Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Bovet Releases the Récital 32, its First True GMT
A compact GMT, activated by a pusher, travels the world with a flying tourbillon, a hand-engraved movement and a 10-day power reserve.
Towering above conventional watchmakers with its complex in-house movements, dramatically staged complications, and lavish artistic flourishes, Bovet’s watches are as unique as they are expressive. Described as the brand’s “first true GMT,” the new Récital 32 features a novel, user-friendly pusher to set the second time zone. However, in true Bovet style, this GMT does not travel solo and is accompanied by a spectacular flying tourbillon. Presented in a compact 42mm package with a contemporary openworked dial, the in-house movement allows the GMT to remain airborne for voyages of up to 10 days.
Pascal Raffy has extensive experience with highly complex travel watches. The rare Récital 27, for example, features three time zones, but nothing can trump the gargantuan 46.3mm Récital 28 released in 2024. Equipped with a world timer, a flying tourbillon, a perpetual calendar and a 10-day power reserve, the Récital 28 made history as the first watch to solve the Daylight Saving Time (DST) issue globally. The Récital 30 retained the world time and DST functionality of the Récital 28, jettisoned the tourbillon and QP complications, and presented them in a more compact 42mm case.
Closer in dimensions to the Récital 30, Bovet introduces the Récital 32, the brand’s first GMT, with a twist. Display-wise, local and home time are featured in the off-centred sub-dial at noon. The outer blue lacquered track displays local time with two hands, while the white lacquered ring with a 24-hour scale indicates the second time zone. The centre of the sub-dial features a stylised hand-painted day/night display.
A true GMT, also known as a traveller’s GMT, traditionally allows you to adjust the main local hour hand in one-hour increments without altering your home time. Bovet’s watch uses a different, more intuitive approach. While local time is set with the sapphire cabochon crown, the independent second time zone indicator is advanced via a pusher on the left side of the case. The advantages of using the pusher to advance the second time zone hand forward in hourly increments are threefold. Firstly, it is faster than fiddling with the crown; secondly, it avoids accidentally interfering with the local time; and thirdly, it protects the winding stem from unnecessary wear and tear.
Like many Bovet watches, the movement forms part of the spectacle. Thanks to the openworked dial, you can admire the elevated flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock, the cylindrical roller at 9 o’clock indicating the 10-day power reserve and the hand-finished gear train, plates and bridges. Unlike standard tourbillons that sit flush, this tourbillon sits high above the movement plate. To accommodate the elevation and enhance viewing from all sides, the dial is protected by a panoramic box sapphire crystal.
Finishings are as important as functions, and the hand-engraved plates and bridges, with hand-bevelled and mirror-polished edges, take 15 hours to complete. The offset domed sub-dial for local and home time is hand-lacquered in contrasting blue and white tones, while the caseback offers a view of the new étoiles carées or square star motif hand-engraved on the plates.
As a brand with a high level of vertical integration, allowing it to produce over 95% of its watch components completely in-house, including hairsprings, the 375-part movement and the case were confected in-house. In standard manual-winding watches, a 10-day power reserve running off a single mainspring barrel would require hundreds of crown rotations to wind. Bovet’s solution is an ingenious and patented miniature 3D spherical differential that duplicates each winding action, effectively reducing wind time and avoiding unnecessary strain on the gear train.
Available in polished titanium or 18k red gold cases and in three colour combinations, each metal is limited to 60 numbered pieces. Matching the more contemporary openworked aesthetic of the dial, the Récital 32 is paired with a rubber strap.
The Récital 32 retails for CHF 150,000 in titanium and CHF 175,000 in red gold. More information at bovet.com.
