Baume & Mercier : Promesse, beyond words

The brand’s very first feminine watch was created in 1869 by Louis-Victor Baume for his daughter Mélina, whom he gifted an adorable gold pocket watch. Since then, the private collection of ladies’ watches belonging to the Baume & Mercier Museum has grown considerably. All shapes, sizes, every decade of the 20th century and all metals, either polished or richly set with gems, are represented. This means that the heritage available to the design department is a virtually inexhaustible source of inspiration. The Art Deco style in particular has had a lasting impact on the brand’s designers. Tinged with a Seventies mood yet inherently timeless, the new Promesse collection immediately catches the eye by the symbiotic combination of shapes : the oval bezel topping the round case appears to be winking at the woman wearing it. This geometrical originality merges seamlessly into the center of a bracelet featuring harmoniously designed links adding a sensual touch to the wearing of this watch. This wave rippling across the water, scintillating in certain versions with 30 to 61 diamonds, is the common thread running through the 14 variations of this 2014 new launch. Gem-set bezel or case, all-steel or accompanied by pink gold, with or without diamond hour-markers sprinkled across the silver-toned dial featuring a “drapé” guilloché decor or enhanced by a shimmering mother-of-pearl dial, as well as choose of steel or two-tone bracelets or a leather strap. According to personal choice, the beating heart of Promesse is a quartz caliber or a mechanical self-winding movement revealing its mesmerizing to-and-fro motion through the sapphire crystal back of the case that is itself available in two sizes. There are plenty of big or small occasions on which to gift someone or treat oneself to such a delightful little horological gem. Especially during the festive season.

 

Promesse

Case : polished steel or two-tone polished/satin-finished, transparent sapphire caseback, water-resistant to 50m Diameter : 30 or 34mm Movement : mechanical self-winding (ETA3892-A2, 42h power reserve), circular-grained bridges, oscillating weight adorned with “Côtes de Genève”. Or quartz Functions : hours, minutes Dial : draped mother-of-pearl decor  or silver-toned with “drapé” guilloché decor Bracelet : steel or two-tone polished/satin-finished, triple folding clasp with security push-pieces

 

Brice Lechevalier is editor-in-chief of GMT and Skippers, which he co-founded in 2000 and 2001 respectively. He has also been CEO of WorldTempus since it joined the GMT Publishing stable, of which he is director and joint shareholder. In 2012 he created the Geneva Watch Tour, and he has been an advisor to the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève since 2011. Also closely involved in sailing, he has published the magazine of the Société Nautique de Genève since 2003, and was one of the founders of the SUI Sailing Awards in 2009 and the Concours d’Elégance for motor boats at the Cannes Yachting Festival in 2015.

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