subject: Baume & Mercier Luxury Watches History [print this page] Baume & Mercier has a rich history in tradition of Swiss watchmaking, now over 170 years. In 1830, brothers Louis Victor and Pierre-Joseph-Celestin Baume established the Baume Freres Watch firm in the Swiss Jura place, the heart of the Swiss watchmaking industry.
From the start, the purpose of the Frres Baume company was to make high-quality traditional watches enriched by different technological breakthroughs of the era. The Baume family were equally innovative commercially, when one of the two brothers, Joseph-Clestin, set up a branch in London named Baume Brothers. Baume Brothers rapidly expanded throughout the British Empire, from India through Singapore and Burma to Africa, and also became a pioneer in selling watches in emerging markets such as Australia and New Zealand.
By 1876, when the second generation took over, Frres Baume had already acquired a solid international reputation for its simple watches, chronographs and Grand Complication models, including minute repeaters, calendars and tourbillons. The company management was again shared by two brothers, sons of the co-founder, Louis-Victor. Alcide Baume was in charge of production in Les Bois, while Arthur Baume was based in London and handled international marketing. The company soon set up branches in Geneva, Switzerlandand Philadelphia, in the United States.
The end of World War I in 1918 brought sweeping changes in industry, the arts, and society in general. Womens emancipation led them to wear jewelry watches as brooches, long necklaces or on the wrist, a trend made possible by the miniaturization of watch movements.
After proving its use in a military context, the wristwatch progressively took over from the pocket watch as the masculine timepiece of choice.
Baume witnessed the emergence of a new generation, and the young William Baume, a grandson of the founder, a great visionary and an accomplished watchmaker, was eager to take advantage of the new opportunities afforded by the ebullient mood of the era. He decided to partner with a colorful figure named Tchereditchenko, who subsequently adopted his French mothers family name and became known as Paul Mercier.
Despite their very different yet complementary temperaments, the two men, shared the same vision of contemporary watchmaking, and decided to join forces in 1918 to create Baume & Mercier.
The contrast of the rigorous, precise Baume with the artistic, free thinking Mercier fused form and function to create the traditions of perfection, quality, and luxury that still exist today.
In 1964, in order to reinforce its brand identification, Baume & Mercier chose the Greek symbol PHI as its new visual brand emblem.
Considered since Antiquity to be a symbol of the golden ratio and Leonard de Vinci's theory of proportion, it represents aesthetic elegance determined by "divine proportions" that remain the brand's cardinal values. the PHI appeared from then on as the Baume & Mercier logo on all its watch dials.
It was from this time onwards that Baume & Mercier acquired its status as an affordable luxury brand, a positioning it continues to uphold.
The brand also accentuated its avant-garde, innovative approach, especially during the 1970s.
in 1988 the destiny of Baume & Mercier took a new turn when the luxury group that would later on become Richemont bought up both Piaget and Baume & Mercier.
Within the Richemont Group, Baume & Mercier acquired newfound independence and renewed vitality.
The brand displayed noteworthy creativity, introducing a wave of models in its jewelry, classic and sports watch ranges: Catwalk (1997) revived the cuff-watch; Capeland (1998) played the adventurer; and Hampton (1994) became a classic rectangular steel watch and the brands new flagship model.
In 2002, Baume & Mercier took a extra step towards autonomy by opening its own workshops in Les Brenets, in the Swiss Jura.
This represented a authentic return to roots in more then one way: a return to production in the Jura, the cradle of the Baume company (although the Baume & Mercier headquarters remained in Geneva), and a return to a production mode known as tablissage (or project management) and used by the Frres Baume throughout the 19th century, but combined with a full set of modern advantages.
The company continued along its successful path with new models such as Classima Executives, Diamant, ila, as well as the Haute Horlogerie William Baume collections, and a number of sporting and sophisticated models interpreted in Riviera or Hampton versions.
Loyal as ever to its origins, Baume & Mercier continues to provide a variety of authentic timepieces with a contemporary feel, that embody the attention to detail, the excellent standards, and the respect for the rules of fine craftsmanship on which the company has built its global reputation since 1830.
The designers at Baume & Mercier make use of the goldmine of the company's over 175 years of watch-making history--from the oval of a crown to the graphics of a dial--to make the aesthetic contours of new timepieces. Inspired by a rectangular pink gold watch introduced by Baume & Mercier in 1960, the signature Hampton line of watches was created as a blend of watchmaking tradition and contemporary design. And the company still lives by the original slogan of the Baume brothers when they started Baume Freres: "Accept only perfection, only manufacture watches of the highest quality."
