Since its rebirth at the turn of the millennium under Pascal Raffy, Bovet has pursued independence to a degree few others can claim. Tangibly, it is a fully fledged, vertically integrated manufacture that produces nearly every component in-house, from cases and dials to gears and hairsprings. But no less independent is its technical vision. Bovet’s watches have such an ornate, classical beauty about them that it might be easy to miss just how unusual and singular their mechanics are. Even a complication as traditional as the tourbillon is reimagined with a double-sided flying architecture, where the cage has no upper or lower pivot, but is carried on a central ball bearing between two platforms.

This independence of thought culminated in the Récital 28 Prowess 1 last year, the first world time watch to fully account for Daylight Saving Time. It discards the traditional city disk altogether, replacing it with 24 rollers, each with four city names. At a press of the crown, a selector train engages a vast central wheel whose periphery is cut with radial teeth and whose angled flanks carry conical teeth. The radial teeth receive motion from the selector, while the conical teeth drive a ring of horizontal pinions, each meshed to a roller. The result is a single simultaneous quarter-turn of all 24 rollers, reassigning the cities to reflect the chosen system of timekeeping – UTC, AST, EAS, or EWT – so that the dial remains consistent with real-world offsets at all seasons.

Bovet Récital 28 Prowess 1 in Platinum (Image: ©Revolution)

There is a hard mechanical beauty inherent in a display shown on rollers that is satisfying in its own right; directed at the untidy problem of DST it becomes singular. To this Bovet added its signature double-sided flying tourbillon as well as a perpetual calendar likewise expressed on rollers. The date is retrograde, driven by a rectilinear rack and helical spring that accumulates tension day by day and discharges at the end of the month, snapping the date drum back while advancing the month star, which drives the month roller forward by one increment. A leap year roller completes the system, all of it powered by a single barrel with an impressive 10 days of power reserve.

The signature double-sided flying tourbillon as well as a perpetual calendar likewise expressed on rollers (Image: ©Revolution)

This year, Bovet has distilled the essence of the invention with the Récital 30, a cleaner, daily-wear take on the concept. Measuring 42mm by 12.9mm, it is markedly more compact, giving pride of place to the brand’s ingenious roller-based world time display while dispensing with the perpetual calendar and tourbillon. Notably, the display manages 25 zones, including India’s GMT+5:30 and is calibrated for the same four timekeeping periods, which can be adjusted via the pusher at 2 o’clock.

Bovet Récital 30 in Titanium (Image: ©Revolution)

The Récital 30 is offered in two configurations. The first, in red gold or titanium, anchors the display to Coordinated Universal Time, with New Delhi printed in black and marked by a yellow or red arrow. A secondary minutes hand corresponds to India’s 30-minute offset. Bovet has not only acknowledged IST but has built an entire variant around it. In this second version, the central yellow or red hands indicate New Delhi time, with all other world-time hours read relative to it, while an additional minutes hand – silver on titanium or gold on red gold – provides the 19Thirty anniversary watch adopts a pared-back aesthetic for its dial, which is available in three colours the indication for the rest of the world.

The ‘New Delhi’ printed in black and marked by a yellow arrow (Image: ©Revolution)

The Miss Audrey “Bris de Verre”, by contrast, makes its case not through any complication but through its surface. Its dial is cut into thousands of small triangles, engraved one by one with a steel onglette – a chisel with a pointed tip. The labour is fiendishly demanding, requiring between 15 to 20 hours to complete each dial. Over the course of a single dial, the tool must be resharpened anywhere from 5 to 40 times as its tip dulls or breaks under repeated pressure. What emerges is a field of facets that scatter light like snow in the sun, sustained by patience, the discipline of the eye and the steadiness of the hand across thousands of cuts. Each triangle has to be uniform in size, depth and angle if the brilliance is to hold together.

The Miss Audrey “Bris de Verre” (Image: ©Revolution)

Colour on the white dial comes from four pear-shaped sapphires, with hour and minute hands in flame-blued steel filled with Super-Luminova that come together to form an outline of a heart approximately every hour and 5 minutes. The case is 36mm and in stainless steel, set with over 100 diamonds, while Bovet’s Amadeo system allows the watch to be converted into a pendant or table clock. The Miss Audrey “Bris de Verre” was released to coincide with Valentine’s Day, but its beauty has enduring appeal.

The Bovet’s Amadeo system allows the watch to be converted into a pendant or table clock (Image: ©Revolution)

This year Bovet has also unveiled a modern take on the 19Thirty, a collection that has stood for a decade as one of the brand’s most distinctive collections. To mark the anniversary, the brand introduced a special edition in stainless steel that reinterprets its familiar codes with a lighter, more modern touch. When the model was first launched in 2015 it was conceived as a bridge between past and present, drawing directly on a pocket chronometer from the 1930s in Pascal Raffy’s own collection. T hat watch, sometimes called the “easel” chronometer, belonged to the last generation of Bovet pocket timepieces before the wristwatch displaced them. The 19Thirty made that transition its theme, adopting the Fleurier case with bow and crown at 12 o’clock, and carrying it intact to the wrist.

The 19Thirty 10th Anniversary (Image: ©Revolution)

Available in three dial colours, the 10th Anniversary edition pares that history back to a lighter expression. Where earlier models had elaborate multi-part dials and ornate finishing, this anniversary watch is more minimalist with a full lacquered dial. The weight of the Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6, and 9 anchors the composition well while the power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock adds a touch of asymmetry that keeps the dial lively. The typography has presence without heaviness, and the generous spaces allow the offset chapter ring to carry much of the design.

The weight of the Arabic numerals at 12, 3, 6, and 9 anchors the composition well (Image: ©Revolution)

While the dial has changed, inside remains Bovet’s capable in-house hand-wound calibre 15BM04 with its highly distinctive architecture. It offers a seven-day reserve on a single barrel and features an off-centered gear train arranged for visual symmetry across the lower half of the main plate. More than 95% of the components are made in-house at Tramelan, with final assembly in Môtiers. As a commemoration it succeeds in reminding us of Bovet’s history while quietly testing how far the design can be pared back. It is less ornate, more modern and shows that the 19Thirty still has room to evolve.

Bovet in-house hand-wound calibre 15BM04 (Image: ©Revolution)

Tech Specs: Récital 28 Prowess 1 (Platinum)

Movement: Manual winding Caliber R28-70-00X; 10-day power reserve; 2.5Hz or 18,000vph
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds on flying tourbillon; world t ime on rollers with UTC, American Summer Time, European and American Summer Time and European Winter Time; perpetual calendar with rollers for date (retrograde), month, and leap year, disk for the day
Case: 46.3mm × 17.85mm; titanium, 18K red gold, or 950 platinum; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Inner and outer ring in aventurine; rollers in black PVD
Strap: Double-face full skin alligator with folding buckle in platinum
Availability: 60 pieces in total
Price: CHF 716,000 (excluding VAT)

Tech Specs: Récital 30 (Titanium)

Movement: Self-winding Caliber R30-70-001; 62-hour power reserve; 4Hz or 28,800vph
Functions: Hours, minutes and additional minute hand for UTC or IST; world time on rollers with UTC, American Summer Time, European and American Summer Time and European Winter Time; central day-and-night display
Case: 42mm × 12.9mm; titanium or 18K red gold; water resistant to 30m
Dial: 26 rollers (24 city rollers, 1 time period roller, 1 world time roller); Central 24-hour world time dial, additional New Delhi indication, additional minute hand
Strap: Rubber
Price: CHF 68,000 (excluding VAT)

Tech Specs: Miss Audrey Bris De Verre

Movement: Self-winding calibre 11BA15; 42-hour power reserve; 4Hz or 28,800 vph
Functions: Hours and minutes
Case: 36mm × 11.30 mm; stainless steel case and bow set with 103 brilliant-cut diamonds (~0.99 ct); patented Amadeo convertible system; water-resistant to 30m
Dial: Hand-engraved “Bris de Verre” motif; four pear-shaped coloured sapphires; flame-blued steel heart-shaped hands with white Super-LumiNova
Strap: White full-grain alligator with stainless steel ardillon buckle
Price: CHF 36,000 (excluding VAT)

Tech Specs: 19Thirty 10th Anniversary

Movement: Manual-winding calibre 15BM04; 7-day power reserve, 3Hz or 21,600vph
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, power-reserve indicator
Case: 42 × 9.05 mm; polished stainless steel; domed sapphire crystal; water-resistant to 30m
Dial: Simplified lacquer dials — blue; green “In the Dusk”; black “Queen of Trees” with glitter
Strap: Full-skin alligator or rubber
Price: CHF 21,000 (excluding VAT)