The History of Baume et Mercier

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Personality, elegance and precision is what has classified Baume et Mercier watches since its beginning in 1830. After more than 170 years of creative and distinguishable watch making, the company continues to modernize its watches and appeal to the public. Every year there are a plethora of stylish watches available for men and women with several different models to choose from.

It all started when Louis Victor and Pierre-Joseph-Celestin Baume found the "Freres Baume" trading entity in the Les Bois Village in 1830, which lies within the Swiss Jura Mountains. From there a dynasty took off among this family that had already been making watches for several years.

In 1834, members of the Baume family founded the Societe Baume Feres in Le Bois. At first the family targeted enameled pocket watches, but it soon branched off into a large company with great diversity. In 1844, Joseph Celestin Baume traveled to England to set up business relations. It was this trip that helped diversify the company and spread their watches across Europe. Soon after, watches signed "Waterloo," "Diviko" and "Sirdar" opened markets in Australia and New Zealand.

In the early 1880's the second generation of the family headed the company into more modernized watches. Louis-Victor's son, Alcide Eugene headed the Swiss firm while Alcide's brother, Arthur Joseph was managing the London branch. Their elegance and precision was rewarded in 1893 as their watches won the timing competitions at the Kew- Teddington Observatory. The watches scored 91.3 out of 100 possible.

The turn of the century saw new and exciting things for the company beginning in 1912. It was in 1912 that William Baume met the watchmaker and jeweler Paul Mercier at the Geneva watch and jewelry shop in Haas. This meeting between the two would eventually lead to a signing for the establishment of Baume and Mercier in Geneva on November 26, 1918.

The agreement amongst the two proved to be an extremely smart and successful one in years to come. Just three years later in 1921 the company was rewarded again, this time by the coveted Poincon de Geneve, which was the official recognition of flawless quality products.

After World War II the company shifted its focus to conventional men's watches, chronographs and ladies' jewelry watches. In 1965 the Piaget family took control over Baume et Mercier outbidding international competition and that same year the new owners switched to electronic tuning fork movements.

Currently, Baume et Mercier just opened a store in Switzerland in 2004 and has made a name for itself as a trendsetter. Continuous production and modernization in watches such as the Riviera, which was released in 1980, has kept the company alive and strong over 170 years later.