Luxury Swiss watch brand, Baume & Mercier, brought its pedigree to the millennial crowd Monday as a sponsor of the Forbes Under 30 Summit held in Philadelphia.
Rudy Chavez, president of Baume & Mercier North America, presented a Classima stainless steel watch (pictured above) engraved with a congratulatory message to Elizabeth Holmes, who received the Forbes Under 30 “Doers Award.”
Holmes, 31, holds the distinction of being America’s richest self-made woman and youngest female billionaire. She is the CEO of Theranos, a $9 billion blood testing company that she founded in 2003 at age 19 while a chemical engineering major at Stanford University. She developed a method to provide blood testing at a fraction of the time and cost that US healthcare providers now do it. It’s predicted to change medical screening throughout the world.
“I recently became a grandfather and when I look at my granddaughter, I am motivated to remain healthy and aware of what may affect my future well being,” Chavez said while presenting the watch. “Elizabeth Holmes is making it possible for people like me to help detect a variety of medical conditions with a prick of the finger and a drop of blood.”
The presentation by Baume & Mercier serves as a way to introduce the world of Swiss luxury watches to young people. Classima is marketed as a way for millennials to celebrate their first success, such as graduating college or landing that first job.
To further the Classima message, in July, Baume & Mercier launched a social media contest asking young professionals to celebrate their achievements by sharing #MyMomentofSuccess on Baume & Mercier’s social channels. The grand prize went to Skyler McCurine, founder of Le Red Balloon, for conducting a TED talk about the power of selflessness, inner beauty and personal strength. McCurine was awarded a Classima watch and an invitation to the Forbes Under 30 Summit.
The watch brand also launched a video, screened at the summit, titled, “Celebrate Life’s First Successes with the Classima,” which shows a young man celebrating his first professional achievement by treating himself to a Classima watch. It also sponsored one of several dinners held in Philadelphia area restaurants for attendees.
In its fourth year, the Forbes Under 30 Summit provides a forum for more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, many among the most successful in the world. The summit, which opened Sunday, will run till October 7.
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