Raffy: “It’s very important to preserve the essence of the Bovet 1822 DNA, but we’re also very keen to innovate.”
Bovet 1822 embraces change while still keeping tradition alive.
The heritage of celebrated Swiss watchmaker Bovet can be traced as far back as 1822 when it was officially founded by Edouard Bovet. This explains the name “Bovet 1822” which the brand is known by.
The son of a watchmaker, Edouard travelled all the way to China in 1818 to sell his pocket watches. He easily found buyers for his timepieces and returned to Switzerland a rich man. The trip also opened his eyes to the huge opportunity that the Asian market presented.
Together with his brothers, Eduoard established the Bovet company in 1822, focusing on highly decorative timepieces with chronometrically advanced movements.
Bovet 1822 VirtuosoXI is inspired by the Corinthian design.
In 2001, the brand was acquired by Pascal Raffy, a former pharmaceutical industry executive and a passionate watch collector. Soon after, he began purchasing additional manufacturing sites in Switzerland, not only to ensure the company’s independence, but also to have full control over the quality in all aspects of the production of the watches.
Today, the house of Bovet 1822 offers haute horlogerie pieces that are unmistakably inspired by the brand’s pocket watch history.
Balance hairsprings made at Bovet’s workshop.
For instance, its 19Thirty Fleurier collection was influenced by the last pocket watches crafted by Maison Bovet just before the advent of the wristwatches. Its balance is inherited from the stylistic details of the “easel” chronometer that was patented in 1930 and symbolised the shift towards wristwatches.
The company also makes its own hairsprings and dials, in addition to having the movement design and production in-house. The watch brand celebrated its 200th anniversary a couple of years ago, and has a proud and long heritage of producing hand-crafted miniature art pieces serving as dials, encased in equally intricate engraved cases.
The art of engraving at the House of Bovet.
Its limited edition and often one-of-a-kind watches are as much ornate art as they are timepieces, with a level of beauty and sophistication that has endured since the days of Bovet’s Chinese Emperor collectors from past centuries.
“That’s why, apart from having a team of watchmaking specialists, we also have in-house artisans in the workshop who are focussed on engraving and decorations in our manufacturing site in Tramelan, Switzerland,” reveals Raffy, the honoured guest of regional watch retailers Pacific Time during his stopover in Kuala Lumpur.
“The miniature paintings on our watches, for example, are typically done on a mother-of-pearl dial as the paint adheres to the surface very well.
“Our ‘miniature’ painters, depending on the subject, can finish one dial in about 120 hours. Once the dial is completed, it is fired in an oven to set the paint and placed under the sapphire crystal so that the colours never change,” he elaborates.
Bovet’s Recital 28.
With such attention to detail, it’s no wonder that Bovet 1822 timepieces are found in museums all around the world, from the British Museum in London to the Forbidden City in Beijing and MOMA in New York City to the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, Switzerland.
This revelation also indicates that Raffy is quite the globetrotter himself.
“My first visit to Malaysia was some 30 years ago. And my last time here was just six years ago! We do this because we love to bring our art to the world. I’d like to think that we do a lot to innovate watchmaking!
“Now that we are proudly with Pacific Time in all of the Asian region, it’s important to make our presence felt in such a burgeoning watch retail scene every so often.”
The 19Thirty Fleurier with red guilloche.
Raffy then makes an astonishing statement – Bovet only produces about 1,000 timepieces annually!
“Of course, Bovet 1822 is proud that there’s this undeniable sense of exclusivity surrounding its creations. But we are a fully integrated concern − meaning we make our own components for all our movements, the dials and hands as well as all our cases.
“So, for the 1,000 watches which we make every year, you’ll find a fascinating amount of innovation as well,” he continues.
Miniature painting for a Bovet 1822 watch dial.
“For instance, the Fleurier case is Bovet 1822’s signature case with a distinctive ‘Bovet Bow’ at 12 o’clock, while our Amadeo case is a patented system that allows something like our Miss Audrey timepiece to be easily transformed from a wristwatch to a necklace and then to a desk-clock, without using any tools whatsoever!”
Perhaps the most noticeable trait of the House of Bovet 1822 is its playful approach towards the dials of its watches.
“We use everything from aventurine (green quartz) and the glow of Super-LumiNova to a dashing charcoal meteorite, and on occasion, even remove a large section of the dial to expose the intricate mechanism and engravings inside.
“We also specialise in bespoke engraving, and can cater to just about any request,” says Raffy.
The miniature painting for Bovet 1822 watches is done by hand.
“We’ve done compass rose engravings, as well as other modern and traditional themes. On the dials, we have done sky charts of the owner’s date and time of birth, and have reproduced photos and famous paintings,” he highlights.
One of the brand’s more spectacular bespoke creations is a pair of watches for its recent collaboration with Rolls-Royce, commissioned by serious collectors of the two brands.
“Every component was custom-made, including the case and the movement, and the timepieces were designed to mount onto the dashboard of the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail coach-built (as in specially or individually built bodywork) car back in 2018.”
And if that’s not enough, the maison also manufactures parts for other industries such as aeronautics, electronics and medical as well!
Bovet’s decoration workshop in Switzerland.
“This is because Bovet’s stamping operation is unique, and they work well with other industries,” the Bovet owner and CEO says.
“The only things we do not manufacture in-house are straps, sapphire crystals, gem-setting parts and the watches’ mainsprings.”
If the past decades are anything to go by, then watch collectors and enthusiasts can keep expecting more great things from Raffy’s leadership.
Maison Bovet 1822’s headquarters in Chateau de Motiers, Switzerland.
Recent expansion for the brand that began in 2023 alone is incredibly impressive for a company that produces just 1,000 watches per year, having opened prime-location new boutiques in Hanoi, Vietnam and Melbourne, Australia for the first time.
“We are a brand with a 200-year-old history. As such, it’s very important for our latest collections, just like our previous collections, to preserve the essence of the Bovet 1822 DNA.
“But then, we also look to the future and are keen to innovate.
“That’s why we’ve played with colours, used a plethora of different materials, explored rubber straps and sun-blasted titanium cases, and so much more,” Raffy adds.The maison has surely done a brilliant job in incorporating both futuristic and innovative design techniques together, while still keeping the traditional identity of Bovet 1822 at the forefront.
