Sponsorship That Befits A Jeweled Timepiece

When the curtain rises on the Los Angeles Philharmonic in two weeks, a giant logo of Breguet watches will be projected onto the wavy steel walls of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, visible from afar.

In addition to an evening of opera diva Renée Fleming performing Berlioz and Puccini, 800 patrons will be treated to a gala dinner, complete with Breguet-blue stemware and a collection of 25 rare timepieces from the Swiss watchmaker, some of which have never been seen in the U.S.

While big watch brands like Omega and Rolex scour the planet for sports stars and actors to serve as their "ambassadors," the rivalry among limited-production super-luxury watches is taking a different tack. Rather than seeking celebrity endorsements, Breguet and its primary competitors -- including Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin -- are positioning themselves as icons of high culture.

Breguet has paid a substantial sum of money to be the official timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Both sides of the deal decline to say how much, but it was enough that the orchestra has agreed not to seek any other corporate sponsors. It was also enough to bust Breguet's normal marketing budget -- the watch brand had to seek special dispensation from Nicholas Hayek Sr., chairman of Swatch Group Ltd., Breguet's parent company.

In these heady days of a luxury-watch boom, the companies are seeking new customers at art-museum functions, fund-raising societies for operas and orchestras, and other charities -- many of whom have rarely before received this lavish level of attention from corporate sponsors. These watchmakers face a particular challenge: how to generate buzz among determinedly un-buzz-able clients. "It's a very refined, cultured clientele," says Joe Thompson, editor in chief of the watch-connoisseur magazine "Watch Time."

Though they're unlikely to garner mentions in "Entertainment Weekly" or gossip columns, these high-culture relationships afford the watchmakers entrée into a certain social milieu. Breguet, for instance, will place salespeople in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's "green room" -- a room that is made available during performance intermissions for big donors to mingle and nibble on hors d'oeuvres.

"Breguet has a consumer base that is very compatible with a number of our patrons," says Deborah Borda, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Vacheron last March became a sponsor of the Paris National Opera, backing 16 performances of Puccini's Tosca at the Opéra Bastille. Vacheron also sponsors the Barbier-Mueller Museum, a repository of primitive arts in Geneva, and last year it presented a collection of its watches at a Beverly Hills fund-raiser for the fight against a deadly skin disease.

In fact, just days after Breguet locked up the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier this year, a representative of Vacheron called the orchestra's development office to see if the organization had a watch sponsor. Vacheron quickly declined to proceed when it heard that its rival was already involved, says the Philharmonic executive who took the call. A Vacheron spokeswoman this week said she was unaware of any plans for a Los Angeles Philharmonic marketing effort.

Patek Philippe, a private family-owned company that is the clear sales leader of these watch-making rivals thanks to a long relationship with Tiffany, shuns celebrity advertisements. It instead impresses the concept of pedigree with its slogan, "You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation." The watchmaker also sponsors Esplanade, an arts center in Singapore.

In addition to backing the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Breguet is paying for a renovation of Le Petit Trianon, the chateau on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris, that was the retreat of one of A.-L. Breguet's early clients, Marie Antoinette. "There's no sponsoring a car or golf," says Jean-Marc Bories, president of Breguet's U.S. operations. "That's not Breguet."

To get the relationship with the Philharmonic off to a friendly start, Mr. Bories threw an intimate dinner at the watch brand's new Rodeo Drive boutique last May, inviting the Philharmonic's gala-planning committee. The group included Henry Mancini's widow, Ginny Mancini, and Alyce Williamson, whose husband, Warren "Spud" Williamson, is a member of the well-known Chandler media family and is separately pursuing a lifelong dream of owning a horse that wins the Kentucky Derby.

The group, seated at a series of round tables in the boutique, drank Margaux wines, nibbled on a cheese course with a creamy Epoisse, and discussed the possibility of selling Breguet watches in the Philharmonic's gift shop.

Mrs. Williamson proposed that the Philharmonic's gala be Breguet-themed, featuring characters dressed as former clients of the esteemed watchmaker, including Marie Antoinette, Napoleon and Winston Churchill. Several weeks later, this concept had blossomed into a full Versailles theme in which waiters would wear powdered wigs, each with a Breguet watch planted in the hair.

Executives for Breguet blanched at the security problems involved in securing as much as $7 million of watches to roving waiters' heads. They quickly nixed the idea.

Breguet prices start at $6,800 for a comparatively simple men's steel chronograph. Of several rare watches being flown in from Switzerland for the Los Angeles event is a $1.5 million gold pocket watch, a sister to one commissioned by a Saudi oil prince; three "high jewelry" ladies' watches that are studded with jewels; and a classic Breguet watch known as "Le Reveil du Tsar."

Breguets are entirely mechanical, wound by hand or by the movement of a wearer's arm. The company must often educate its clients, some of whom don't fully comprehend the differences between battery-driven quartz watches for the masses and mechanical luxury watches.

"Breguet is going to be the exclusive timepiece of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and I'm going to buy the first one!" Mrs. Mancini announced at the beginning of the dinner. An hour or so later, as she inspected one watch being passed around by a salesman, she inquired, "Where does the battery go?"