Bovet is a watch brand that believes in going the whole nine yards, or not at all. The epic Récital 28 Prowess 1 demonstrates how the brand does this
It has been several years since I met Bovet’s owner, Pascal Raffy. But the times we met, the steely eyed and buttery-voiced entrepreneur always left me slightly dazed; bowled over by his charismatic conviction, as if he was a remnant of some horological royalty still doggedly defending what is honourable in fine watchmaking.
“What’s the point of doing something half-heartedly? Who are you really fooling then?” I remember him asking rhetorically, the questions soon extending their significance beyond his brand and its watches to how we live our lives.
Since acquiring Bovet in 2001, Raffy, who was a lawyer by profession, has been determined to re-establish the 202-year- old brand to its rightful place as a port of call for watch aficionados. Just as in the early days, when the company made ornate timekeepers and music boxes for the nobles and royalty in China during the Qing dynasty (these objets d’art remain treasured exhibits in the Forbidden City’s museum), the Bovet of today commands the appreciation of a discerning few, rather than the adulation of the masses.
But in order to do so, Raffy had to do it “the right way”, even if the process promised to be arduous. This meant acquiring and remodelling Bovet’s historic home, a 14th-century castle (Château de Môtiers, where the final assembly of the timepieces takes place) in 2006. That same year, Raffy also bought three companies that specialised in movement, case and dial manufacturing so that Bovet would have full creative and quality control over each timepiece that rolled out of its workshop.
Orchestrating a masterpiece
This issue’s cover watch, the Récital 28 Prowess 1, is an example of Bovet’s take-no-prisoners approach. From the watch’s exquisite decorations to its technical competencies, the Récital 28 Prowess 1 is a horological tour de force. In fact, the demands placed on its production are so high that only eight pieces can be produced each year.
“When the watch was in development, I said to myself that one of the key things I would love to have on my wrist is an exceptional universal time timepiece that could be adjusted for the vagaries of world time,” says Raffy in a press statement. Not only did the watchmakers at Bovet achieve his vision, in doing so, they created a first-of-its- kind timepiece.
The Récital 28 Prowess 1 makes history by being the first mechanical timepiece to circumvent the problem posed by daylight saving time (DST). The practice of advancing the clock by one hour during spring and setting it back one hour in autumn to maximise daylight hours—ostensibly to save money and energy if one spends less time indoors—DST was introduced in Germany in 1916 and adopted across North America and the rest of Europe by 1966.
Studies have shown that DST’s efficacy is, at best, debatable. But now that it’s become a thing (for some countries, while others use only one time year-round), there is the inconvenience of mismatched hours and weeks to contend with. But not so much, of course, if you are using the Récital 28 Prowess 1.
With a push of the crown, the wearer can set the watch’s world time display to any of the 24 global time zones, including Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Europe and the US summertime, and European wintertime. There is a complex system of rollers to do the job, developed in-house by Bovet for each of the 24 world cities displayed.
We imagine Raffy would be happy to indulge his customers who’d want to delve into the Récital 28 Prowess 1’s technical intricacies. But for now, he is proud of overcoming a challenge that watchmakers hadn’t been able to for centuries. “With this timepiece, you will never be at a loss for what time it is anywhere in the world,” he says. “I challenged my amazing team of engineers and watchmakers and they rose to the occasion.”
Not content with presenting just a game- changing world time complication, Bovet equips the Récital 28 Prowess 1’s hand-wound movement with a patented double-sided flying tourbillon that’s poised at the top of the dial, and a perpetual calendar that automatically calculates and shows the date, leap year and month on a special slot machine-style roller display. And unlike other complications-laden watches, which draw a lot of energy and hence come with low power reserve, the Récital 28 Prowess 1 promises 10 days of power reserve on a full wind.
All the features are beautifully arranged and decorated to the exacting, artful standards that you’d expect from a Bovet watch. These include the back of the watch, where its artisans’ hand- finishing techniques are exhibited on meticulously engraved, bevelled and polished gears and bridges.
The Récital 28 Prowess 1 joins a cast of technically and aesthetically superlative Bovet watches that hark back to the golden age of 18th- century watchmaking, while espousing the brand’s determination to own every aspect of its creative endeavour. The watch’s marketing materials estimate that its development took about five years. As shown by Raffy’s undertakings since taking over Bovet, however, the journey began much earlier. And most importantly, with unwavering resolve.
This story first appeared in the August 2024 issue. Purchase it as a print or digital copy, or consider subscribing to us here
