The entire watchmaking world came together on November 13, 2024 at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), the Oscars of watchmaking, to award the BOVET Récital 28 Prowess 1 with the Mechanical Exception Prize.
The Grand Prix awards are voted on by almost 1,000 knowledgeable watch industry experts, journalists, collectors, and watch retailers from around the world, with the final jury of 30 picking from the 90 nominated timepieces, chosen from thousands of submissions.
Over the centuries, watchmaking has shattered boundaries and solved problems heretofore never addressed. One of these problems is Daylight Saving Time. No mechanical world timer was able to adjust to the vagaries of the time change, springing forward and falling back – when 70 countries went to Daylight Saving Time, 120 countries were wrong on all world timers.
Until now.
The Récital 28 Prowess 1, inspired by the travels of Edouard Bovet (the founder of BOVET more than 200 years ago) and the importance of innovation, BOVET owner Pascal Raffy and his team engineered and designed this complex timepiece that is simple to use and stunning on the wrist.
“My thanks go to the GPHG, the Jury, and the Academy for this honor, but first and foremost my heartfelt appreciation and respect to my extraordinary team at BOVET, artisans all, without whom none of our achievements would be possible,” says Mr. Raffy.
Housed in BOVET’s trademarked Writing Slope case, the Recital 28 Prowess 1 puts its spectacular handcrafted movement on full display through an exhibition back, something BOVET pioneered back in the early 1800s.
A technical and mechanical masterpiece, this incredible timepiece features:
- The first timepiece of its kind in the history of watchmaking
- Combining adjustable world time on rollers, an expanded flying tourbillon, and unique perpetual calendar indications
- Patented Function Isolator to protect the perpetual calendar from incorrect manipulation
- Incredibly complex, yet simple to understand and use
- Severely limited production (max 8 per year)
- Limited to 60 total movements
- Completely hand-finished and hand-engraved manufacture movement
- Available in titanium, 18K red gold, and platinum
- 744 Components
- 5 years in development; 4 patents
The BOVET Récital 28 Prowess 1 is truly ground-breaking and the worthy winner of the Mechanical Exception award, granted by the GPHG.
All the Details
For the first time in the history of watchmaking, the Récital 28 Prowess 1 has solved the Daylight Savings Time issue that has plagued ALL world timers. Previously, collectors either had to set their world timers for the countries that changed or for the countries that didn’t change (only about a third of the world changes, 70 countries out of 195) – either way, a large part of the world was always wrong.
The Récital 28 Prowess 1 revolutionizes world timers because now, no matter the period of time during the year, this timepiece is always accurate.
The breakthrough was deciding to use rollers instead of a conventional display. Because the dates when the USA and Europe change to Daylight Saving Time are not fixed from year to year, it was impossible to do it in a traditional way. The 24 city rollers are printed on four sides, and the time period roller is printed with the four different periods: UTC, American Summertime (AST), Europe and America Summertime (EAS), and European Wintertime (EWT). When you press the sapphire cabochon on the crown, all 25 rollers turn 90 degrees at the same time. The cities that don’t change for Daylight Saving Time are printed four times that city (e.g. Beijing), and the cities that do change, like Geneva, are printed three times Geneva and one time the city next to it, in this case London, as Geneva and London both change position on the dial when they go to Daylight Saving Time.
In addition to this unique feature, the Récital 28 Prowess 1 boasts an expanded flying tourbillon, a perpetual calendar with roller-based indications, and an impressive 10-day power reserve from a single barrel.
The Récital 28 Prowess 1 is a result of over five years of development, featuring meticulous hand-finishing and beautiful hand-engraved. This timepiece is severely limited, with only 60 total movements being produced. The timepiece is available in 18K Red Gold, 950 Platinum, and Grade 5 Titanium.
The Récital 28 Prowess 1 represents a significant leap in solving terrestrial timekeeping problems, ensuring accuracy in global timekeeping.
The Récital 28 Prowess 1 is a world-first breakthrough that advances the art of high watchmaking.
Discover more exciting creations from BOVET with Cortina Watch online, visit us at our boutiques, or contact a sales representative today to learn more.
