is the founder of Horel watch boutique and the French watch-focused YouTube channel Parlons Montre, and Ludovic is the founder of the French watch blog Le Petit Poussoir. The name Balmont is derived from the first letters of the founders’ names and the French word for watch. (B)+(A)+(L)+(MONT)RE.

The new Balmont BDX watches are priced at €790 Euros, including the limited edition LAX model, and you can sign up at Balmont’s website to be notified when the watches become available for sale. For more information about the new Balmont BDX watches, please visit the brand’s website.