The Virtuoso XI
The Special “Pierre du Château” (“Stones of the Castle”) or “Fleurisanne” engraving adorns the bow, while brilliant white diamonds are set into the 18K red gold bezel for the latter’s engraving motif.
With this new version of an already renowned timepiece, Mr. Raffy and his artisans have honored collectors attentive to technical skill and appreciative of the noblest expression of the decorative arts.
The Art of Skeletonizing
The delicate dance when skeletonizing a movement is to remove enough material to enhance the aesthetics and completely show the inner workings, while still keeping the movement robust enough to function impeccably. Take away too much material from the bridges, for example, and they could deform and damage the performance of the movement.
With the Virtuoso XI, the movement was specifically conceived and designed from the start to have enough space to engrave both sides of the bridges and plates, and room to admire them, and the result is exceptional. More transparent than any other timepiece that BOVET has ever produced, every aspect of this high watchmaking movement is on full display.
This allows you to dive into the movement, letting your eyes wander throughout its construction, admiring the transparency, the attention to detail, the high finishing, as well as the overall ethereal effect.
Mesmerizing and captivating, the Virtuoso XI is a wonder to behold. Stare too long at the magnificent artistry and you will get lost in its spectacular details.
A Triumph of High Watchmaking
However, BOVET’s owner Mr. Pascal Raffy wasn’t content with just applying the art of skeletonization for this timepiece. He was determined to do something that had never been done before, so he gave the mandate to engrave both sides of the movement’s components. In normal skeletonized watches, the movements are often tightly packed without much room in between the bridges and wheels, so engraving both sides is too difficult and would be pointless because it would not be visible.
The flying tourbillon movement that drives this exceptional timepiece meets BOVET’s demanding criteria of chronometry, reliability, and expression. It draws its energy from a single barrel that ensures more than 10 days of power reserve (240 hours, when the industry standard is 42-48 hours), all while maintaining the balance wheel’s oscillations at 18,000 vph.
Finally, the long power reserve would require meticulous winding if not for the spherical differential winding system. The application of this ingenious mechanism, and the multi-gear three-dimensional teeth of one of its pinions, has received two patents. Because of this system, the number of crown turns needed for full winding of the mainspring is halved without increasing friction and forces exerted on the gears.
| Case | 44mm 18K Red Gold Writing Slope case; available fully engraved or high-polished, set with diamonds or unset (bezel-set version 60 diamonds, approx. 1.7 cts) Bow engraved with either “Pierre du Château” or “Fleurisanne” motifs |
| Dial | Completely skeletonized with every plate, bridge and other surface fully hand-engraved |
| Movement | 38mm, 16½ lines, 6.7mm high
Frequency: 18,000 vph/2.5 Hz Re-imagined and re-engineered Virtuoso VIII manufacture movement |
Pierre du Château
Pierre du Château with white set diamonds
Fleurisanne with white set diamonds
| Components | 283 (including 36 jewels) |
| Functions & patents |
60-second flying tourbillon power reserve indicator patented spherical rewinding system patented double-sided flying tourbillon |
| Power Reserve | 10 days with a single barrel |