GPHG 2024

For the first time in the history of watchmaking, the Récital 28 Prowess 1 has solved the Daylight Savings Time issue that has plagued ALL world timers. Previously, collectors either had to set their world timers for the countries that changed or for the countries that didn’t change (only about a third of the world changes, 70 countries out of 195) – either way, a large part of the world was always wrong. The Récital 28 Prowess 1 revolutionizes world timers because now, no matter the period of time during the year, this timepiece is always accurate.

The entire watchmaking world came together on November 13, 2024 at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), the Oscars of watchmaking, to award the BOVET Récital 28 Prowess 1 with the Mechanical Exception Prize.

Overview:
The House of BOVET has a long and distinguished history in multiple time zone timepieces, including dual time, three time zone, and world time timepieces.

The Récital 28 Prowess 1 is a result of over five years of development, featuring meticulous hand-finishing, hand-engraved bridges, and a limited production of only eight timepieces per year in 18K Red Gold, 950 Platinum, and Grade 5 Titanium. This timepiece represents a significant leap in solving terrestrial timekeeping problems, ensuring accuracy in global timekeeping.

“With the Récital 20 Astérium, the Récital 22 Grand Récital, and the Récital 26 Chapter Two, we focused on combining the heavens and the Earth,” Mr. Raffy details.

“With the Récital 28 Prowess 1, we are solving the terrestrial time problem with a world timer that can be adjusted for all the variations in timekeeping around the world. With this timepiece, you will never be at a loss for what time it is anywhere in the world.”

Timepiece details

The World Time system: The 24 rollers around the central dial each have four positions, all controlled through the crown – UTC, AST (American Summer Time), EAS (Europe and America Summer Time), and EWT (European Winter Time). Pushing the crown rotates each individual cylinder 90 degrees, so every time zone can be individually set for each of the four time periods of the year. This has never been possible with a world time timepiece ever before.

The Tourbillon: The movement powering the Récital 28 Prowess 1 is brand new, using BOVET’s patented double-sided flying tourbillon as a base. The tourbillon has been expanded – the escapement is completely on one side of the center fixation point, with the cage carrying the balance wheel and BOVET’s in-house balance spring on the other side, making it even more transparent and mesmerizing than before. The redesigned cage is the lightest BOVET has ever used, as well (62 components, with 39 being completely new), with a total weight of 0.35 grams). The Récital 28 Prowess 1 is housed in a brand-new size for BOVET’s trademarked Writing Desk case (46.30mm) to allow the tourbillon, which is in the 12 o’clock position, enough space at the widest part of the case.

The Perpetual Calendar: The date, leap year indication, and the month are on rollers, so when they get to the last day and month respectively, the date rolls back like a slot machine, with a special dampening system to stop it gently, while the other two roll forward.

To safeguard this complicated movement, a patented Function Isolator was developed so that the perpetual calendar cannot be corrected during the “safety zone,” when the indications are in the process of changing.

One more reason to stay up until midnight at the end of the month and especially at the end of the year to watch all the rollers move. On the back of the timepiece, BOVET has revealed the inner workings of the perpetual calendar mechanism for the first time ever, and it is a visual treat indeed.

The Decoration and Finishing: Each of the 744 components are hand-finished, the plate is decorated with perlage and Cotes de Geneve, and the bridges are hand-engraved as well. Of particular attention is the beveling of the major structures of the movement — the method used is called angle rentrant. A corner is rentrant when two chamfers meet on the inside. The intersection must be clean, with a single line formed at the meeting point. This type of corner is the most difficult to produce, and the sharper the point, the more difficult it is. It requires expert hands — at present, there is no machine capable of producing it.

Timepiece Details

The World Time system: The 24 rollers around the central dial each have four positions, all controlled through the crown – UTC, AST (American Summer Time), EAS (Europe and America Summer Time), and EWT (European Winter Time). Pushing the crown rotates each individual cylinder 90 degrees, so every time zone can be individually set for each of the four time periods of the year. This has never been possible with a world time timepiece ever before.

The Tourbillon: The movement powering the Récital 28 Prowess 1 is brand new, using BOVET’s patented double-sided flying tourbillon as a base. The tourbillon has been expanded – the escapement is completely on one side of the center fixation point, with the cage carrying the balance wheel and BOVET’s in-house balance spring on the other side, making it even more transparent and mesmerizing than before. The redesigned cage is the lightest BOVET has ever used, as well (62 components, with 39 being completely new), with a total weight of 0.35 grams). The Récital 28 Prowess 1 is housed in a brand-new size for BOVET’s trademarked Writing Desk case (46.30mm) to allow the tourbillon, which is in the 12 o’clock position, enough space at the widest part of the case.

The Perpetual Calendar: The date, leap year indication, and the month are on rollers, so when they get to the last day and month respectively, the date rolls back like a slot machine, with a special dampening system to stop it gently, while the other two roll forward.

To safeguard this complicated movement, a patented Function Isolator was developed so that the perpetual calendar cannot be corrected during the “safety zone,” when the indications are in the process of changing.

One more reason to stay up until midnight at the end of the month and especially at the end of the year to watch all the rollers move. On the back of the timepiece, BOVET has revealed the inner workings of the perpetual calendar mechanism for the first time ever, and it is a visual treat indeed.

The Decoration and Finishing:
Each of the 744 components are hand-finished, the plate is decorated with perlage and Cotes de Geneve, and the bridges are hand-engraved as well. Of particular attention is the beveling of the major structures of the movement — the method used is called angle rentrant. A corner is rentrant when two chamfers meet on the inside. The intersection must be clean, with a single line formed at the meeting point. This type of corner is the most difficult to produce, and the sharper the point, the more difficult it is. It requires expert hands — at present, there is no machine capable of producing it.

The Récital 28 Prowess 1

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