Watches for Crazy Middle Class Asians – three affordable timepieces everyone can covet

This column likes to be fashionably late to pop culture goings-on, so this week I thought I would offer my unsolicited opinion on Crazy Rich Asians. Generally speaking, it is not terrible, and it is nice to see Asian actors star in a Hollywood blockbuster, but the whole making-Singapore-look-fun-and-interesting thing? Come on! The movie looks like an ad from the Singapore Tourism Board. We all know Singapore sucks, and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.

Anyway, that’s enough well-reasoned hot takes for one week. In this column, we are going to look at more affordable fare – that is, watches in the price range of Crazy Middle Income Asians.

Baume is a new “affordable luxury” brand from the Richemont group, which also owns, among others, IWC and Cartier. At first, I wondered if launching a brand in an already crowded market was a good idea, particularly as it wasn’t selling smartwatches, had no heritage to back up the price point and would confuse potential customers given the brand-name similarities with Richemont-owned Baume-et-Mercier. After much thought, however, I have come to the conclusion that the major selling points Baume is pushing – that its watches are highly customisable, with environmentally sound production, on top of a modern design and attractive pricing – are fresh and appealing.

Baume has adopted the NIKEiD approach, with an online customisation service that lets you start off with a blank slate – you can pick the dial, the case, the hands, the strap and even engrave your watch. Or you can choose one of the brand’s standard designs, such as the 41mm Retrograde watch, and either buy it as is or customise it. This watch has a steel case, a Miyota movement and a vegan cork strap (that environ­mentally friendly angle again), and all of this will cost you €530 (US$623) without any customisation.

Baume claims its customising service means it has 2,000 permutations for its watches, which is not to be sniffed at.