Revealed at the SIHH 2019, the Récital 26 Brainstorm® Chapter One was developed to specifically showcase BOVET’s Engineering Brilliance “writing slope” case, which was designed by Mr. Raffy in 2016. The premier of this patented case in sapphire enables the architecture of this exclusive movement to follow the angle of the inclined planes of the case and filling it in an original and ergonomic manner.
The Récital 26 Brainstorm® Chapter One is now presented with a hemispherical dial in a transparent green quartz. Green, a symbol of hope and nature, embodies the message that Mr. Raffy and the House of BOVET sends to the collectors and humankind.
Limited to 60 movements, only, this timepiece presents a host of innovations and gives a glimpse of the scope of the unprecedented possibilities for interpreting timekeeping offered by the “writing slope” case. It offers the best legibility from the most natural angle and positioning on the wrist.
Chosen for its crystalline transparency, sapphire is also the second hardest material known after diamond. The lightness of sapphire is unsurpassed; and in fact weighs less than titanium. The complications fully justify the use of sapphire for this case which can be pivoted to observe the movement from the side. It’s atypical construction reveals a stepped architecture whose succession of inclined planes carries all the movement’s mobiles and components. The middle and glass ultimately form a single element.
The movement chosen to occupy this three-dimensional panoramic showcase is regulated by the patented double face flying tourbillon, which first appeared in BOVET’s 2015 collections. Four years later, the movement has evolved and today features a variable inertia balance for even greater chronometry through the use of a traditional hairspring. Mastery of hairspring production sets BOVET apart, a rarified science mastered by very few watchmakers. This new caliber draws its energy from a single barrel that guarantees 10 days’ power reserve despite numerous animated complications. BOVET 1822 watchmakers’ long-standing expertise in long power reserves — for which they hold the absolute record, with a pocket watch manufactured in 1900 that offers 370 days’ power reserve — is explained by their constant concern to minimize friction at the heart of the movement. The use of artisanal methods and the care taken with each detail represent the main reasons for this energy control.
They summarize the philosophy that drives the Manufacture’s technical office, based on the idea of saving energy rather than adding it, so as to increase the power reserve. The solution to the problem caused by the winding time is provided by the doubly patented spherical differential winding system that halves the number of turns of the crown required to wind the timepiece completely.
On the strength of this exemplary chronometric performance, Brainstorm® displays the hours and minutes offset at 12 o’clock. As it is the highest section under the case’s pronounced dome, the watchmakers have manufactured a special high hand-fitting. An index screwed onto the carriage wheel along with two of the carriage bridge’s arms follow one another 120° apart, crossing the graduated seconds sector in a main dial milling. The gilded titanium carriage bridge alone requires two days’ work by a single artisan solely for its decoration.
To accentuate the transparency of the case, the power reserve is displayed via a printed cam that shows the energy available through a “crescent-shaped” indicator placed at 4 o’clock. Positioned symmetrically at 8 o’clock, a big date almost mysteriously appears in a circular aperture. The entire mechanism is revealed to the collector’s eye, who will be able to appreciate its finest details through the use of the sapphire units disk that provides the necessary transparency.
At 12 o’clock, nestled in the volume of the hours and minutes dial, arises a three-dimensional moon phase, whose dome’s camber masterfully counters the curves of the dial. For heightened realism, the lunar dome’s surface is engraved, and the lower sections filled with Superluminova®. The sky is represented here in its finest expression. BOVET 1822’s dial-makers have achieved an impressive feat by setting two circular aventurine glass plates in the pronounced curve of the hemispherical moon phase indicator. The moon phases are thus read with a striking realism through the two circular apertures that overlook the dome.
The movement, entirely developed and manufactured in BOVET 1822’s offices and workshops, reveals a stepped architecture whose succession of inclined planes carries all the movement’s components. This exclusive choice offers a host of advantages from many angles.
First of all, it makes it possible to optimally fill the volume of the middle’s V-shaped profile for enhanced ergonomics and an aesthetic worthy of the most demanding criteria in fine watchmaking craftsmanship. Each indication hinges on an axis perpendicular to the bezel’s inclined plane, offering the best legibility from the most natural angle and positioning on the wrist.
This specific construction in sapphire created a set of unprecedented difficulties for all the artisans. Micro-engineers, decorators, dial-makers, and watchmakers together succeeded in meeting the many challenges presented by this new case material in the Récital 26. Mr. Raffy paid them homage by christening this new watchmaking feat Brainstorm®, which evokes both the solutions found collectively and the stroke of genius required to resolve the many unique situations in a project that has become a reality.
Collectors may choose between precious dials. According to Mr. Raffy, the green and blue dials are his favorites as they are crafted in quartz domes whose transparency allows the collector’s eye to roam unencumbered over the movement’s different layers.
As is now customary at BOVET, the Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One is presented as a limited edition, restricted to the number of movements produced. Only sixty movements will leave the manufacture’s workshops, ensuring a level of exclusivity that reflects the excellence of this timepiece.
Récital 26 Brainstorm® Chapter One, sapphire “writing slope” case in green quartz dial
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Reference Number: R260004, convex green quartz dial
LIMITED EDITION 60 movements
CASE
Type: Dimier « writing desk » case
Diameter: 48 mm
Thickness: 15.50 mm
Material: Sapphire with titanium lugs and case-back
Bracelet: Full skin alligator
Buckle: 18K white gold ardillon
Water resistance: 30m
MOVEMENT
Caliber: 17DM04-SMP
Type: Hand wound movement
Diameter: 38.50 mm (17 1/3’’’)
Frequency: 18,000V/h
Power reserve: 10 days
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds on tourbillon, big date, power reserve indicator, hemispherical moon phase indicator
DIAL: Convex green or blue quartz or propeller shape dial, different colors
GUARANTEE: 5 years
PATENTS: Spherical winding system
Tridimensional toothing with multiple gearing
Double face flying tourbillon
PRICE: CHF. 295’000.-
