At the beginning of the 1920s, the company director William Baume joined forces with Paul Mercier. Together, they founded Baume & Mercier, Genève, in 1918. The firm soon became one of the most active in the field of wristwatches by offering remarkably balanced special-shaped models. In 1919, it was awarded the highest international distinction of the time in the shape of the “Poinçon de Genève” quality hallmark. During the Roaring Twenties and throughout the Art Deco period, the brand established its style and left an indelible mark on watch design. Paul Mercier knew that it was essential for the brand to live in step with its time and embrace change. The firm grasped the importance of women’s emancipation and came to regard their desires as an unquenchable source of inspiration.

In the late 1940s, Baume & Mercier launched one of its most successful models: the Marquise. Impelled by this creative momentum, the brand creates a number of exquisitely creative and amazingly modern ladies’ watches. It thereby proved that watches for women are not merely miniaturized and simplistic interpretations of masculine models. At the same time, Baume & Mercier was becoming known among a public looking for new products, and launched its first innovatively shaped wristwatches. These chic, urban watches kept step with life’s many special moments by embodying an art of living instilled with inimitable elegance.