Baume & Mercier was founded in 1830 as Frères Baume in Les Bois by brothers Louis-Victor Baume and Célestin Baume. A London branch named Baume Brothers was later established in 1851. The modern brand name was formed in 1918 after company director William Baume formed a partnership with Paul Mercier in Geneva.
As of 1988, Baume & Mercier has been under the ownership of Richemont Group alongside brands including Vacheron Constantin, Roger Dubuis, Panerai, A. Lange & Söhne, Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC Schaffhausen, and Cartier.
Cartier Ferrari Formula?
According to an article on Time+Tide, Baume & Mercier were likely to have been a manufacturer for the Cartier Ferrari Formula line.
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve has served as a brand ambassador for Baume & Mercier in the late 1990s. The Canadian driver’s first received mention on the Baume & Mercier website in a May 1997 “Flash News” post, months before securing his Formula 1 world title. “Having time for myself has become a real luxury” appears to have been a tagline that was also shared in a September post from the same year.
Jacques Villeneuve’s FW19 displayed at the Williams Conference Centre (Photo: by Morio, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
While there appears to be no record of a Jacques Villeneuve edition timepiece on record, the 1997 Formula 1 World Champion continued appearing in company news updates. A March 1998 post suggested that Villeneuve had promoted the Classima Chronograph.
One final mention came in June 1998, which included images from a photoshoot with French photographer Gérard Rancinan.
Related Pages
References
https://www.baume-et-mercier.com/en/the-maison/history.html
https://timeandtidewatches.com/ferrari-watch-collaborations/
https://web.archive.org/web/19991010003653/http://www.baume-et-mercier.com/news/archives/0597.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19991011063814/http://www.baume-et-mercier.com/news/archives/0997.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19991009022815/http://www.baume-et-mercier.com/news/archives/0398.html
https://web.archive.org/web/19991010093327/http://www.baume-et-mercier.com/news/archives/0698.html