Founded in 1822 in the small town of Fleurier in Switzerland’s Val-de-Travers region, BOVET pioneered a successful story of globalization in the watch industry during the 19th century. In 1822, they established BOVET in Guangzhou, importing timepieces to the Qing Empire. The brand achieved great success with their “Great Eight” pocket watches and became the first Swiss watch brand with a Chinese name. In 2001, under the leadership of current president Pascal Raffy, BOVET returned to the watchmaking scene. Through vertical integration and brand rebuilding, the reborn BOVET not only developed capabilities in movement research and manufacturing but also integrated decorative crafts such as miniature painting, gold engraving, and jewelry setting, becoming a manufacture with comprehensive in-house capabilities.
Today, BOVET exemplifies the pinnacle of luxury and embodies the quintessence of Swiss haute horlogerie. As a guardian of Swiss handcrafted watchmaking, they continue to create movements that “can only be fully appreciated under a magnifying glass,” connecting the past, present, and future of watchmaking artistry while maintaining Swiss traditional watchmaking foundations.
Fleurier Collection
Over 200 years ago, BOVET brought their Fleurier-made pocket watches to foreign lands through international trade, spreading the charm of Swiss watchmaking craftsmanship worldwide. The Fleurier collection was born to pay homage to BOVET’s origins and the long history of pocket watches. Reminiscing about the elegance of keeping time in one’s pocket, it maintains the characteristic crown position at 12 o’clock and transforms the ring used for attaching the chain into bow-shaped lugs that embrace the crown, both protecting it and becoming BOVET’s most recognizable design feature.
The Fleurier collection‘s tribute to pocket watches goes beyond appearance, integrating contemporary living through ingenious evolution. The groundbreaking proprietary “Amadeo® convertible case system” is the key design linking past and present. By pressing hidden buttons on both sides of the bow-shaped lugs, the case can be removed by hand and used as a pocket watch or table clock. When worn with a strap, either side of the case can face outward.
Easy-to-Read and Operate World Time Function – Orbis Mundi
“Orbis Mundi,” meaning “world” in Latin, was introduced on BOVET’s 200th anniversary. This timepiece represents BOVET’s mechanical mastery in world time complications, simplifying world time display and setting. Its main feature is the clear display of 24 time zones, all adjustable through a single crown—rotating the crown clockwise adjusts the 24 time zones, while counterclockwise rotation sets the local hours and minutes.
The upper dial features an aventurine disc with concentric time information. The central area shows adjustable world time zones with 24 city names radially arranged. Unlike traditional world time watches with often tiny, hard-to-read city names, Orbis Mundi’s design ensures exceptional readability. This is followed by a 24-hour ring with Arabic numerals, while the outermost ring displays local time in Roman numerals. At 6 o’clock, an open-worked design reveals BOVET’s in-house balance wheel and escapement system, where one can admire the gear-driven subsidiary seconds display through a three-armed seconds hand, accompanied by aventurine 20-second graduation marks below. A 7-day power reserve indicator appears in a crescent-shaped display at 3 o’clock. The 42mm case is crafted in 18K red gold or titanium, housing BOVET’s manufacture calibre 15BM01HU hand-wound movement.
Love is So Sweet – Miss Audrey Sweet Art
The Miss Audrey series, BOVET’s signature ladies’ timepiece, won the “Ladies’ Watch Prize” at the 2020 GPHG. BOVET took this beautiful creation further with an unprecedented attempt using pure sugar to decorate the dial, creating the Miss Audrey Sweet Art watch—featuring the horological industry’s first sugar crystal dial adorned with colorful, crystalline spheres in solid or gradient colors. The sugar crystal dial is BOVET’s patented technology: first, pure sugar crystals are prepared to maintain their structure when exposed to light or heat. Then, crystals are sorted by size and mixed with special pigments, applied to the dial by miniature painting artisans. The serpentine hands forming a semi-heart curve are another design highlight—when the two hands meet, a “heart” appears, creating an anticipated moment once every hour.
Double-Sided Excellence – Virtuoso VII
BOVET combines mechanical technology with decorative craftsmanship in the Virtuoso VII, a perpetual calendar timepiece with retrograde date function. This double-sided watch’s calendar information layout reflects BOVET’s unique style, with both sides featuring hours, minutes, and small seconds displays.
One side indicates the day, date, month, and leap year cycle, requiring no adjustment for 400 years. The central hours and minutes dial and small seconds display at 6 o’clock feature guilloché enamel dials resembling precious gems, with lotus pattern engravings. The date indicator ring surrounds the hours/minutes dial, indicated by a triangular hand that instantly jumps back to 1 at month’s end. Month and day displays are at 3 and 9 o’clock respectively, with leap year indication at 12 o’clock, presenting calendar information logically and clearly. Month, day, and leap year information are displayed through three central transparent blue sapphire crystal discs with large white text.
Turning the case reveals the second dial, with an hours/minutes display matching the main dial, 5-day power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock, and small seconds at 6 o’clock corresponding to the main dial. Both sides’ seconds hands rotate coaxially, running clockwise through BOVET’s patented coaxial reverse mechanism.
Dimier Collection
As a brand with deep traditions, BOVET conveys through the Dimier collection that tradition doesn’t necessarily mean conservatism. Each Dimier timepiece combines multiple complications, demonstrating innovation in both technology and aesthetics. Traditional watchmaking crafts are expressed through contemporary design language, with the crown positioned at 3 o’clock.
An Exciting New World Time System – Recital 28 Prowess 1
After five years of development, BOVET created an unprecedented world time system, producing the first watch to compensate for daylight saving time, winning this year’s GPHG Best Mechanical Innovation Prize. The central dial features 24 rollers representing different cities, each with four positions representing UTC, AST (American Summer Time), EAS (Euro-American Summer Time), and EWT (European Winter Time). Despite solving a previously unresolved problem, operation is extremely simple—all time zones can be set via the crown, allowing reliable time conversion between America and Europe at any time of year. Date, leap year, and month information are displayed on rollers, creating exciting dynamic effects, with the date rapidly rolling back to 01 like a slot machine on the last day, while month and leap year roll forward. Equipped with a newly developed double-sided flying tourbillon offering exceptional transparency; the golden flying tourbillon is elevated by blue steel plates, creating appealing color contrast.
All 744 components feature meticulous hand-finishing, including the challenging interior angles that can only be polished by hand. Through the transparent caseback, one can admire the elaborate decoration of the R28-70-007 hand-wound movement, particularly the exquisite “Rays of Light” fan-shaped engraving on the bridges. The 10-day power reserve indicator is located on the caseback. This timepiece features BOVET’s unique “Writing Slope” case in titanium, platinum, or 18K rose gold, limited to 8 pieces annually.
Lifelike Miniature Sky – Recital 20 Asterium
The Recital 20 Asterium watch, winner of the 2023 GPHG “Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize,” is a unique creation. To accommodate the stepped movement structure, the 46mm case features the innovative “Writing Slope” case design with a domed sapphire crystal, condensing a realistic constellation distribution within. A blue sapphire crystal disc features laser-engraved zodiac constellations filled with Super-LumiNova, with the highest stars depicted at the dome’s peak, creating a poetic overhead view of the sky. A uniquely shaped white hour hand on the blue sapphire crystal disc serves three functions: indicating 24 hours, pointing north, and framing the currently visible night sky. At 6 o’clock sits BOVET’s signature double-sided flying tourbillon, rotating once per minute and indicating seconds via the 20-second scale above the tourbillon cage. The 17DM02-SKY movement is decorated with “bris de verre” engraving, displaying a sparkling, broken-glass-like texture.
Pininfarina Collection
This collection is designed in collaboration between BOVET and Italian automotive design firm Pininfarina, known for designing many highly acclaimed car models. Their collaboration began in 2010, presenting a series of unique, refined limited-edition timepieces embodying futuristic aesthetics.
The Future of Skeletonization – Aperto 1
“Aperto” means “open” in Italian. Through this piece, BOVET reinterprets the ancient watchmaking craft of skeletonization with entirely contemporary aesthetics, demonstrating simple, transparent, and light effects. BOVET created the new Calibre 15BMPF09-OW movement for the Aperto 1, featuring a transparent and clean structure where every component is visible. The 42mm case is crafted from ultra-lightweight grade 5 titanium with a sandblasted finish, while a black rubber crown sits elegantly at 12 o’clock. The watch’s strap system, inspired by the Amadeo® convertible case design, offers effortless attachment and removal. The small seconds display at 6 o’clock features a three-armed hand, with power reserve indication at 9 o’clock. The “BOVET 1822” and “Pininfarina” inscriptions on the inner side of the sapphire crystal emphasize this watch’s special nature as a collaboration between these two brands.
Incorporating Battista GT’s Design Essence – Battista Tourbillon
The 45.6mm Battista Tourbillon watch incorporates design elements from the world’s first all-electric GT hypercar, the Battista Hyper GT. Its overall appearance echoes Battista GT’s aerodynamic lines and futuristic style, including BOVET’s first asymmetric subdial design. The bridge spanning two subdials captures Battista’s smooth curves, with the 10-day power reserve indicator on the left featuring two white flags marking Pininfarina’s “f” and BOVET’s lotus symbol. The chronograph subdial on the right features the Battista signature and Pininfarina brand logo. The subdial designs closely echo Battista GT’s interior styling, while the large date window design derives from Battista’s E-Heart device, and the hand design comes from the car’s rear wing. Equipped with a new in-house movement incorporating Pininfarina’s expertise, the skeletonized structure is inspired by the Battista hypercar, with a patented double-sided tourbillon displaying stunning visual transparency, visible from both sides of the case.
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