Conquering World Time Once Again With Bovet

Mr. Raffy often imagines what travel was like back then, when Edouard was going from Fleurier, Switzerland to London, England, and then on to Guangzhou, China. Traveling on foot, on horseback, by carriage, and on boats, Edouard was extraordinarily brave to venture so far from home, and Mr. Raffy often considers what Edouard encountered on his travels, using the stars to navigate and thinking about how time differs from country to country – not only time zones and timekeeping, but even the very nature of time itself.

That is why, since Mr. Raffy took over the House of BOVET, he has honored the legacy of the Bovet family by developing timepieces with innovative solutions to world timekeeping along with key celestial indications. The House has a number of timepieces with three time zones (to honor the three cities in which BOVET was founded: Fleurier, London, and Guangzhou), and several dual time zone timepieces, as well as world timers like the Récital 18 Shooting Star, the Récital 26 Chapter Two, the Orbis Mundi, and of course the Récital 28 Prowess 1.

The Genesis

Ever since he started designing BOVET timepieces, Mr. Raffy has always been focused on the heavens and how to best interpret the various ways of telling time. In the past, he has including celestial sky charts, Equation of Time displays, precision moon phases, reproductions of the night sky, Sidereal Time, Solstices, and Summer and Winter Equinoxes, to just name a few.

The ground-breaking timepieces that have led to this moment include:

• The Récital 18 Rising Star
• The Récital 20 Astérium (winner of the 2023 GPHG Astronomy and Calendar Watch prize)
• The Récital 22 Grand Récital (winner of the highest GPHG honor, the “Aiguille d’Or,” in 2018)
• The Récital 26 Chapter One (first ever sapphire crystal case)
• The Récital 26 Chapter Two (winner of the 2020 GPHG Mechanical Exception Watch prize)
• The Récital 28 Prowess 1 (winner of the 2024 GPHG Mechanical Exception Watch prize)

Now, the Récital 30 joins this illustrious group, revolutionizing terrestrial time and making the innovative, ground-breaking and award-winning world time roller system available in a smaller, daily wear timepiece.

The Daylight Saving Time Problem: Ever since Daylight Saving Time (DST) was introduced, world time watches have been unable to adapt to the vagaries of when DST starts and ends in different countries, and which countries do not change (only about 70 countries use some form of DST).

In reality, all world time watches were wrong during the Daylight Saving Time periods, either set for DST so the rest of the world was wrong by one hour, or set for the majority of the world and the DST countries were off by an hour.

Until the Récital 28 and now the Récital 30.

Thanks to its ingenious roller system borrowed from the Récital 28, the Récital 30 can be adjusted to any of the four time periods of the year: UTC – Coordinated Universal Time AST - American Summer Time, EAS - European and American Summer Time EWT - European Winter Time.

This, in turn, means that all 24 world time zones, and New Delhi, will be accurate all year round. The Récital 30 emphasizes the essentials needed for keeping track of world time. The world time rollers cover nearly the entire dial, making it the clear focus of this timepiece. In the center is a day/night indicator linked to local time. As a result, the Récital 30 is the perfect companion for world travelers.

Each of the 26 rollers has four positions, all controlled by the pushers on the right-hand side of the case – UTC, AST, EAS, and EWT. Pushing the top pusher rotates each roller by 90 degrees, meaning that all 24 time zones are set to each of the four time periods of the year. The bottom pusher advances the central 24-hour world dial by one hour per push, making setting the entire world’s time extraordinarily simple.

The Récital 30 comes in two versions, both with New Delhi featured prominently on the dial. India has a very unique 30 minute off-set, and Mr. Raffy came up with an idea to include this challenging time zone on the dial of both versions.

In the Coordinated Universal Time version, New Delhi is in black on the dial with a yellow or red arrow indicator, and the second color-matched (yellow or red) minute hand is linked to New Delhi time (with its 30 minute off-set).

The second version, designed for collectors living in India, links the main hour and minute hands to New Delhi time (both of which are yellow or red-colored, matching the New Delhi indicator on the dial) and the world time hours are off-set by 30 minutes, while the second minute hand (silver on the titanium, gold on the 18K red gold version) is linked to the minutes for the rest of the world.

Thanks to BOVET’s emphasis on verticalized manufacture and the human touch, the House is uniquely open to customization and requests for bespoke timepieces. With no assembly lines and with every component passing through the hands of BOVET’s artisans, bespoke creations are welcome and encouraged at BOVET, and the Récital 30 presents an invitation to make it unique, offering the perfect canvas. Collectors can change the city names, choose from a number of different colors of the 24-hour dial and the minute track, and even change the Indian version to the Universal version or vice versa if they move from one region to another in the future.

For the first time ever, BOVET is making its own cases in its facility in Tramelan. All titanium Récital 30 cases will be made in-house in their entirety, while the 18K red gold Récital 30 cases will be produced in the Tramelan manufacture from 2026. Both cases incorporate a sapphire crystal exhibition case back – a feature BOVET pioneered back in the 1800s to showcase its engraved and highly decorated movements.

For high watchmaking timepieces, it is important to craft as many components in-house as possible to maintain control over the very demanding quality of the cases and other components. Handcrafting the Récital 30 cases in-house means enhanced interaction between the technical office, the engineers, the production team and the watchmakers. “I need to offer to my artisans new challenges,” says Mr. Raffy. “At BOVET, we combine art and innovation, and we perform the exceptional every day. The case is an exercise in design, integrating a domed sapphire crystal and shaped hands, recalling a window to the universe, while the timepiece itself has an undeniable vintage look and feel. I knew from the start that the case and overall design of the Récital 30 had to be exceptional, unexpected, and have real meaning.

With the Récital 30, BOVET continues to revolutionize world time timepieces.