The color’s strength lies in the breadth of its palette, and the House has always finessed this transcendent hue to great effect. Récital 11 “Miss Alexandra” and Récital 17 are linked by their use of this color and by the close attention paid to their finishing touches.

With its own Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Artisanale and Atelier de Cadrans, or dial crafting workshop, the House can work with an endless spectrum of shades and tones. The blues of BOVET reveal a color that is opaque, deep, and full of possibilities.

Pascal Raffy, the owner of Maison BOVET, has vowed to safeguard the House’s age-old, unshakeable connection with the decorative arts. As far back as the 19th century, the four brothers who founded the House specialized in watches destined for the Chinese market. In keeping with the style popular in China at that time, the covers of these pocket watches were richly enameled and set with pearls and precious stones or decorated with delicate miniature paintings. This mastery of a polychrome palette, whose richness was second to none, made the House famous: so much so, that BOVET «Bo Wei», became a household name, synonymous with the word “watch”in China. Blue also claims a unique status in the world of fine arts. The pigments that produced shades of blue shades were exceptionally rare and much sought by painters from the 15th to the 19th centuries, setting blue apart asas the grandest color of all. More than a mere historical heritage, this hueis instead a core symbol of BOVET’s approach to watchmaking. An approach that naturally holds a special place for the color blue. It is a narrative that accompanies the BOVET Récital 11 “Miss Alexandra” and Récital 17 timepieces.

For BOVET, blue represents both a material and a shade. First, the blue tone is produced by a lacquer. This form of painting delivers a glossy finish and is applied in multiple layers to present depth and relief. Maison BOVET’s master dial craftsmen are exceptionally meticulous in their approach to this technique.

The triple time zone Récital 17, endowed with a seven-day power reserve, uses blue to establish a contrast throughout its dial surface. The color can also be found on the six hands and the Arabic numerals of the two additional time zones, as well as the double day/night indicator and the disks of the double moon phase. And finally, blue accents carry through to the crown, where a sapphire cabochon adds a precious touch.

The feminine Récital 11 “Miss Alexandra” timepiece presents a finely-worked finish, highlighting its extraordinary moon phase dial in textured blue. The sub-dial of this complication features a plate engraved with a “bris de verre” motif in a blue that recalls the night sky. This blue also features on the double cover that displays the phases of the moon as it appears in the night sky, chiseled with the same motif.

Blue is also a mineral shade: aventurine. This ornamental glass, studded with flecks of copper that illuminate it from within, is deep blue and translucent. Its star-studded effect ties in perfectly with the emotional universe evoked by the moon phases, a favored complication in BOVET’s technical repertoire.

In Récital 17, this precious glass is used to decorate the hour-circles and the medallion that bears the BOVET 1822 logo. The other blues in this timepiece were selected to coordinate with the aventurine.

Aventurine features prominently in the Récital 11 “Miss Alexandra” lunar complication. A timepiece that places the moon center stage requires a starry sky background. But in a subtle play on this motif, the moon in Récital 11 remains engraved in blue. The hour dial has, however, been carved from aventurine, enhanced with diamond hour-markers.
 

BOVET works with two palettes of blue, one cold, the other warm. The color personality of both Récital 11 “Miss Alexandra” and Récital 17 is determined by the material used to produce their case. The neutral aspect of white gold describes a state of mind. It adorns the wrist in natural elegance. Blue is the natural complement to enhance white gold wherever the color is used to convey meaning. For women or men, whether in formal, technical or sports situations, this color pairing is the obvious choice

As for red gold, it exudes a natural warmth that needs to be tempered. The blue accentuates the contrasts, bringing the detailing of Récital 11 and Récital 17 to the fore. It acts as a condiment rather than an ingredient. A spice that the House has mastered, and one that provides character, sharpness, and personality.

Blue therefore conveys a message that is loaded with technical, poetic and historical meaning. It evokes BOVET’s rich heritage and its wide-ranging expertise. As an accent or background color, BOVET has embraced blue as a language and used it to decorate Récital 11 and Récital 17 as well as other timepieces in its vast collection. With this approach, which combines elegance with finely-tuned watchmaking, Pascal Raffy and his craftsmen have proven themselves to be the true masters of color.