Baume & Company

Copyright © David Boettcher 2005 - 2023 all rights reserved.

Baume & Company was founded in 1844 as the London branch of the Swiss company Baume Frères, a watch manufacturer based in the village of Les Bois in the Jura Mountains. Although the Swiss and British companies were separate legal entities they remained closely connected.

In addition to watches manufactured by the Swiss parent company, Baume & Company imported watches from other Swiss manufacturers. In 1876 Baume & Company became the exclusive importers of Longines watches into Britain and the British Empire, a role which they held until the mid 1960s. However, it is important to note that not all watches imported by Baume during this period were made by Longines.

In 1888 Baume & Company, under the direction of Arthur Baume, opened a watch factory in Coventry. Next to nothing is known about this business except that after one year in operation the whole Coventry workforce, staff members from the London office, and Arthur Baume the managing director, had a day outing and slap up evening meal in celebration.

In 1909 Baume Frères took over an existing watch manufacturer in La Chaux-de-Fonds, in which factory they manufactured watches under the name “Baume”. Watches from this factory were imported into Britain by Baume & Company until the 1960s. The movements of these watches were made by Fontainemelon and other Swiss ébauche manufacturers.

In 1918 William Baume left the Baume family business to set up his own company in Geneva. In March 1919 he was joined by a friend, Paul Tcherednitchenko, a Ukrainian who had adopted the name Mercier, and they formed Baume & Mercier. There was no commercial or business connection between Baume Frères or Baume & Company and Baume & Mercier other than that William was a family member who once worked for Baume Frères; in fact, there appears to have been considerable animosity between the two separate branches of the family.

Baume & Company owned the rights to the Baume name in Britain, which they had registered as a trademark. Because of this they were able to prevent Baume & Mercier from marketing or selling watches branded Baume & Mercier in Britain. This continued until Baume & Co. ceased trading in the mid 1960s. This left the field clear for Baume & Mercier to begin selling their watches in Britain, which they began to do in circa 1968.

History of the Company

In 1834, two Baume brothers, Louis Victor (? - 1887) and Pierre Joseph Célestin (1819 - 1894), founded the company Baume Frères (Baume Brothers) in Les Bois. The Baume family tree reproduced here shows the brothers descent from the Baume family of Les Bois, and how they are related to the other players in the story. The dates given are for their roles as directors at Les Bois and London.

The business was conducted from the family house in Les Bois; there was no factory as such. Watches were made by the établissage method; materials, blanks or rough parts were delivered to “out workers” in their homes, and finished parts collected and assembled into watches. At least, that is how the process is usually described.

In fact, I think that the Swiss system at the time was similar to the English system of watchmaking, also called finishing. A rough movement was obtained by the English watchmaker (or Swiss établisseur), which was then passed around to various specialists who performed the jewelling, added the balance and escapement, did the engraving and gilding, added dial and hands, and then a case, until the watch was complete. The watchmaker or établisseur was the person who controlled and organised the process, supplying the capital to purchase the rough movements and pay the out workers, and then selling the finished watches.

The Baume brothers are said to have insisted on high quality, they trained the first workers themselves, and for a time inspected each watch. However, although they may have been well made, the watches were not at first very technically advanced. Many extant nineteenth century movements signed “Baume Geneve” and “B&L” (for Baume & Lézard, the name of the English branch between 1852 and 1872) have cylinder escapements and the train bearings are not jewelled. Although capable of quite good timekeeping, these were dated technology compared with lever escapement movements.

Although the base of operations was Les Bois, this is a tiny hamlet even today and one wonders whether the house really was an établissment for the assembly of watches, or whether it was an office for trading Geneva made watches? However, I notice that in 1889 Clémence Frères also had a factory in Les Bois, giving their telegraphic address as “Les-Bois, London.”

The company developed rapidly over its first ten years and two more brothers joined the business, Célestin Auguste Félicien Baume (1820) and Joseph Eugène Baume (1822).

Ten years after the founding of the company, the Baume brothers decided to stop using export agents and to set up their own overseas sales organisation. The choice was between Paris or London as a base, and London was chosen because it was starting to outstrip Paris in international trade.

In 1844, Pierre Joseph Célestin Baume founded a company in Clerkenwell, London. As well as the market in Britain, this opened up the whole of the British Empire to Baume's watches. The English and Swiss companies were separate legal entities from the start, although of course there were strong family bonds.

Pierre Joseph Célestin settled in England, adopting an English spelling of his name, Celestin, married an English woman, Elizabeth, and became a naturalised British subject. He was elected a member of the Society for Arts in 1861 and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1863. He was one of the founders of the French Hospital for foreigners in London, which was opened in 1867, with which he remained intimately connected for the rest of his life.

Baume & Lézard

Célestin Baume was joined in the London company by a partner Joseph Lézard (1811 - ?) and they traded under the style of Baume & Lezard, manufacturers and importers of Geneva watches.

Joseph Lézard was born on the continent (in census' his place of birth is given variously as Belgium, Luxembourg and France) but settled in England and became a naturalised British subject. In the 1851 census he is 39 years old with wife Zephirine and five children aged between 12 and 4.

The 1851 Census has Celestin Baume residing as a lodger at 9 Lower Ashby Street in the parish of Saint James, Clerkenwell. Lower Ashby Street, leading into Northampton Square, was renamed Wyclif Street in 1935.

The Post Office London directory for 1852 lists:

• Baume Bros, Geneva watch importers, 9 Lower Ashby Street, Northampton Square.
• Baume & Lezard, Geneva watch manufacturers, 75 Hatton Garden

This suggests that from 1844, Celestin Baume was trading under the name of Baume Brothers from his lodgings in Ashby Street. He would no doubt have visited high street jewellers with samples of watches and taken orders from them which were sent to Switzerland. When the partnership of Baume & Lezard was formed in 1852, Celestin's room or rooms at Ashby Street were not a suitable place of business, so the partnership took an office at 75 Hatton Garden.

Imported watch movements from the period of the partnership are signed “Baume Geneve” and “B&L” for the London partnership Baume & Lézard, indicating how significant the British market had become to the company. It is notable that they are not signed Les Bois.

In 1852 Baume & Lezard began exporting watches to Australia and New Zealand, an activity that was easier from London than Switzerland because of the large number of ships regularly passing between Britain, Australia and New Zealand, and because watches imported from Switzerland to Britain could be sent on to those countries without any further customs checks or duties.

In 1852 the address of Baume & Lezard was 75 Hatton Gardens. Baume & Lezard exhibited watches at the International Exhibition of 1862. In 1863 they were listed at 21 Hatton Gardens.

The partnership of Baume & Lezard was dissolved on 25 March 1872. Lezard went into partnership with his son Edward Joseph Lezard, trading as Lezard & Son at No. 38 Holborn Viaduct, London, Watch Manufacturers. This partnership was dissolved by mutual consent in August 1887, Edward Joseph Lezard assuming sole responsibility for the business.

Baume & Co.

After the retirement of Lezard, the London company restyled itself as Baume & Co.

The notice reproduced here shows that Baume & Cie registered the trademark “Baume Geneve” with the Swiss Bureau fédéral des marques de fabrique et de commerce on 13 December 1882 for watches and watch cases. There was no method of publishing such registrations in Switzerland before 1883. The location of London (Londres) given in the notice shows that it was the London company that entered the registration.

A similar mark had been registered in London in 1878, following the passing of the British Trademarks Registration Act in 1875.

Kathleen Pritchard says that Baume & Co. became the British agents for Longines in 1867 but this is not correct. The Baume book A Hundred Years of Time says that Baume & Co. became agents for Longines in 1876. Because the two stated years contain the same digits, I wondered if the last two had become transposed, but the book quite clearly states that Longines was founded in 1867, and that in 1876 Célestin Baume, who was soon afterwards succeeded by Arthur Baume, became the sole representative of Longines for Great Britain and the whole of the British Empire. This date is confirmed in an obituary of Maurice Savoye, managing director of Longines for 65 years.

Pritchard also mixes up the history of Baume with that of Baume & Mercier, which she evidently didn't realise was a quite separate business. This is something that Baume & Mercier also try to conceal.

In 1876 two of Louis Victor Baume's sons, Alcide Eugène and Joseph Arthur (1853 - 1936), took over management of the company. Alcide ran the operation in Les Bois, while Arthur ran the London operation, looking after sales and marketing to the UK and British Empire. The dates shown on the family tree are again the dates of their roles as directors at Les Bois and London. Arthur Baume became a naturalised British subject in March 1881 and, on 28 Feb 1884 at the church of St Giles, Camberwell, married Mary Rebecca Mangham.

Pierre Joseph Célestin Baume died 27 September 1880. One of his executors was his nephew Louis Célestin Alexandre Baume (1852 - 1894), a native of Les Bois who had been naturalised as a British citizen on 30 May (10 June) 1879 aged 27. Arthur Baume had for a time a partner Alexander Baume, until 31 December 1890 when the partnership was dissolved. This was presumably the same Célestin's nephew Alexandre, who is not mentioned in the company records or on the family tree.

Arthur Baume was born at Les Bois on December 17th, 1852, and educated at the College St. Michel, Switzerland. He moved to London in 1872. He became a prominent figure in Europe thanks to his charitable work at the French Hospital in Shaftesbury Avenue, of which he was President for many years, and services during the War in connection with wounded soldiers of all the Allied Armies brought to the French Hospital for treatment. A member of the Royal Geographical Society, he also became Senior Vice-President of the British Horological Institute. He was made a knight, and later an officer, of the Legion of Honour, and was twice decorated by French President Poincarré. The King of Belgium made him a Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II. He retired in 1923 and died in Folkestone, at the age of 84, on 24 September 1936.

In 1885, Baume & Co, recorded as “watch manufacturers, a general partnership established in London at 21, Hatton-Garden, whose heads and managers are Joseph Arthur Baume and Célestin Alexandre Baume, from Les Bois (canton of Bern), domiciled in London”, established, on 1 November 1885, a branch in Geneva under the same company name. The branch was represented by Virgile Célestin Baume, also from Les Bois, residing in Geneva, who had power of attorney for the company there. Nature of trade: Manufacture d’horlogerie. Offices: 1, Rue Petitot. This office was presumably opened for closer contact with Geneva manufacturers who Baume were buying watches from.

The Horological Journal of January 1891 recorded that Alexander Baume had retired from Baume & Co. on 1 January. The same details were published in Switzerland, where it was recorded that the London and Geneva companies would continue to trade under the name Baume & Co, with London as the headquarters and Geneva as a branch office. The Geneva address changed from Rue Petitot to 14, Rue Bellot. Joseph-Alexandre Baume died on 1 October 1894 at Goetzenbruck, Lothringen, in the Moselle department of north-eastern France which, at the time, was in Germany. He would have been around 42 years of age, so presumably ill health might have been the reason that he retired early. His estate was valued at around £9,000, a large amount at the time.

When Arthur Baume retired he was succeeded by his nephew Alexandre Alcide Célestin Baume, who had worked for the London company since 1904 and had been made a director in 1912. Alexandre Baume was born at Les Bois in 1882 and educated first in Switzerland and then in Germany. He died in England on 7 January 1961 at the age of 78.

Alexandre Baume's brother William Adolphe Baume (1885 - 1956) was a director of the La Chaux-de-Fonds factory from 1915 to 1918, when he left to set up his own business in Geneva.

Louis Baume was born in London and studied watchmaking in Neuchâtel. He then worked with his father at Baume & Co. until the second world war broke out. During the war he served in the Royal Artillery and became a Japanese prisoner of war for 3½ years. In 1946 he became Chairman of the Swiss Watch Importers' Association. In 1947 he succeeded his father as Joint Director of Baume & Co. He served on the Council of the British Horological Institute for 20 years, and was Chairman for some of this. In the early 1960s he left the watch business and went into bookselling. He was also a keen mountaineer. He died in 1994 at the age of 74.

On 23 September 1950 Baume & Company was incorporated as a limited company. The latest mention of Baume & Company Limited trading as an independent entity that I have yet found was in 1964. Their registered office was at 59-60 Old Broad Street Avenue, Blomfield Street, London E.C.2.

The End of Baume & Company

Baume & Company Limited subsequently became a subsidiary of Time Products Ltd., who also took over many long established English watch businesses such as Carley & Clemence Ltd., Harris (Jewellery) Ltd., Hirst Brothers & Co. Ltd., and J. Weir & Son Ltd. Time Products initially continued to distribute Baume watches, and also Longines watches until Longines decided to set up their own UK office.

Use of the name Baume and Company by Time Products Limited ceased in the mid 1960s. Baume and Company became dormant within the meaning of Section 252 of the Companies Act 1985. In 1998 the name of Baume and Company Limited was changed to Brooks Mews Limited. This Company was formally dissolved and struck off the Register under Section 652(5) of the Companies Act 1985 on 25 November 2002, as recorded by a notice in the London Gazette dated 3 December 2002.

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Baume & Co. Trademarks

The first British Trademarks Registration Act was passed in 1875. On 14 February 1878, “Baume Genève” and B&Co. with three small stars in a triangular formation were registered as trademarks. It was noted that the B&Co mark with three stars had been in use for about 17 years, that is from about 1851.

The Longines name and winged hour glass trademark were also registered for Britain at the same time, with a note that these had been in use since 1867.

Baume & Co. also registered as trademarks the names Trafalgar, Waterloo, Divico and Sirdar.

In 1883 the Horological Journal published a summary of trademarks including the ones registered by Baume & Co. shown in the image here. Baume Genève and B&Co. with three small stars are included, as are the letters “C. B.”, presumably for Celestin Baume although he had retired from the company in 1876.

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AB: Arthur Baume, Baume & Company

The AB sponsor's marks in the images were entered by Arthur Baume, Managing Director of Baume & Co., London.

The first style of mark with cameo letters in curly script within an oval surround was registered at the London Assay Office on 18 November 1876. A week later on 25 November 1876 an incuse mark of the letters AB was also registered. The incuse mark is rare.

The second cameo mark shown here, with block capital letters AB on a cross hatched background within a rectangular surround was first registered on 24 April 1883.

Swiss watches with gold or silver cases were imported into Britain without hallmarks until 1870, when some Swiss made watch cases began to be sent for hallmarking at British assay offices. Baume & Co. obviously caught onto this trend in 1876, and it is interesting that November 1876 was also when they became the London agents for Longines. English watchmakers objected to foreign watch cases receiving British hallmarks, but the practice continued until 1877 when it was stopped from 1 January 1888 by the Merchandise Marks Act.

Two punches with the cameo AB mark were registered at the London Assay Office on 14 September 1888, as were two punches with the incuse AB mark. At first sight this is strange because the Merchandise Marks Act 1887 effectively stopped importers of Swiss watches from sending them to be hallmarked after 1 January 1888. However, in September 1888 Baume & Co. founded or purchased a watch factory in Coventry, which explains these four punches; they were most likely for use at the Coventry factory.

A punch with the second style of mark, block letters in a rectangular shield, was registered with the London Assay Office on 1 March 1907, no doubt in anticipation of the requirement that all imported watches must be hallmarked in a UK assay office, which came into force on 1 June 1907. Additional punches with the same mark were registered in March, August and November 1907. Punches with this style of mark had been registered with the Birmingham Assay Office in January and July 1901. Birmingham was the principal jewellery making centre of the UK at the time and it seems likely that Baume were having items such as watch chains made there.

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Baume & Co. Watches

The advert reproduced here from 1886 gives an idea of the wide range of watches that Baume & Co. were importing at that time; not just Longines watches but also ordinary watches of every description, in different qualities, also fine and complicated watches, watches with lever escapements and ¾ plate keyless watches.

The Swiss branch of Baume didn't always make simple movements with cylinder escapements. By the late nineteenth century it had leapt ahead technically and was known for chronographs, tourbillons, and grand complication models including watches with minute repeaters and calendars.

In 1890 a Baume watch with a single overcoil balance spring and tourbillon chronometer escapement took eighth place in the Kew watch trials with 83.9 marks out of a maximum of 100. In 1892 the same watch, No. 103018, was back at the Kew trials, after further adjustments, and took first place with 91.9 marks, beating the previous record of 91.6 marks held by a Stauffer & Son watch. The Baume watch is now in the Baume & Mercier museum collection. It has no connection with that company other than the Baume name, but it is good to see it preserved somewhere.

The Kew record stood for a decade. In 1900 Baume & Company advertised that they still held the Kew record with 91.9 marks. The record was taken from them in 1902 by H. Golay, London, with a keyless going-barrel annular tourbillon resilient lever, No. 7556, which obtained 92.7 marks out of a maximum of 100.

Baume & Co. also successfully entered watches with complications at Kew, which were rated separately from time-only watches because a watch driving complications was not expected to be as good a timekeeper as a time-only watch. In 1887 a Baume split seconds minute recording chronograph was awarded 85.1 marks and the endorsement “especially good.” This was not a Longines chronograph, since Longines did not start making split seconds chronographs until 1905.

The image of a Baume split seconds chronograph here is from 1891. It was not Baume's first split seconds chronograph, but the first where the crown, or first pusher in the case of a hunter, caused the seconds hands to fly back to zero. The full action is that the first push on the crown starts both seconds hand running. A push on the pusher on the side of the case stops one of them, a push on the crown stops the other, then a final push on the crown returns both seconds hands to zero. Before this innovation, the pusher on the side of the case was used to return the hands to zero.

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Coventry Factory

In September 1888 Baume & Company opened or purchased a watch factory in Coventry. The manager appointed by Baume to run the factory was William Weston, already a long serving employee of Baume & Company.

Two punches with the cameo AB mark were registered at the London Assay Office on 14 September 1888, as were two punches with the incuse AB mark. Without the information about the Coventry factory this would be puzzling because the 1887 Merchandise Marks Act effectively stopped importers of Swiss watches such as Baume from sending them to be hallmarked after 1 January 1888. However, these were punches were obviously for use on watch cases made at the Coventry factory.

The article here records the first annual outing of the Coventry employees. Obviously everything was going well at time and it seems that a good time was had by all. I have found no record of a second such annual outing.

In 1891, a Baume & Co advertisement stated locations at 21, Hatton Garden, London, Switzerland and Coventry.

The Coventry Watch Museum supplied the following information, reproduced from old trade journals.

• Baume & Co, 41 Spon St, Coventry, Watch Manufacturers, 1874.
• Baume & Co, Elmdon Villa’s, Holyhead Road, Coventry, Watch Manufacturer’s & Materials Suppliers, 1883-86.

These dates are considerably earlier than 1888, showing that there is more to discover.

The subsequent history of the Coventry factory is not recorded anywhere that I have been able to find. If it was making watches in the traditional English way, then it is not surprising that it didn't last long, since all Coventry manufacturers were struggling financially at the time.

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Chaux-de-Fonds Factory

On 1 March 1909 a branch of Baume & Co. was created in La Chaux-de-Fonds by the takeover of the firm Paul César Jeanneret.

Paul César Jeanneret was granted Swiss, CH CH44551 1909-09-01, and British, GB 8296 1908-05-28, patents for an improvement to watch cases consisting of a ring carrying a jointed (hinged) cap that strengthened the middle part of watch cases, making it harder to crush or deform them, especially cases made of gold or silver which were made thin to reduce the cost of the precious metal.

Watches made in this factory after its acquisition were branded “Baume” and imported into Britain. The factory was initially managed by Alcide Baume, who was succeeded in the management of Les Bois by his son William Adolphe Baume. It appears that after the takeover in 1910 of the factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Les Bois operation was wound up.

The Baume family tree shows that William was director of the La Chaux-de-Fonds factory from 1915 until 1918, when he left the Baume family company to set up his own company in Geneva, which later became Baume & Mercier.

I have seen a number of watches with Fontainemelon movements stamped B&Co., see Baume and Fontainemelon, so it appears that the factory at La Chaux-de-Fonds was assembling watches from Fontainemelon ébauches and other components; dials, cases, etc.

At some point the original Swiss company changed its name from Baume Frères to Baume & Cie, and later for a brief period Baume & Mosimann after the business of Paul Mosimann was amalgamated.

When British retailers began to allow manufacturers to put their names on the dial of watches sold in Britain, the factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds started branding their watches with the name Baume. Watches with the name simply "Baume" are products of the La Chaux-de-Fonds factory and, despite what many say, have nothing to do with Baume & Mercier.

The advert here from 1947 for Baume watches says that all Baume movements are 17 jewelled and have Nivarox balance springs and Glucydur balances, which are all top quality features. By this time, although not in this advert, Baume & Co. were styling themselves "London and La Chaux-de-Fonds".

These Baume watches cause people a lot of confusion. They are often described as Baume & Mercier, although there is no name Mercier on the dial, which would be odd if they really were the product of a company of that name formed in the early twentieth century. But they are not. Watches with only Baume on the dial have nothing to do with Baume & Mercier – see the section about Baume & Mercier for more details as to why this is.

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Cases Made in Britain

To avoid import duty on gold cases, which were much more expensive, as a result of the McKenna duties on imported items, gold cases were made in the Britain and the Swiss made watch movements cased after import. Baume watches in cases other than gold, e.g. stainless steel or electroplated, were cased at the Baume factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds and imported complete.

D.S.&S. Shackman & Sons

Lawrence W. kindly sent me the photograph of the case of his Baume watch reproduced here, and Phil D sent me the image of the Omega case.

The Baume case has London Assay Office (leopard's head on the right) hallmarks of the type specifically used for a British made item in 9 carat (375) gold. These hallmarks show that the case was made in Britain to house a Swiss watch movement that was imported bare, that is without a case. This practice began during the Great War when high import duties were levied on imported watches, but the high cost of gold and the import taxes that it incurred meant that making gold cases in England to house imported Swiss watch movements continued into the late twentieth century.

The date letter is the "Q" of 1951 to 1952 - remember that the hallmarking year began at the end of May when new wardens were elected, so date letter punches were used in two calendar years until May of the following year.

The sponsor's mark D.S.&S. in cameo was entered by David Shackman of D. Shackman & Sons. Two punches were first registered at the London Assay Office in 1922, and then a number more in 1946 and 1947, one of which was used to strike the sponsor's mark in this case.

The Omega case has London Assay Office hallmarks for an item made in Britain of 9 carat (·375) gold. The date letter is the Roman italic "o" of 1969 to 1970. The sponsor's mark OWC in cameo was entered at the London Assay Office by the Omega Watch Company (England) Limited in 1952. However, the case was not made by Omega - the fancy "S" is a trademark of Shackman and Sons.

The company was founded in London by David Shackman in around 1915 as fine jewellery manufacturers. Sponsor's mark punches were not initially required because most jewellery is exempt from hallmarking. David Shackman was joined by his sons Rubin and Albert to form D. Shackman & Sons. In addition to making gold watch cases for Baume like the one illustrated here, the company made cases for Longines, Rolex and Omega.

During the Second World War, Shackman & Sons also made optical instruments, ssurvivings and bombsights, for the armed forces at a factory in Chesham, Buckinghamshire.

After the war, Shackman & Sons continued making gold watch cases and bracelets to house imported Swiss movements, but also went into manufacturing special purpose cameras and accessories under the name “Autocamera”. The company was later renamed Shackman Instruments Ltd. and was taken over by Anamax Ltd. in 1993.

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Baume Des Breuleux

Watches are seen with Baume Des Breuleux on the dial. Les Breuleux is a small village only about 9 km from les Bois.

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Names on the Dial

Watches supplied to the British market before the late 1920s usually left the factory in Switzerland with blank enamel dials. Sometimes the retailer's name was painted on in enamel paint. The importer might have offered this as part of his service to the retailer, or the retailer may have arranged himself for his name to be painted onto the dial. However, enamel paint is much less durable than the vitreous enamel of the dial itself and, in extant examples, has usually more or less fallen off. An exception to this rule are watches with Mappin „Campaign” that was fired onto the dial when it was made. But note that Mappin was a British retailer, not the Swiss maker.

The advert by Baume & Co. from the Horological Journal of 1911 reproduced here is evidence of this practice. Longines watches were very highly regarded by the watch and jewellery trade in Britain, and took numerous top places in observatory competitions. But the advert says that they are supplied “without any distinctive name or mark except that of the retailer”. This is not something that Baume or Longines wanted to do. If the Longines name were put prominently onto the watches, British retailers would simply refuse to order them. Baume and Longines were immensely proud of the quality of their watches, but they were also pragmatic; they needed to 'shift product' in order to make a sales and a profit. Given the intransigence of the British retailers, they made a virtue out of necessity and made it clear that they were willing, even if they were not happy about it, to supply watches without branding.

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Baume and Longines

Baume & Co. acted as the London agents for Longines for many years, from 1876 to the mid 1960s.

Kathleen H. Pritchard in “Swiss Timepiece Makers, 1775-1975” says that Longines and Baume & Co. in London signed a marketing agreement in 1867, Longines' first year of operation. The year 1867 is incorrect. The book A Hundred Years of Time published by Baume & Company in 1949 says that the date was 1876, and that Arthur Baume took over the company from Célestin Baume soon after the agreement was made. Since Arthur was only 14 in 1867 the date quoted by Pritchard is clearly incorrect.

In the advert reproduced here from the Horological Journal of April 1915 Arthur Baume is listed as an owner and director of Longines. Baume & Co. was the gateway for Longines into the large British domestic market, and also to the vast market of the British Empire, so Arthur Baume became important to Longines and was appointed to the board of directors. Being described as an owner implies that he also was either given or bought shares in the Longines company.

The advertisement and other contemporary British documents from the late nineteenth through to the early twentieth century often refer to Baume & Co. and Longines as if they are one and the same. The movement shown here from circa 1904/1905 is engraved Baume and Longines, showing how closely the two names were associated. Thanks to Sally F. for the image.

Longines' first lever movements had a distinctly "continental" appearance. Baume/Longines realised that they could achieve greater penetration of the British market if their watches appeared, and were finished, like English watches. Starting in 1880 Longines introduced a series of movements that looked much more like English three quarter plate movements, with concealed winding wheels and frosted gilt plates.

The earliest published mention of Baume in conjunction with Longines that I have found is a notice in 1885 regarding the International Inventions Exhibition where Baume were showing, amongst of items, "The new Longines watches and chronometers", which is curious. Perhaps Longines introduced some new, improved, models at that time.

I have a Longines pocket watch with London Assay Office hallmarks for sterling silver, the date letter "B" for the year 1877 to 1878, remember that date letters span two calendar years. The sponsor's mark is the curly AB was registered by Baume & Co. at the London Assay Office on 18 November 1876.

Otherwise unmarked Longines watches often bear the mark "B & Co." for Baume & Co. next to the Longines movement calibre number under the balance. The "B & Co." mark is usually followed by three stars in a triangle formation. However, not every movement with the Baume marks is a Longines.

The image here shows London Assay Office import hallmarks for sterling silver with the date of a small Gothic “a” for 1916 to 1917. This is from a Longines watch with a Borgel case that bears both the initials AB in cameo and B&Co marks of Baume & Co., as well as the FB-key trademark of François Borgel, the famous Geneva case maker whose company actually made the case in Switzerland. The AB cameo mark was the sponsor's mark that was registered at the London Assay Office for hallmarking purposes, the B&Co mark is a trademark.

The “B & Co.” mark with three stars is sometimes confused with that of Stauffer's “SS & Co.” mark followed by three small triangles, which can at a glance look very similar. In 1885 Stauffer did actually begin using a trademark with three stars that looked very like the Baume trademark. Baume quickly pointed out that this was their registered trademark, so Stauffer swapped the stars in their trademark for three triangles.

Caution

Simply finding Baume's name or trademark on a watch doesn't mean that it is necessarily a Longines. Baume also imported watches from their own factories and watches with Fontainemelon ébauches, which carried Baume trademarks.

The first line of the Baume & Co. advert from 1886 reproduced above says "Every description of ordinary Watches". This is separate from the mention of Longines watches, which refers to them as "Longines levers". Before the Longines factory was opened in 1867 the comptoir of Auguste Agassiz had produced watches with verge and then cylinder escapements, but from 1867 the Longines factory produced only lever escapement movements. The "ordinary watches" that the Baume advert refers to would have been the bar movements with cylinder escapements that were very widely manufactured in Switzerland during the nineteenth century, mainly by unnamed établisseurs.

Longines

There is a web page about Longines at Longines: Ernest Francillon & Co.

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Baume and Fontainemelon

It is not clear what happened to the Les Bois operation, or whether it was ever a factory. Baume imported watches with Fontainemelon ébauches, which carry Baume trademarks. The details below of one of these movements are from my movement identification page. It seems quite likely that these were assembled in the La Chaux-de-Fonds factory.

Fontainemelon 4

This is another movement by Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon (FHF).

Although it carries no marks that are visible when the movement is in a watch case, identification is straight forward once the movement is removed from the case and the hands and dial removed. The “y” shaped cover plate over the keyless mechanism is very distinctive and found on many Fontainemelon ébauches of this period (early twentieth century).

Many of these movements also carry the Fontainemelon “William Tell” trademark of an arrow through an apple, although this is often on the bottom plate, sometimes concealed under the barrel bridge, where it is not visible until the movement is partially or fully dismantled.

The number 4 is my number, not the Fontainemelon calibre number which I have not yet discovered and which, given the early date of this movement, may never be discovered.

The first image is a movement from a Borgel wristwatch, you can see the carrier ring around the movement. The two copper coloured pins sticking up from the bottom plate in the gaps between the bridges are the dial feet, the upper one is missing the screw that should hold it in position.

The image of the bottom plate is from another movement with identical top plates. The keyless mechanism cover plate is the characteristic “y” shape that identifies many similar movements by Fontainemelon. This one is stamped with the B & Co. mark with three stars, the trademark of Baume & Co., the long time British agent for Longines. Obviously this movement has nothing to do with Longines and shows that Baume also imported watches with Fontainemelon movements.

The smaller image is from yet another movement with the same top plate and keyless mechanism, with both B&Co. and Fontainemelon arrow through apple trademarks stamped onto the bottom plate.

Note that Fabrique d'ébauches de Fleurier (FEF) made an ébauche with a very similar train bridge. Look for differences in the shape of the barrel bridge.

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Baume & Mercier

In 1918 a serious dispute within the Baume family occurred. William Baume left the factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds which he had managed since 1915, severing all ties with the Baume family business. He was around 33 years old at the time. The two public notices reproduced here tell the subsequent story succinctly.

William Baume left La Chaux-de-Fonds and went to Geneva. The first notice reproduced here dated 22 November 1918 shows that he set up in business as a sole trader under his own name, W. Baume, at 2 Rue Céard, Geneva, for the fabrication, purchase and sale of horological items and jewellery.

In 1919 William Baume was joined in business by a friend, Paul Tcherednitchenko, a Ukrainian who had adopted the name Mercier. The notice dated 18 March 1919 shows that the company W. Baume was dissolved (radiée) and a new company named Baume & Tcherednitchenko dit Mercier was formed to take over the business with the same address. The purpose of the company was expanded to the fabrication, purchase and sales of horological items and jewellery, and all associated articles of those industries.

Note the spelling of Tcherednitchenko in the notice: I have seen it most frequently spelt online as Tchereditchenko, missing the first “n”, possibly due to the translation of a Russian name originally in the Cyrillic alphabet, or perhaps because people have copied from the same source.

Links between William Baume and Baume & Company in Britain had also been severed. In Britain Baume & Co. continued to sell watches made in the La Chaux-de-Fonds factory under the name “Baume”. Baume & Company did not import Baume & Mercier watches; in fact they took active steps to prevent the sale of Baume & Mercier watches in Britain.

Baume & Mercier claim a founding date of 1830. This presumably refers to the foundation of Baume Frères in Les Bois, although that was actually in 1834, or it might be just a date plucked out of thin air.

However, the only tenuous link that connects Baume & Mercier to the original Baume family business is William Baume, who left the Baume family company to set up on his own, while the rest of the family continued the original Baume Frères / Baume & Company business without him. It's not exactly a strong claim by Baume & Mercier to an unbroken record of watchmaking stretching back to the 1830s; they don't even get the dates right!

When founded in Geneva in 1919, Baume & Mercier was a completely new company. Rue Céard today is a pedestrianised area with high end shops, manufacturing would not have taken place there. It seems that Baume, then later Baume & Mercier, began as a sales and marketing operation without any manufacturing capability. This is understandable, because William Baume and Paul Tcherednitchenko do not initially appear to have had the huge capital resources necessary to either set up or buy a watchmaking factory.

Baume & Co. Ltd. v. Moore (A. H.) Ltd.

The rift between William Baume and the rest of the Baume family was so serious that when Baume & Mercier tried to export watches to Britain in the 1950s, legal action was taken against the British importers by Baume & Company to prevent this use of the Baume name.

In 1955, N. V. Hall & Son of Frederick Street began to regularly advertise that they were importers of Baume & Mercier watches. This continued until 1958 when A. H. Moore took over the import of Baume & Mercier watches. This was probably accompanied by increased promotion or advertising of the brand name, because it attracted the attention of Baume & Company.

Baume & Company took legal action against A. H. Moore on the grounds that the use of the name Baume on watches branded “Baume & Mercier” was an infringement of their own UK registered Baume trade mark. The action was initially unsuccessful in the lower Court, but the Court of Appeal reversed the decision and granted an injunction restraining A. H. Moore from selling watches under any mark or name containing the word Baume.

The judges in the Appeal Court held that there was a real possibility that watches marked Baume & Mercier would be regarded as being the same as, or in some way associated with, Baume & Company's watches. Under the law, “no man was entitled, even by the honest use of his own name, so to describe or mark his goods as to represent that they were the goods of another person”. The sound common sense of this principle and judgement is evident today, because many people are confused about the relationship of Baume & Company and Baume & Mercier now that Baume & Company are no longer around and Baume & Mercier are coy about the matter.

Leave to appeal to the House of Lords was granted but was not taken up. The effect of this injunction was to stop the marketing and sale in Britain of Baume & Mercier watches until Baume & Co. either agreed to allow it, or became unable or unwilling to enforce the judgement. Baume & Mercier had to wait until the latter happened in the 1960s.

What Happened Next

Baume & Company Limited was acquired by Time Products Limited in the mid 1960s. Use of the name Baume & Company by Time Products ceased and the company became dormant. This left the field open for Baume & Mercier to finally enter the British market.

The earliest British advertisement for Baume & Mercier watches that I have seen is the one reproduced here dating to November 1968. The advert says that Baume & Mercier were “manufacturers of watches of outstanding quality & design since 1830 [sic]”. The address given is Baume & Mercier, Regent House, Frederick Street, Birmingham.

The date of 1830 given for the foundation of the company is an error, probably because Baume & Mercier didn't at the time have access to good, or even any, historical records of the company. There was no connection between Baume & Mercier of Geneva and the original Baume company of Les Bois, London and La Chaux-de-Fonds, so archives of records would not have been passed between the two companies. In fact, as we have seen, relations remained acrimonious in the 1950s and 1960s. When I had uncovered some of the details and evidence reproduced here I wrote to Baume & Mercier, because I thought that they might be interested and want to put their side of the story. I didn't get a reply.