Bausele is bringing the Australian outback to Baselworld.
The Sydney-based company is the first Australian watch brand to take its products to the fair, booking a 151-square-foot stand (#F36) in Hall 2.2 to show seven new collections and 28 styles, boasting Swiss, as well as Australian, components.
Prices start at $550 for The Vintage, a 36-mm watch with Ronda 507 movement, with the midrange Yachting II, a new 43-mm version of Bausele’s best-selling Yachting style, with IsaSwiss 8270 movement, costing $950 to $1,100.
The most expensive timepiece is the new $3,480 Terra Australis, a 46-mm watch featuring the Soprod A10 caliber movement. It’s housed in a case made from Bauselite, Bausele’s proprietary lightweight ceramic material that was developed in partnership with Flinders University’s Centre for NanoScale Science and Technology, in South Australia.
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The Bausele name is an acronym for “Beyond AUStralian ELEments,” and every timepiece has a unique hollow crown filled with raw Australian elements — either beach sand, red earth from the Red Centre or crushed coal. Kangaroo leather, which is used for many of the watchbands, will be showcased on custom-made Ross Didier chairs at Bausele’s Oz-themed Baselworld booth, which will also serve St Hugo wines and play Australian music.
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The company was founded in 2011 by Swiss native Christophe Hoppe, former chief financial officer for TechnoMarine and the Swatch Group’s Universo, who moved to Sydney in 2010 with his Australian dancer wife.
The watches currently sell through the bausele.com Web site and select boutiques in Australia and Indonesia, but Hoppe said he hopes to grow his current volume of 2 million Australian dollars ($1.5 million at current exchange) tenfold within the next five years.
“The idea is to create an Australian luxury brand — right now, it’s watches, but I want to do sunglasses and accessories,” said Hoppe. “I’m an ex-cfo, I’m an ex-PWC consultant, I’m an ex-boring guy, and being able to express my creativity is pretty cool. The fact that Australia gave me that opportunity is amazing.”