The Hampton Collection Evolves at Watches & Wonders
Baume & Mercier is a luxury watchmaking brand known for its sophisticated designs, technical mastery, and creative approach to timekeeping. The brand's Hampton Collection, launched in 1994, is an embodiment of its design philosophy and has been synonymous with elegance and precision ever since. The rectangular-shaped watches, inspired by the Art Deco style of the 1920s, symbolize the perfect balance between form and function and exhibit the brand's unwavering commitment to Swiss watchmaking savoir-faire.
The brand's founder, Paul Mercier, was a visionary artist who revolutionized the steel-shaped watch and partnered with watchmaker William Baume in 1918 to establish the brand. Mercier's artistic watchmaking approach and legacy have lived on, as his successors continue to carry on the work that he began. They have maintained the brand's reputation for creating watches that are not only precise and reliable but also unique in their design and aesthetic appeal.
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Baume & Mercier's latest offering of the Hampton Collection features three new models, each displaying the brand's identity through their luminous dials. The first model, Hampton 10732, is a self-winding version that boasts a sun-satin opaline blue dial. The dial is adorned with rhodium-plated, riveted Arabic numerals, hour indexes, and a black minute track. The “glaive” hands are also rhodium-plated. The rectangular case, measuring 43 x 27.5 mm, is crafted in polished stainless steel and has a scratch-resistant domed sapphire crystal. It is mounted on a blue alligator strap with tone-on-tone over stitching and a triple folding buckle with security push-pieces. The watch displays the hours, minutes, and seconds and is powered by a self-winding movement with exquisite finishes. It offers a 38-hour power reserve and water resistance to 5 ATM.
The second model, Hampton 10709, is a ladies' version that has a gem-set midnight blue dial, giving it an elegant look suitable for a gala celebration. The sophisticated dial is adorned with rhodium-plated indexes set with four brilliant-cut diamonds (Top Wesselton diamonds, VS quality, 0.01 ct) at 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock, as well as rhodium-plated “glaive” hands. The minute track is blue. The rectangular case, measuring 35 x 22.2 mm, is crafted in polished stainless steel and set with 28 brilliant-cut diamonds (Top Wesselton, VS quality, 0.35 ct) gracefully aligned on either side of the watch face.
The final model in this new offering is the Hampton 10740. Both uniform and contrasting, featuring subtle alternations of steel, grey and white in polished satin-finished surfaces, this Hampton expresses understated elegance. The rectangular motif of this watch appears again in the dial, stretching from one end to the other of the rhodium-plated "glaive" hands. The opaline white that delicately adorns the dial highlights each detail of this aesthetic graphic composition. This Hampton is 43 x 27.5 mm with a thickness of 8.65 mm and it is protected by a scratch-resistant domed sapphire crystal. The solid case back is fastened with four screws and may be engraved This model displays the hours and minutes and is powered by a quartz movement with an eight-year autonomy. It is water resistant to 5 ATM (approx. 50m).
