The luxury watch brand has given the traditional seasonal countdown a modern twist. While most advent calendars contain a festive image and a piece of chocolate, Baume et Mercier has taken a digital route and created their own calendar on Facebook.

Visitors to the Baume et Mercier Facebook page are greeted by a starry sky image, with a new star appearing each day. When clicked, the star reveals a special Baume et Mercier gift, including free downloads, videos, previews of new models and snippets of the brand’s history. The Christmas countdown is the brand’s way of giving something back to the 215,000 people that have joined their social networking fan page.

Chief executive Alain Zimmerman said: “It’s a great way to thank everyone for their continuing commitment to Baume et Mercier, and to celebrate the holiday season with them.”

The brand focuses heavily on the emotional lives of its customers, its slogan stating “Life is about moments”. It is these moments that inspired the seasonal celebration, as Zimmerman says the brand wishes to further strengthen their relationship of “listening and sharing” with fans.

Baume et Mercier is enjoying a powerful social media presence, with fans regularly posting their thoughts and experiences with the brand online.

Jura Watches’ Augmented Reality (AR) application lets you see a watch on your wrist while sitting in front of your PC at home. This in-house developed, virtual watch technology has been written from the ground up and is designed to seamlessly integrate with Jura’s website. Unlike previous AR applications, visitors to the web site won’t have to download and install a bespoke application. Alastair Laidlaw, Co-Founder of Jura Watches said, “This is a key step forward in offering our customers an even better online experience: They can now choose to view high quality 360 degree photography, zoom in on ultra high resolution 2-D images or see what the watch would look like on their own wrist; all from the comfort of their own home”.

How Does it Work?
The aim of Augmented Reality is to create an experience that closely represents what would be achieved in the real world by combining live video with computer generated images. In this Virtual Watch application, a selection of watches has been modelled in 3-D. To see what these watches would look like on your wrist, simply print out a marker, place it on your wrist and hold it in front of your web camera: Before you know it, you will appear to be wearing the watch.

It is By No Means Perfect
Augmented Reality is still in its infancy and today has significant limitations. Image quality is good but not faultless and it is always going to be difficult to render a 2-D object in to a perfect 3-D representation. A number of factors will also affect the user experience including the processor speed of the computer, the resolution of the web cam and the lighting in the room. Further technical developments expected within 12 months will not only improve image quality and the user experience on PCs but will also see major developments in AR for mobile devices.

Laidlaw continues, “The first time you see it working is a real ‘Star Trek’ moment. I clearly remember the time before broadband became ubiquitous and mobile phones were for the elite. I am certain that augmented reality will soon become an integral part of the way we consume and evaluate information online. I hope that our Virtual Watch Application will bring pleasure to a good number of watch enthusiasts and may help some of our potential clients gain a better understanding of what a range of different watches would look like on the wrist: Potentially helping them make a more informed buying decision.”

Balvinder Singh Powar, Watch Lover and Founder of Spain’s Cronotime remarks, “Thanks to Jura’s fresh approach, innovation and dynamism, they have rapidly established themselves as pioneering leaders in the wristwatch market place. This is largely due to their intense customer service focus and continued championing of cutting edge brands to a wider audience using revolutionary multimedia and web technologies both in store and for those visiting from the comfort of their own homes. From the world’s largest plasma screen to sophisticated online imaging tools, the Jura experience is an unforgettable adventure for the watch lover, wherever you are.”

You can try on one of Jura’s luxury watches now, test the Virtual Watch application for yourself.

One hundred and eighty years of fine watch making results in an envious heritage. And now in 2010 Baume & Mercier watches are on the social media network sites Twitter and Facebook. In creating a Twitter account and a Facebook page Baume & Mercier are looking for novel ways of interacting with watch enthusiasts. And they have chosen an interesting way of going about this.

Through Twitter and Facebook this prestigious watch maker invites internet users to rediscover its heritage and its history. On Facebook they present a diary entitled ‘Secrets of a Watch making Family’ in which the story of the birth of Baume & Mercier is retold in both English and French. Through daily ‘tweets’ and updates anecdotes and insights from the daring watch makers are shared with followers and fans.

Signing up for MyOris provides members with all the latest news and information from Oris and their sponsoring partners. More specifically, by registering, each member benefits from access to the following benefits:

• When members register their Oris watch on MyOris they get a twelve month extension on the guarantee for the watch
• Registering with MyOris allows members to find their perfect Oris watch using the ‘MyWatch Finder’
• MyOris members get Oris news first
• MyOris members have access to Oris prizes for online competitions

For example, to celebrate the first anniversary of the launch of MyOris, members have an exclusive chance to win a Limited Edition graphic by the musician and artist Bob Dylan. There are only 295 ‘Still Life with Peaches’, each signed by Bob Dylan. And given Oris’s relationship with Dylan, they have managed to secure one of these prints to give away.

But, to be in with a chance to own a signed Dylan print you must be a MyOris member. All you need to do is log in and take part in the quiz online before 31st January 2010.

Oris watches, for both men and women, are available from Jura Watches in Mayfair, London – authorised UK dealers.

One of the watches to be unveiled at what is certainly going to be a spectacular show is a timepiece that was tested during the expedition we reported on here in October. Jaeger-LeCoultre sponsored the ascent of a mountain in Nepal that had never been climbed before.

The expedition team will feature at the launch of the 2010 collection, as will many other influential figures in the watch-making industry. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s new collection and an extended coverage of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie will be presented on the website following the event.

For example, the day after the unveiling of the new collection, Jaeger-LeCoultre will for the first time be hosting a live webcast and Q&A session featuring the 2010 Collection. The event will take place on Tuesday 19 January starting at 4.15 pm Central European Time for about 30 minutes. The language to be used for the event will be English.

A broadband internet connection is recommended, and because of the high interest anticipated for this event, registration is required. So if any of our readers should like to participate, you can register on the Jaeger-Le-Coultre website, click here.