a tale of two gentlesportsmen
We go behind the scenes of baume & mercier’s clifton club “tribute to gentlesportsmen” video campaign featuring arifin putra and mike leWis
baume & mercier has been creating quality timepieces for every occasion since its founding all the way back in 1830. This year, the swiss watch brand introduces a new series of watches as part of its clifton collection: the clifton club. These new watches are designed with the urban, active and elegant men, or—as the brand decided to call them—the modern-day “gentlesportsmen.”
now, naturally, the launch of the new clifton club watches was accompanied by an exciting visual campaign, including a set of still photos and a cool short video. This time around, however, baume & mercier decided to create an exclusive campaign video for the indonesian market. so, the brand joined forces with time international and DA MAN to illustrate their vision of indonesia’s very own “gentlesportsmen” and how their passion for sports relate to the clifton club collection.
The video premiered in late July and is now available at the Youtube channels of both baume & mercier and DA MAN. of course, behind every great video there is always a great production story to tell. so, let us take you on a behind-the-scenes look of the newest “tribute to gentlesportsmen” video from baume & mercier, time international and DA MAN.
it’s highly recommended that you watch the video first, though. take your time, this article is not going anywhere.
Chapter 1: Who and Where
When we’re talking about indonesia’s gentlesportsmen, the obvious question is: Who would they be? Which is then followed by: Where would these gentlesportsmen look like they’re in their element? seconds into the video, however, you could clearly tell that the video was shot in bali—the quintessential indonesian
“Baume & Mercier decided to create an exclusive video for the Indonesian market”
“A gentlesportsman is someone who’s still up for a round of golf or biking right after a wedding, still in his suit. Because, why not?”
location. The cast should also be quite familiar, as it consists two leading indonesian actors: arifin putra and mike lewis.
true, the two aren’t exactly professional athletes; yet, both gentlemen are consummate sportsmen with a passion for physical activity, and tackling new challenges. more importantly, they also relish the rush of competition. “i do everything; sport is something that has been with me ever since i was a kid,” lewis gushes on set. “because i like either challenging myself or working with people to achieve a greater goal.” Then he adds: “or to overcome the competition.” it would seem that putra, who made a name for himself as an action star through movies such as “The raid 2,” shares the same view. “When you do it with friends, there is a competition, and then you want to top each other” he says, “and that is when it becomes fun.”
it certainly helped that the chemistry between the two actors was already quite strong even before they were on set. both putra and lewis have joined the cast of the upcoming “foxtrot 6,” an american-produced action-sci-fi flick featuring some of indonesia’s greatest action stars. This certainly cemented their status as two gentlemen who are more than ready to get into the thick of it. and, of course, we had quite a few adventures prepared for the duo. The first day of shooting for the “tribute to gentlesportsmen” video took place amid the verdant rice paddies of Jatiluwih, tabanan— which, by the way, is designated by unesco as a world cultural heritage site.
now, you might have noticed that the only scene featuring rice paddies was the one where the two actors went motor biking. as is usual in filmmaking, scenes are rarely shot in chronological order. That’s why watching the finished product can be quite a surprise for the audience as well as the cast.
for that day, we were supported by bali dirt bikes (+ 62 817 387 906; balidirtbikes.com) which is based in tabanan, and offers an exciting range of adventure packages for action-minded visitors to the island. to highlight the “gentlemen” aspect of our two “gentlesportsmen,” however, it was decided that we try out something unique: both talents would be filmed on their bikes while wearing suits. indeed, as you can see for yourself, putra and lewis ended up spending the entire video in formal suits.
earlier, when asked what he thought about the term “gentlesportsmen,” putra answered casually that it would be “someone who’s still up for a round of golf or biking right after a wedding, still in his suit. because, why not?” lewis, meanwhile, had a more philosophical view of the term. “a gentlesportsman, well, that is someone who clearly loves sports but also brings a sense of chivalry to it, a sense of honor, a sense of je ne sais quoi,” he elaborates. “a type of sportsman who still brings class to it.” and both sure did. still, the remote location and uncertain weather that day made shooting quite a gamble. and since Jatiluwih is basically a tourist attraction, a lot of time was spent waiting for
the inevitable crowds to disperse. all that being said, the motocross scene was a huge success, and the entire cast retired that day knowing they had overcome their first challenge.
Day 2: Diving and Kayaking
The second day of shooting began at the hotel where the cast and crew spent the night: rumah luwih boutique beach resort and spa ( Jl. Prof. Ida Bagus Mantra, Km 19.9. Gianyar, Bali; +62
361 2005899; rumahluwih.com). it was here that we shot both the opening moments and the very last scene of the video.
now, the dive into the pool was hands down the most challenging part of the entire production, for the simple reason that it could only be done once. a lot of preparation went into this part of filming, as the crew carefully measured optimum distances and camera angles. Their hard work certainly paid off. The last scene where putra and lewis were seen sipping coffee in the pool, however, was not planned at all. The two simply decided to chill in the pool while drinking coffee—it was hot that day—and our videographer decided to record the scene. Yes, sometimes, movie magic happens that way.
afterwards came the most unique and arduous task: downhill kayaking. for this part of the adventure we tapped the kayaking experts from bali adventure tours ( Jl. By Pass Ngurah Rai, Pesanggaran, Bali; +62 361 721 480;
baliadventuretours.com). it’s interesting to note that we actually had to shoot the part in the river before the whole going-downhill-in-a-kayak part. The river’s current was quite unforgiving and kayaking while wearing a suit did make the whole affair a fair bit more challenging. still, true to their role as gentlesportsmen, arifin and lewis made the scene work and seemed to have quite a bit of fun doing it. “i would say that after doing that we did have our bonding moment,” putra commented after going up and down the hill numerous times with his co-star. “because, you know, we survived it.”
The rest of the day was spent shooting a decidedly more relaxed scene at plataran ubud resort & spa ( Jl. Hanoman Pengosekan, Ubud, Bali; +62 361 978 340; plataran.com/hotels-resorts/ ubud), where the two gentlesportsmen enjoyed a gentle evening at the venue’s expansive bar. and with that, as the saying goes, the video was a wrap.
Chapter 3: Final Thoughts
We were, of course, also quite curious about what our two gentlesportsmen thought of the clifton club watches they wore for those two days while riding motocross bikes, kayaking downhill and diving headfirst into a hotel pool. “What i like most about the clifton club collection is its versatility,” lewis began. “i mean you have a swiss-made watch that’s really good priced, that you can basically carry in all aspects of life—whether you’re doing sports or when you’re suited up and you need to look really nice.” putra certainly shares the same view, noting how “it’s just nice that you can bring it to formal events, but at the same time, when you want to be active, when you just want to hang out with your friends and have some fun like here in bali, you can do that as well.”
of course, that is exactly what baume & mercier’s clifton club watches are designed for. These are watches that are fun, but can easily enhance your black-tie look; these are watches that you can take with you as you go rafting in a river, but can easily fit an outfit you’d wear to a formal wedding. These are, once again, watches for a true “gentlesportsman.”