There is something deeply interconnected about love and beauty and the passage of time. We have seen this captured for centuries in written and spoken words like poetry. Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet 18 reads, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate: / Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, / And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;” Here, time is finite with its beginning and end, and love and beauty live on forever.
These exact concepts are what watchmakers have been contemplating for centuries – how to make the beauty of a design endure through passing trends over time or how to keep the love and adoration of these timekeepers last through new generations in an everchanging world. Particularly for brands with histories spanning centuries, negotiating the concepts of beauty, love, and, of course, time is essential to their own success and longevity. Baume & Mercier is one such brand, inching closer to its incredible 200th anniversary, and with that, we have seen the Maison place renewed emphasis on its core collections, like the Riviera, Clifton, and Hampton.
The Bridge from Past to Future
In 2023, the Riviera celebrated its 50th birthday, and in the past few years since, we have seen Baume & Mercier continue to evolve this collection. The Riviera was born during the dawn of the luxury sport watch in 1973, following in the footsteps of models like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in 1972. The design of the luxury sport watch marked an important time in watchmaking history, bridging the more traditional styles of the pre-quartz era with something embracing a more contemporary vison for the future.
In the five decades since its initial introduction, the Riviera has taken many forms. Some have leaned more masculine and definitively sporty with modern oversized cases while others have taken on a more feminine feel with colorful dials, more modest sizing, and the addition of gem setting. In each beautiful form, the collection continues to be an anchor to the brand’s past while simultaneously propelling it forward.
Icons of Time in the Making
Although the Clifton and Hampton joined Baume & Mercier’s catalog more recently, they too transcend time with roots tracing back decades prior and bringing those historic design elements into the present. The Clifton draws from the quintessential dress watches of the 1950s while the Hampton pulls from the instantly recognizable ethos of the Art Deco period of the 1930s.
As Baume & Mercier continues of evolve each of its core lines over time, we see a push and pull in both versatility and universality. The brand’s design approach is inclusive, considering every wrist in terms of the variety of metals, movements, and colors. At the heart of each collection is specific care when it comes to proportion, from the case size to its thickness and even its integration into the strap or bracelet. This attention to detail directly translates to the love and beauty of the original wearer’s experience and those the watch is passed on to over time.
