BAUME & MERCIER WELCOMES SHREYAS IYER AS FRIEND OF THE MAISON

Baume & Mercier has welcomed Shreyas Iyer as Friend of the Maison, beginning a new chapter for the Swiss watchmaker in India. The appointment brings together a house with almost two centuries of watchmaking history and a cricketer whose career has increasingly been defined by leadership as much as performance.

For Iyer, the association arrives at an important moment. His progression from an emerging domestic player to an international cricketer and captain has been accompanied by a growing influence beyond the boundary, where his interest in fashion and personal style has become part of his public identity. For Baume & Mercier, meanwhile, the partnership provides a contemporary expression of qualities that have long informed the Maison’s approach to watchmaking: precision, determination, character and an appreciation for significant moments.

Both achievement and responsibility have shaped Iyer’s sporting career. A right-handed batter known for his ability to build an innings while maintaining an attacking intent, he has established himself as an important figure in Indian cricket across formats. His leadership record has become particularly notable within the Indian Premier League, where he has guided three different franchises to the final — Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings — an unusual distinction in the tournament’s history.

His first IPL final as captain came with Delhi in 2020. Four years later, he led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title in 2024, completing a campaign in which the side finished as champions. His subsequent move to Punjab Kings produced another significant chapter: in 2025, Iyer led the franchise to its first final in more than a decade. The IPL’s official profile records that he scored 604 runs during that campaign at an average of 50.33, while his leadership helped take Punjab to the final.

The 2026 season has brought another defining responsibility. In June, Iyer was named captain of India’s T20 International side for the team’s upcoming assignments against Ireland and England and at the 2026 Asian Games. The appointment placed him at the head of one of cricket’s most closely followed national teams and further strengthened the leadership dimension of his career.

This progression makes his connection with Baume & Mercier particularly pertinent. The Maison’s philosophy has historically been concerned not only with the mechanics of watchmaking but with the relationship between technical precision and design. Iyer’s career similarly combines performance with a visible sense of individuality, creating an association that extends beyond the straightforward pairing of a watch brand with a sporting personality.

Baume & Mercier’s story began long before the modern language of ambassadors and brand partnerships. In 1830, Louis Joseph Baume established a watchmaking counter in Les Bois, a village in Switzerland’s Jura region in the Canton of Berne. His sons Louis-Victor and Célestin later registered the business as Frères Baume, la Famille Louis Joseph. Over the following decades, the company developed an international reputation and received ten Grand Prix and five gold medals at World’s Fairs in Paris, London and Geneva between 1860 and 1910.

The modern Maison took shape through another partnership. William Baume and Paul Mercier joined forces in 1918, bringing together William’s technical watchmaking expertise with Mercier’s interest in aesthetics and the arts. On 27 August 1920, they formally established Baume & Mercier in Geneva. Their complementary approach influenced the Maison’s subsequent direction, from ultra-slim watches to jewellery watches and designs that explored forms beyond the traditional round case.

That balance between technical knowledge and visual character remains evident across Baume & Mercier’s present collections. The Riviera, Clifton, Classima and Hampton families each interpret the Maison’s heritage through different proportions and design languages, while the company continues to develop watches in the Swiss Jura. Its current collections encompass both contemporary and traditional watchmaking, retaining the emphasis on carefully considered forms that became part of the Maison’s identity under its two modern founders.

Iyer’s appointment also reflects the importance of India to the Maison’s wider history. The Baume name developed an international presence across markets including India and Australia during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, long before the modern expansion of global luxury retail. The country therefore represents not an entirely new territory for the watchmaker, but a market with historical links to the brand’s international development.

Today, Baume & Mercier’s official store locator lists authorised points of sale across India, including locations in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur and other cities. The network includes established watch retailers and department-store locations, reflecting the Maison’s continued presence across the country.

For Iyer, the partnership adds a new dimension to a career that is already moving between sport, leadership and contemporary culture. His appeal extends beyond statistics: his public image has developed alongside his cricketing achievements, giving him a natural place within conversations around style and modern Indian identity.

Baume & Mercier, in turn, gains a partner whose career is still evolving rather than resting solely on past accomplishments. His appointment as India’s T20I captain gives the collaboration particular immediacy, while his record as an IPL leader provides a substantial foundation beneath the partnership.

The connection ultimately feels less about placing a watch beside a sporting achievement than about the meaning attached to time itself. In cricket, a career is measured through seasons, innings, victories and moments of pressure; in watchmaking, time is translated into movement, proportion and precision. Shreyas Iyer’s arrival at Baume & Mercier brings those two interpretations into the same frame, creating a partnership centred on a simple but enduring idea: that achievement is shaped not only by reaching the next milestone, but by the discipline required to get there.