ReviewRhapsody In Blue: The Bovet Dimier Récital 27

The Bovet Récital 27 has one busy dial. Its seamless design packs up a battalion of high complications, cradled in a 46.3mm case. The line-up includes three time zones for 24 global cities, double day/night indications, one moon phase, and an indicator for the seven-day power reserve, plus four hour markers, hour and minute hands, layered skeletal dial, guilloche and lacquered inlays and blued screws. Phew! The case itself is built in the signature ‘writing desk’ style. Belonging to the Dimier collection, the 60-piece limited-run Récital 27 is available in grade-5 titanium and 18-karat red gold versions.

Brimming With Bovet Heritage: The Récital 27

Edouard Bovet, founder of the 1822 Bovet maison, had sensed the lacunae for a multiple time zone wristwatch that could keep up with his frequent business travels to England, Fleurier, Guangzhou, London, and Switzerland. He was also enamoured by the 18th-century ornamental guilloche technique and incorporated it in his timepieces. Owner of present-day Bovet, Pascal Raffy, has continued this trait, as the brand’s in-house artisans manually engrave this intricate pattern on the brand’s lacquered dials. A case in point is the Récital 27, especially noticed in the Récital 27 Turquoise version; the latest addition to this Dimier collection. This is the third turquoise Bovet iteration after Récital 23 and Monsieur Bovet. In this version, turquoise blue figures as lacquered hand-guilloch inserts on the secondary and tertiary time zone sub-dials, Bovet 1822 cartouche, screws and stitching on the strap. The result: a palette of varied blues that tonally changes depending how the light falls on the wavy guilloche engraving and its crevices, etc.

Another design legacy visible in the Récital 27 is the unibody tapered case, nicknamed the ‘writing slope’; where the bezel slants from 15.95mm to 10.50mm towards the wearer’s eye for increased legibility

In the pictured Récital 27 Turquoise, this bright blue hue figures as the lacquered hand-guilloché inserts on the secondary and tertiary time zone sub-dials, Bovet 1822 cartouche, screws and stitching on the strap

Bovet Recital 27 Shop The Collection

Another design legacy passed down is the unibody tapered case, nicknamed the ‘writing slope’; where the bezel slants from 15.95mm to 10.5mm towards the wearer’s eye for increased legibility. A ribbed, sapphire-tipped onion shaped crown sits on the case adjacent at three o’clock.

The Time Zone Trinity Of The Récital 27

The openworked caseback of Récital 27 offers partial views of the 512-component calibre 13DM04-3FPL, manufactured in-house. Fun fact: It takes Bovet watchmakers up to 10 hours to assemble each movement. When fully wound, manually, the single-barrel movement will store a power reserve of up to seven days. The triple time zone in Récital 27 comprises the local time as the central display, along with two ancillary time zone counters at three o’clock and nine o’clock. While the Arabic hour markers are contained to the sub-dials on their blue guilloche inserts, all three time zones feature individual hour and minute hands. The corrector on the left side of the case adjusts the nine o’clock sub-dial, while the corrector manoeuvring the three o’clock sub-dial is integrated into the crown cabochon. All the tips of the hour and minute hands of the three time zone displays have Super-LumiNova applied on them. The backgrounds of the dual time zone counters feature day/night indicators, engraved with the sun and the moon. Above this bicompax setup is the blue ring featuring names of 24 global cities in white font, corresponding to respective time zones. These two complications work in tandem: the wheel when set to a city, displays the daylight saving time/solar time in the selected time zone.

In addition to the triple time zone is a 3D, domed double moon phase sub-dial at six o’clock. Featuring a figure ‘8’ window sprinkled with stars, the lower section of the hemispheric precision moon phase is applied with Super-LumiNova and decorated with craters. This complication traces the lunar cycle for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The beauty of this moon phase mechanism: it requires correction just once in every 122 years!

Given its numerous high complications, distinguished built, refreshing blue tones with glint of metal, and secure grip, the Bovet Récital 27 rightly personifies the affirmation, ‘The world is your oyster’.