BAUME & MERCIER - MOONPHASE

BAUME & MERCIER//

MOONPHASE // BY I-REEL

The Baume et Mercier watch brand recently redesigned their iconic model: the 1973 RIVIERA Watch. It is recognizable by its very specific bezel shape: a DODECAGONE. In summer 2021, I-réel had the privilege to create the world campaign movie, filmed in the south of France, between Nice and Cannes, it was CRAZY!
And this year the RIVIERA model, had for the occasion, pulled out all the stops, with a complication module: the MOON PHASE.

MOVIE //

MOONPHASE //

CONCEPT //

AESTHETIC //

The RIVIERA watch is inspired by the " FRENCH RIVIERA" mood: sea, sun and the art of living on the "Côte d'Azur" are its essence. In addition, each collection of the brand uses its own design and textures.
Our objective for this film was to link those 2 universes with different textures, one from the maritime world and the other astronomical.
This project is completely post-produced in 4K resolution. The MOONPHASE images were shot with our RED 8K camera in our inhouse studio, coupled with our motion-control robot. CGI sequences were created with 3ds max/V-ray.

PART ONE//

THE MOON //

As said before, we filmed the watch details in macro shots, and used them as an inspiration to create sea and moon textures.

The film is divided in 4 parts, where each texture highlights a specific detail of the watch.

We used enigmatic shots for the opening. Here we have created small pebbles, reminding of the lunar surface, pushed back by an invisible object, emitting light, and recalling the different moon phases. This movement gives way to a refined surface.
Then 2 white moons, are surrounded by anthracite pebbles, figuring the night that envelops them (Some say you can also see a fried egg there :D).

PART TWO //

THE WAVE //

In the second part, we focus on the dial, which is encircled by a thin blue disc. Closer, blue streaks stand for the waves movement. It took lots of experiments to create this texture, associated with a ripple animation to represent the sea. The rendering is of a subtle softness, and the light hangs perfectly on the fringe waves.

PART THREE //

THE WATER //

You can't talk about RIVIERA without mentioning water. For this part we created a transparent outer dial, but kept the indexes (the hour indication markers) in steel. Then we poured water in this cylinder. The idea was to see the liquid bouncing in that shape, and create a structure halfway between art installation and science fiction, where gravity would not exist. It took us a few simulations to get this result, and the hardest part, as always with the water simulations, was to find an adequate particle size.

PART FOUR //

THE DESIGN //

As mentioned the design of the RIVIERA is very specific.

The dodecagonal shape is very singular, and BAUME and MERCIER has been working a lot with us to make it a remarkable element of the brand communication. It came quite naturally to emphasize the bezel shape (the outer contour of a watch glass) by using blue construction lines.

Last little trick of realization, in case you didn't noticed, we started from the smallest watch detail (the moon) to finish on the RIVIERA as a whole.