World News

FINE WATCHMAKING, A LEGACY FOR TOMORROW

Franco Cologni, President of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

In this early twenty-first century, Fine Watchmaking stands as a cultural and artistic exception: stemming from technical inventions and aesthetic creations dating back over six or seven hundred years, and drawing on a fabulous history and the brilliant minds that have brought countless refinements, it seems more radiant, more triumphant than ever.

Spanning the applied or “decorative„ arts and techniques, Fine Watch-making brings a little extra soul to our contemporary world. It embodies a culture that is the stuff of dreams. Fine Watchmaking is also a unique concentration of expertise, an astonishing alchemy that draws on the hand, the head and the heart. And while it takes its strength from its origins and traditions, it has always looked to the future through aesthetic and technical innovation. It is both timeless and contemporary precisely because it must anticipate or follow the spirit of the times.

This is our proud inheritance, and one that we intend to diffuse, strengthen and develop. But this can be a fragile inheritance too. Think, for example, of future generations: will they continue to appreciate the values upon which Fine Watchmaking has been built, and the art of living that inspires it? Most importantly, time is an Art…

Today more than ever, immense opportunities lie before us to ensure that Fine Watchmaking will enjoy even greater prominence and renown.

Franco Cologni

Frédérique Constant

Since last October Shu Qi, the Taiwanese-born movie star & glamorous personality, has been the Frédérique Constant Brand Ambassador for the Ladies Collections in Greater China. Appointing Shu Qi as our spokes person accelerated the successful development of Frédérique Constant in the area. She has endorsed Frédérique Constant in a way that perfectly matches the brand’s image and values. Moreover, through the new advertising campaign, Shu Qi has supported the Charity Campaign of the brand in China, in close cooperation with the Beijing Children’s Hospital and the Paint a Smile Foundation.

In line with the global Frédérique Constant Charity Campaign, for each Ladies Heart Beat watch sold in China, Frédérique Constant makes a donation to the Paint a Smile Foundation to help finance their first project in China. Paint a Smile’s mission is to reduce anxiety and to de-dramatise a hospital stay by permanently transforming cold and impersonal environments into colourful and welcoming worlds. Since 2000, Paint a Smile has achieved its mission all over the world.

On August 26th the relationship between Shu Qi, Paint a Smile and Frédérique Constant will be celebrated during a glamorous event in Beijing, China. Shu Qi will join the team of Smile Painters and partake in creating a positive and healing environment for the children at the Beijing Children’s Hospital. The aim is to emphasize through Paint a Smile’s action the fact that hospitals care not just about medicine and treatment, but also about environment and spirit. Moreover, the young patients get to meet a big star!

Frédérique Constant is proud to be part of this first project in China, together with the Paint a Smile Foundation. The founder, Mrs. Laura Cotton was the winner of the Frédérique Constant Passion Awards in 2008 in Geneva.

Our wish is that the Beijing Children’s Hospital’s collaboration with Paint a Smile becomes a role model for other hospitals in China.

BAUME & MERCIER

Baume & Mercier & Me, the slogan adopted by the Swiss watch brand Baume & Mercier, is embodied this year by two cine personalities with which it shares many similarities: internationally recognized, while remaining totally authentic and profoundly human.

Actress Evangeline Lilly (Lost) and actor David Duchovny (X-Files) are associating with the fourth edition of the Baume & Mercier & Me campaign, representing the Geneva-based brand in order to join it in supporting charity projects. All royalties for the two celebrities, as well as those of photographers Michael O’Neill and Markus Klinko & Indrani who shot their portraits, are donated to charities selected in cooperation with Evangeline Lilly and David Duchovny. The causes supported by this campaign include cancer research, child education, helping underprivileged women and the struggle against poverty

This campaign enables Baume & Mercier to convey, in an authentically committed manner, the three values forming the essence of its brand identity: proximity, authenticity and creativity.