The inauguration on 22 May this year of the first Cartier store in St Petersburg was a three-part event held on the banks of the River Moika. The three highlights were a cocktail party, a dinner in the Mikhailovsky Palace and a night-time cruise on the River Neva.

American actress Demi Moore, who flew in specially from Hollywood, appeared on a Riva yacht alongside Bernard Fornas, Chairman and CEO of Cartier International. Her VIP arrival attracted a horde of paparazzi. Together they welcomed more than 300 guests to the Cartier store in the presence of Prince and Princess Alexander of Yugoslavia, himself the great-grandson of the Duchess Pavlovna.

Bernard Fornas then received his guests at the Mikhailovsky Palace, a fortress built by Paul I, for a gala dinner, preceded by a private concert directed by maestro Valery Gergiev. Landscape artist Louis Benech designed a French garden for the occasion in front of the Palace.

Lastly, at the end of the dinner, guests boarded a boat hired specially for a cruise on the River Neva.

After several months of major renovation work, the Omega Museum is once again open to the public, with the conquest of the moon and sports timekeeping prominent among its exhibits.

The Omega Museum opened its doors to the public in January 1984, making it the oldest watchmaking museum devoted to a single brand. Located opposite the firm’s headquarters in Biel, it exhibits objects representative of the firm’s entire history, including the work bench used by Louis Brandt in his early career more than 160 years ago.

Speaking at its re-opening after major renovation work managed by its new curator Brandon Thomas, Stephen Urquhart, the CEO of Omega, compared the work to an archaeological dig. «Not only have we renovated the entire museum, we’ve also restored many features of this listed period building. This project also gave us the opportunity to revise our complete collection. Some objects which we didn’t even know existed, for example a pocket watch used by Albert Einstein, are being shown for the first time.»

Visitors of course also have an opportunity to discover the timekeeping equipment developed by the firm throughout its Olympic history since 1932. The brand was also closely involved in NASA’s manned spaceflight programme. Indeed the Omega Speedmaster was worn during all six moon landings and continues to be worn on all NASA missions. The museum’s exhibition highlights the role of this model in space legend and exhibits four of the watches that were worn on lunar expeditions.

A new section of the museum is dedicated solely to prototypes: watches that have been developed by Omega but which, for one reason or another, were never marketed. Visitors can also discover timepieces that belonged to famous people: Lawrence of Arabia, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie and even... James Bond! Also present are models owned by artists such as Salvador Dali, Max Bill, Gilbert Albert, etc.

Located at rue Jakob-Stämpfli 96 in Biel (tel. +41 (0)32 343 92 11), the Omega Museum is open to the public from Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, except Bank holidays. Entrance is free. Guided tours available in English, French and German.

Hublot has a new ambassador in the person of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the fastest man of all time (9.58 seconds over 100 metres and 19.19 seconds over 200 metres).

For Hublot, Usain Bolt is not only an exceptional athlete, but also a man who shares his gifts with simplicity. Like him, the brand gladly helps to support those who are less fortunate via the fruits of its success. Usain, for his part, is involved personally in a number of foundations working on behalf of children, particularly in Jamaica.

For Jean-Claude Biver, the CEO of Hublot, «seeing your watch worn by the world’s fastest man sends out a strong message! The notion of time, for him and for us, is sacred. While we measure it, Usain always succeeds in beating it!» Meanwhile Usain Bolt declared: «I’m delighted to join other prestigious ambassadors such as Manchester United, Diego Maradona and the Ayrton Senna family, and I hope that my times will continue to improve with Hublot!»

For the fifth edition of its Baume & Mercier & Moi campaign, the Geneva based watchmaker has chosen the American actor Andy Garcia, originally from Cuba, as its new ambassador. The way the campaign works in aid of charity is both simple and effective: Andy Garcia, like the Hollywood celebrities of previous campaigns, offers his fame and image to Baume & Mercier free of charge for one year in exchange for financial support given by the firm to the charitable organisations of his choice. The image rights of Andy Garcia and those of photographer Greg Gorman will therefore be paid to several organisations active in cancer research, children’s education, support to underprivileged women, the fight against poverty and medical research.

The choice of Andy Garcia as Baume & Mercier ambassador is fully justified by the many points in common between the actor and the Geneva based company. Like Baume & Mercier, Andy Garcia embodies a classic elegance, an authentic personality and a charisma imbued with natural and timeless sophistication. His humanism and generosity make him an ideal ambassador for the Baume & Mercier & Moi campaign. The roles he plays and the films he makes attest very often to the importance he attaches to historical heritage, particularly in his film The Lost City, but also to family values. Andy Garcia has been married for 27 years and is the father of four children. He has also composed, played and sung on several original film soundtracks.

Convinced of the high potential of the Asian market which accounts for no less than 40% of its turnover, Corum has opened a store in the heart of Hong Kong’s financial district.

At the end of 2009, Corum and its partner Swiss Prestige decided to pool their strengths and know-how by opening in Hong Kong the world’s first Corum store. The move sends a strong message and is a defiant gesture in the face of the economic crisis for a brand whose presence on markets is growing all the time. Located in one of the world’s most elegant thoroughfares, near the very tourist district of LankwaiFong, this showcase of prestige watchmaking with a floor space of 25m2 provides an exclusive space for the brand and will serve as the ambassador for all Corum displays around the globe.

Attesting to the health of the company based in La Chaux-de-Fonds and its growth potential, the opening of this store is a potent symbol and the logical outcome of work to reposition Corum initiated with the arrival of CEO Antonio Calce in 2005.

In Hong Kong, Corum also has plans this year to relocate a number of its points of sale – and open some new ones – in order to benefit more fully from the important Chinese customer base (80 to 90% of business is generated directly by Chinese). The brand is also planning a major consolidation of its distribution network in China – where it opened three new points of sale in 2009 – by establishing between five and ten more this year in the four main areas of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as in the cities of Harbin, Changchun, Hangzhou, Kunming and Shenyang. They will take the form of shop corners measuring from 12 to 18m2.

On a final note, Corum will soon be opening with retailer Europe its second point of sale in Macao, voted recently by Chinese visitors their preferred shopping destination.