Around this time last year, Bovet revealed its newest timepieces at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva. The SIHH, now re-branded as Watches & Wonders, has been moved forward in the calendar to late April, but the Fleurier-based watchmaking maison headed by Pascal Raffy has once again unveiled several new models in its collection in January. Among them are two new executions of historically derived 19Thirty, featuring lacquered dials enhanced with ornate Fleurisanne engraving.
The 19Thirty, first released in 2015, was designed as a modern tribute to the so-called “easel” chronometer, a 1930 pocketwatch with a patented balance made by Bovet, which served as a transitional piece between the eras of pocketwatches and wristwatches. The first models were offered in steel, and in both of Bovet’s emblematic case styles, the pocketwatch-influenced Fleurier and the more conventional Dimier. Rose-gold versions followed in 2019, all in the Fleurier case and adding the first dials with the Fleurisanne engraved motif. In the latest 19Thirty models, both in steel, the decorative Fleurisanne swirls are executed in colored lacquer that echoes the colors of the subdials, either blue or black.
The Fleurier case is 42 mm in diameter, 9 mm thick, and water resistant to 30 meters. Its distinctive pocketwatch design is notable for the big, fluted winding crown, covered by a curved protective bow, placed at 12 o’clock on the top of the case rather than at the more traditional 3 o’clock side position (as in the Dimier case). The watch displays the time on two subdials that intersect to form a figure eight (the number “8” is a symbol of good luck in Chinese and other Asian cultures); hours and minutes are displayed on the larger subdial, with vintage-look hands and Roman numeral hour markers, while running seconds tick away on the smaller 6 o’clock subdial with Arabic numerals at the 15-minute marks.
The movement, Bovet’s manually wound Caliber 11BM04, is made in-house and boasts a substantial seven-day power reserve when fully wound; the status of this week-long running autonomy is conveniently displayed on an indicator at 3 o’clock on the dial side of the movement, which like the subdials is bordered by the colored Fleurisanne motif, an aesthetic signature of the House of Bovet. The luxuriously decorated movement, which has a 21,600 vph balance frequency and holds its extensive power reserve in a single barrel, is visible through the watch’s clear sapphire caseback.
The newest 19Thirty models are both mounted on full-skin alligator straps, black or blue, with steel ardillon buckles. Both are priced at 19,800 CHF (approx. $20,400).
