• Movie starsMeg Ryanand Kiefer Sutherland are also the stars of Swiss luxury watch brand Baume & Mercier‘s new international ad campaign, Baume & Mercier & Me, which launched in September. It’s the first time Baume & Mercier has used celebrities in its advertising and to represent the brand. The campaign also has a charitable side: It supports humanitarian causes close to Ryan and Sutherland. All their royalties from the campaign are being donated directly to Youth I.N.C., Doctors Without Borders, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, and the Hollywood Entertainment Museum.
• Auto-racing pioneer and Indy Racing League racer Danica Patrickis the first female U.S. brand “ambassador” for Tissot, the 153-year-old Swiss watch. She was slated to appear in marketing and advertising showcasing Tissot’s products, including print ads and billboards, starting in November and in point-of-sale materials starting in December. Patrick was the first woman to lead the Indy 500 for a lap, and finished fourth in 2005, the highest finish by a woman driver at the Indy 500.
• Luxury goods group LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) said its watches and jewelry division improved in 2005’s first half, with profits up $17.4 million. (The division posted a loss for the first half of 2004 and broke even for the year.) TAG Heuer was its top performer. Zenithand Chaumet continued to perform well, it said.
• During the annual Monterey Classic Car Week festivities in Carmel, Calif., in August, luxury watch brand Roger Dubuis and watch retailer Lussori (formerly Greenwich Time Inc.) presented the second annual Roger Dubuis Exhibition of the most extensive array of Roger Dubuis timepieces yet assembled. Highlights included the first North American showing of the Excalibur Double Flying Tourbillon; limited-production Sports Activity Watches designed specially for Classic Car Week; and the premiere of commemorative hand-painted enamel dials featuring vintage automobiles, created by Roger Dubuis founder Carlos Dias.