>SHOP

keep my inbox inspiring

Sign up to our monthly newsletter for exclusive news and trends

Follow us on all channels

Start following us for more content, inspiration, news, trends and more

Baume & Mercier in conquest mode
Watches and Wonders

Baume & Mercier in conquest mode

Thursday, 01 October 2015
close
Editor Image
Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

“The desire to learn is the key to understanding.”

“Thirty years in journalism are a powerful stimulant for curiosity”.

Read More

CLOSE
3 min read

The brand is out to win over an Asian clientele and, in this 185th anniversary year, confirms its watchmaking expertise with technical tours de force that introduce an additional dimension to its collections, positioned in the entry-level luxury segment.

At Watches&Wonders in Hong Kong, Baume & Mercier has departed from its usual script to keep it simple. As often in these cases, in doing so it has raised more than a few eyebrows, even suspicions. And for good cause: the first timepiece to go on show was no less than the Clifton 1830 Pocket Watch Five-Minute Repeater in red gold with a Dubois Dépraz skeleton movement. It will be issued as a 30-piece limited edition for some fifteen times the average price of a Baume & Mercier watch. This is quite a leap for a brand that promotes its products as the perfect gift to celebrate one of life’s milestones, as many have pointed out, accusing Baume & Mercier of selling its soul to the complications devil!

It shows that Baume & Mercier has a command of watchmaking.
Alain Zimmermann

Baume & Mercier CEO Alain Zimmermann is unperturbed. “That old chestnut. I heard exactly the same comments when we presented our tourbillon, last year. It certainly isn’t by chance that we should propose such pieces, particularly in this, our 185th year of uninterrupted activity, and particularly in Asia. It shows that Baume & Mercier has a command of watchmaking that fully justifies its place in the Haute Horlogerie segment, even if we are resolutely positioned at entry-level. We don’t conceive these timepieces with a commercial goal. It pertains more to image transfer that will benefit our current collections and enhance our message. Let’s not forget that we are far less well-known in Asia than we are in Europe. In Asia we have to be in “conquest mode” to clearly define our territory and explain why we are very much a legitimate name. In Europe, it’s more a question of seduction.”

The importance of symbols

Just as Henri IV was prepared to convert in order to conquer the French throne, Baume & Mercier has been willing to make one or two adjustments to its ranges in order to win over Asia, particularly in its flagship collections of Clifton, Classima and Promesse (the latter, incidentally, previewed at last year’s Watches&Wonders). In addition to the aforementioned Five-Minute Repeater, the Clifton line, which is the most “technical” of the brand’s ranges, welcomes three models with a slate-coloured dial, presented with a complete calendar (Dubois Dépraz 9000 calibre), as a self-winding steel and gold model, and as a quartz version for women with a 30mm case. Classima, which stepped back into the spotlight at this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, is unexpectedly joined by two women’s models with self-winding movement, one in steel and gold and the other in steel and diamonds, and by two small complications for men, namely a moonphase and a dual time, both driven by a quartz movement. Does this mean Asian women are more receptive to the tick-tock of a watch than their male counterparts? “One should remember that these are line extensions,” explains Sandrine Danguy, Marketing Director for Baume & Mercier. “Also, the difference in price between mechanical and electronic movements can be of interest to someone, whether a man or a woman, who is more concerned with the features proposed than what powers them.”

Baume & Mercier Promesse automatic 30 mm

Along similar lines, the Promesse range for women embraces mechanical movements with two new styles, in steel or in steel and gold, with a mother-of-pearl dial embellished with diamond hour-markers. Promesse Jade, thus named for its jade bezel and manufactured as a limited edition of eight, rounds out Baume & Mercier’s strategy to capture Asian hearts. “This watch also takes us away from our core business,” concludes Sandrine Danguy. “It is doubly symbolic, for its jade, a symbol of good fortune in Asia, and as a symbol of our expertise.” Message received, loud and clear.

Back to Top