Many brands refine existing formulas, but Bovet builds an entire architectural language around time itself. Under owner Pascal Raffy, the Fleurier maison has spent more than two decades shaping complex watchmaking where mechanics and métiers d’art work seamlessly together. This philosophy informs all of the watchmaker’s creations and has resulted in multiple Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) awards. All these efforts now culminate in the refined expression of the Récital 30 world timer, which has recently won the Men’s Complication Watch Prize at the 2025 edition.
When Raffy acquired Bovet in 2001, he did more than revive a historic name. He consolidated casemaking, movement construction, dial manufacture and even hairspring production within the maison. This rare degree of vertical integration grants Bovet’s engineers freedom to rethink energy distribution, develop new display architectures and treat decoration as a structural element rather than an embellishment.
This foundation enabled what Bovet calls the “Architecture of Time”. Instead of layering modules, its calibres carve out space through domes, rollers and orreries to illustrate horological poetry and drama. The GPHG jury has repeatedly acknowledged not only the artistry of these pieces but also the precision with which they solve genuine horological challenges, from long-duration energy management to mechanically faithful celestial displays.
Since 2006, Bovet has earned 66 international awards, including multiple GPHG prizes and worldtime distinctions. In fact, since 2018, Bovet has earned nine GPHG nominations and six prizes. Here are five standouts, beginning with the Récital 30, winner of the 2025 Men’s Complication Watch Prize.
Récital 30
The Récital 30 distils the innovations of the Prowess 1 into a more contemporary, everyday form. It retains the roller-based world-time system but cleans up the display for easier reading. Housed in a 42mm Dimier case under a domed sapphire crystal, its 26 rollers each have four positions corresponding to the four seasons. The upper pusher rotates every roller by 90 degrees, cycling through all time zones across the seasons, while the lower pusher advances the central 24-hour disc in one-hour jumps, making the whole system intuitive to set.
Bovet offers two configurations, both placing New Delhi front and centre. India’s 30-minute offset led Raffy to build its half-hour deviation directly into the architecture. In the first version, New Delhi is highlighted on the UTC scale; a matching secondary minute hand follows Indian Standard Time, compensating for the 30-minute difference. In the second, designed for collectors based in India, the main hands — finished in yellow or red to echo the New Delhi indicator — are set to local time. The world-time display is shifted by 30 minutes, while the secondary minute hand (silver on titanium, gold on red gold) tracks global minutes.
Inside, the self-winding calibre R30-70-001 packs 373 components and a 62-hour power reserve. It sits in Bovet’s first in-house titanium case, with a red-gold edition to follow — a move that deepens the maison’s control over development and finish, in line with Raffy’s belief that lasting innovation rests on independence.
Récital 28 Prowess 1
Winner of the 2024 GPHG Mechanical Exception prize, tackles one of watchmaking’s enduring worldtime challenges: Daylight Saving Time. Most worldtimers rely on fixed offsets, which can result in incorrect displays for about a third of the world (70 countries out of 195) during much of the year. Bovet challenged this traditional method with a system of 24 city rollers on the dial, each with four positions to suit four seasonal regimes — UTC, American Summer Time (AST), Europe Summer Time (EAS), and European Winter Time (EWT). Paired with a perpetual calendar, a patented double-sided flying tourbillon, and a 10-day power reserve, the Récital 28 Prowess 1 provides a worldtime system designed for practical travel rather than mere theoretical accuracy.
Récital 20 Astérium
Winner of the 2023 GPHG Calendar and Astronomy prize, features a domed 24-hour night-sky display and a reverse side annual calendar tracking the zodiac, solstices, and equinoxes. An Equation of Time, moon phase, and double-face flying tourbillon enhance what is essentially a wearable observatory, while the retrograde minutes and 10-day power reserve ensure it remains grounded on terra firma. The brilliance lies in how the movement organises extensive astronomical data around a single regulating body, while maintaining clarity and intuitive legibility.
Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter Two
A watch that highlights transparency, this features a sapphire crystal case that displays a hemispherical moonphase (accurate for 127 years), a worldtime indication, and a flying tourbillon. Winner of the GPHG 2020 Mechanical Exception prize, the watch required a new three-dimensional gear system capable of functioning beneath a curved crystal while maintaining stable torque and a long power reserve. It is a study in spatial rethinking that does not compromise chronometric performance.
Récital 22 Grand Récital
The winner of the 2018 Aiguille d’Or remains one of the clearest examples of Bovet’s architectural approach. Designed as a tellurium orrery for the wrist, it places the Earth under a domed sapphire, with the Moon orbiting it, and a flying tourbillon representing the Sun. A perpetual calendar and retrograde minutes sit within this universe, supported by a nine-day power reserve. The piece shows that astronomical accuracy and everyday usability can coexist without compromise.
Discover Bovet at Cortina Watch in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Taiwan; Sincere Fine Watches in Singapore; and SHH (Sincere Haute Horlogerie) in Singapore and Thailand.
