BOVET FLEURIER

One of the first Swiss watchmakers to exclusively focus on the Chinese market, the House of Bovet, founded in London by Edouard Bovet, earned renown for its incredibly ornate 19th-Century pocket watches and those vintage pieces continue to influence the designs of Bovet watches in the modern era. The timepieces within Bovet’s Amadeo series, in fact, are cleverly engineered to convert from wristwatch to pocketwatch to miniature table clock with their patented case and bracelet design. Amadeo watches, including those within the Virtuoso and Recital collections, feature crowns at 12 o’clock protected by a bow, in the style of a pocketwatch, and their reversible cases are designed to feature displays on both the front and back side. Since 2001, Bovet Fleurier has been creatively driven by its owner, Pascal Raffy, who has pushed the brand to greater heights of high-horological complication — like astronomical world-time displays, three-dimensional moon-phases, flying tourbillons, and seven-day power reserves — and avant-garde yet still historically rooted aesthetics, like the hand-engraved, blue flinqué enamel dial of the Virtuoso IX.

Founded: 1822

Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland

Ownership: Pascal Raffy (owner and CEO)

Notable models: Virtuoso, Recital, Monsieur Bovet, 19Thirty

Did you know: In the 1830s, Bovet watches were so popular in China that the Chinese word for “Bovet” (“Bo “Wei”) became a synonym for “watch.”