BAUME & MERCIER @ CLIFTON Collection

BAUME & MERCIER Clifton Collection is resolutely modern, resolutely traditional. The new Baume & Mercier Clifton collection is inspired by a timepiece from the 1950s, a period considered by experts as the golden age of the wristwatch. The collection – urban, classic, visually attractive and technically accomplished – testifies to an age-old watchmaking expertise, while casting its wearers in the role of enlightened aficionados, proud of their taste and confident of their success.

The Clifton line, with its gentlemanly resonance, sets an elegant tone. Created for the international players of the world’s great cities in search of a prominent and intensely masculine timepiece, this refined collection uses round and refined shapes to create a paradigm of chic urban style and is given life solely by a high-end automatic mechanical movement. It is designed to serve the cause of exclusivity with a view to satisfying the expertise of demanding amateurs.

 Founded in 1830 in the village of Les Bois in the heart of the Swiss Jura, the Baume & Mercier Maison has been committed for the past 182 years to excellence in the measurement of time. Its watches are designed to satisfy the requirements of men

and women whose most heartfelt desire is to cherish the great

moments of their lives. Forever.

 

Driven by the visionary spirit of its founders, the brothers Louis-Victor and Célestin Baume inspired by the motto «accept only perfection; produce only watches of the highest quality», the Maison set out very early on to conquer the world. A branch was opened in London in 1851 under the name «Baume Bros.», and another in 1876 in Philadelphia, USA. Success followed swiftly and the Maison’s watchmaking creations, which proved popular with the highest European watch authorities, were soon spotted throughout the British Empire, from India to Burma via Singapore and even – incredibly for the time – in fledgling markets such as Australia or New Zealand as early as 1852.

The Maison, renamed Baume & Mercier in 1918 following the arrival of Paul Mercier, boasts a rich heritage of horological creations which have left a lasting impression, such as the tourbillon stopwatch of 1892, the record-holder for absolute accuracy for 10 years. The aim has always been to combine lifestyle and elegance through contemporary creations, in natural harmony with the world of all who entrust their watches with the task of

charting time.

In 1920-1930, the watchmaking Maison, inspired by the creative vision of Paul Mercier, stood out for the clean and timeless lines of its unfailingly contemporary watches, but also for the number of mechanical calibers in circulation, all stamped with the Geneva Seal – a distinction guaranteeing the highest quality workmanship.

During the 1950s and 60s, this spirit of perfectionism led Baume & Mercier to create watchmaking instruments, whose lines, based on the gold number symbolised by the Greek letter phi – the Baume & Mercier logo since 1964 – naturally resurface in the contemporary collections.

2011 saw Baume & Mercier enter a new phase in its history by forming a special partnership with the concept of «life’s precious moments.» In connection with its new advertising campaign, featuring the unique lifestyle that local residents in the Hamptons commonly refer to as «seaside living», the Swiss watchmaker, which joined the Richemont Group in 1988 and has been led since 2009 by Alain Zimmermann, thoroughly reinterpreted its collections, inspired not only by this vision but also by market realities.

While Baume & Mercier has opted to make this lifestyle, so typical of the East Coast of the USA, its communication theme of choice, the Maison also endows its creation with a more urban dimension, tapping into its roots in order to create emblematic products from the «golden fifties». What aura could be more suited to customers searching for the watch most likely to convey the best image of themselves? The Clifton collection, the fruit of Baume & Mercier’s history and a response to such expectations, set out to encapsulate both the dynamism of that golden era and the elan of the world’s greatest cities.