Everyone has been talking about the global meltdown this year because the markets are not doing well overall. How are you approaching the year 2009?

We do not change any plans. Our strategy for 2009 remains the same, which
means we carry on working on the new collection that we are presenting every
year, on our communication that we renew every year with the celebrities and
we have no plan to change the future development of the company because of
the situation. It is a reality that the markets are slower, but it has no impact
on our strategy at all.

How has your key launch of 2008, Ilea, fared in the market?

Globally, we have had a good year for Ilea and achieved the objectives that
we had planned before its launch. Now the product is slowly taking its place in
the distribution network too. So we are very happy with this new collection for
women. Baume & Mercier did not have any round watch for ladies; we had
an old one called Linea that was discontinued. We needed to have a new product line and Ilea filled that gap.

What is the main launch this year?

The first is for the 15th anniversary of the Hampton Collection. We have rejuvenated it with new designs, larger sizes, richer models for women and new products too. Then we have launched a new concept since two years now on sporty watches called Magnum designs. This is a mix of creativity and the sporty attributes on watches of the existing collection. The William Baume Collection of haute horlogerie makes a link between what Baume & Mercier used to do as an haute horlogerie product in the past and what we are doing now to bring back this heritage with modern but also very traditional timepieces. In the haute jewellery line, we have one Ilea, produced in very small quantities.