World famous Bondi Beach, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Ayers Rock, Sydney Opera House are all Australian iconic landmarks in the serious traveller’s diary. Recognising this potential, the new Australian watch brand Bausele, pays tribute to the Australian culture and its remarkable iconic landscape.
For the first time, Bausele offers buyers the opportunity to celebrate Australia with a timepiece on the wrist introducing an absolutely unique discussion feature not shared by any other brand.
The designer has captured natural physical elements by using grains of sand, coal and red earth gathered from famous Australian places and setting them into the crown of each watch behind a tiny crystal window.
Initially the Bausele collection launches in three styles (Surf, Yachting and Wine Bar) using three Australian elements (sand, coal and red earth).
Three Australians of expatriate French extraction are the driving force behind the new brand—and clearly there is no shortage of industry knowledge and experience.
Maxime Elgue moved to Australia for the second time in 2008 to run Oceania Duty Free Shoppers Group (DFS) having worked for Cartier for 18 years in Australia, South-East Asia and the Far East. He is now the Bausele marketing and sales manager, as well as Oceania agent for luxury brands Chopard, Bell & Ross and Baccarat. He has been in the watch and jewellery industry for over 25 years.
Dominique Portier has created marketing and communication companies in France and after establishing his own business online, moved to Sydney in 2007 to look for adventure, quality of life and new business opportunities. Portier is directly in charge of the Bausele website and on-line business.
Christophe Hoppe was a consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Luxembourg and Switzerland, then chief financial officer for Technomarine (Switzerland and Hong Kong), followed then by CFO for Universo (Swatch Group, Hong Kong). He is now the CFO for Hurley, leader in Australian surfing equipment. He has been in love with the watch world all his life and has chosen to live in Australia to use his watch expertise and passion to launch and nurture the new Bausele brand.
Christophe Hoppe says, “The project started 18 months ago when Maxime and I met and decided to launch the brand together. Dominique joined us at the beginning of the year and we created the company—the three of us at the same time.”
Describing the range Hoppe said, “The target market for the watches are Australians and tourists coming to Australia who want to take home a piece of unique Australia, chic and not the same old souvenir.” Hoppe added “We wanted to give people something more than a watch to wear—a real experience on their wrist. As Bausele is an Australian brand we decided to look for Australian elements (sand, coal and red earth) and, to be different, put them in the crown.” He said there were difficulties in making the models 200m water resistant but “to fit the Australian culture the watch really needed to withstand the elements and be suitable for the beach”. Bausele is the name of the brand which is drawn from Beyond AUStralian ELEments. Bausele has made a break with conservative Swiss watchmaking and is:
- The first Australian-designed Swiss Made watch by Australians for Australians
- An original design, allowing you to carry away your very own small part of Australia
- Crafted in Switzerland with all the technical expertise of a Swiss Made watch
- A collection reflecting popular Australian icons and pursuits of surfing, yachting and, of course, partying!
- A versatile watch sold with either a metal bracelet or leather strap and an extra coloured silicon band thrown in for good measure
- Available with a wide range of strap colours with a simple and ingenious click attachment system, allowing for an impressive combination of fashion alternatives
- Delivered free of charge all over the world
- Provided with a 5 years warranty
Marketing will be quirky as well. Maxime Elgue says, “We are quite open to have an “unorthodox” distribution for the brand and do some lateral thinking. We believe that Bausele clients can be found in smart bookshops, high level surf shops, ship chandlers, wine bars, clubs, museums... places where it is unlikely to find Swiss watches which are restricted to a traditional distribution system. Some pop-up and on-the-spot animation can also be organised on the beach or during regattas.”
Bausele watches are fitted with Swiss ISA quartz calibres and incorporate features such as tide and moon calendars, chronograph and later, we are promised, an alarm clock will be added to the range!
It is easy to imagine the potential for “specials” for this brand with its inclusion in the setting crown of iconic fragments behind its crystal window. A handful of Bondi sand would provide enough material for a full commercial run. Likewise, a Sydney Opera House tile, discarded during repairs and ground into powder, or paint flakes from the current project of repainting the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
So if you spy a furtive Frenchman fossicking for fallen fragments from famous sites then watch out for the latest Bausele special! This watch has been conceived by fertile minds and the promotional possibilities are endless.
The brand is well priced within the impulse discretionary spend range of 220-370 Euros thus avoiding the need to get approval from the wife or the mistress.
Just buy one of these excellent watches and enjoy its unique qualities!
YACHTING The Yachting model has a 43 mm case, Swiss ISA calibre, countdown indicator, progress keeper and race timing functions, alarm, date, SuperLuminova hands. It is water resistant to 200m and has two interchangeable straps.
SURF The Surf model pays tribute to Australia’s iconic surfing sport. ISA quartz calibre, 40 mm steel case, moon phase, tide indicator, date, hands with SuperLuminova, rotating bezel, water resistant to 200m. Set the moon calendar and the tides and waves hold no mystery!
WINE BAR The Wine Bar model, with its vintage look, is water resistant to 200m, supplied with 2 interchangeable straps and, like all the brand’s models, carries in its crown the famous Bausele elements of sand, red earth or coal.