Q&AA Tête-À-Tête With Ms Audrey Raffy From The House Of Bovet

How and when did you decide that you wanted to join the family business?

A little bit about my background first… I moved to the United States [from Switzerland] for university and then law school. I was about 19. I went to the University of Miami for business, and then to law school in Chicago—Northwestern University. And it was only when I was studying law that I told myself that I wanted to join my father. My father had had Bovet for 20 years, and I had seen the level of dedication and work that he had put into it, and I just felt like it was my responsibility to join him and see how I could help him out. That’s how I joined the brand.

Before you joined the brand full-time, did you stay in touch with the goings-on at Bovet? If yes, what was that like?

I really became more involved in the day-to-day, maybe a couple of years before I started working at Bovet. Even before that, there was always some amount of involvement. Over dinner table conversations and such, my father would show us his designs, take our opinions. Or with Instagram, for instance, he always asked me for my opinion. But really becoming involved, reading the daily emails, attending watch fairs and meetings. It started about a couple of years before I started at the brand officially.

Audrey Raffy at the Bovet boutique in New Delhi, at the DLF Emporio mall

“I think it’s pretty obvious, just by what I wear. I do sometimes wear jewelled watches, but mostly I wear what you would consider as men’s watches,” states Raffy when asked about watches being gender-neutral

Two years in, how would you describe your present role at the brand?

My involvement with the brand is on a lot of fronts. It’s not just isolated on one thing. Regarding the brand and where it’s going—and not just for the past two years—father has always kept Bovet true to its core identity and its classic image. Of course, he’s redesigned all the collections, and he’s come up with so many different patents and trademarks, but inherently, he’s always wanted it to have the same look that it had back in the day. He wanted to stay faithful to that, and I think that in the past few years, we have managed maintain that identity, but also develop lines within the collections that also appeal to more modern, younger, sportier, sexier collectors, which is what everyone wants now. You want to have the classic timepieces with the classic materials, with the gold and the elegance. But you also want something that is sportier for every day. You want bright colours, you want different materials, rubber straps that are so comfortable to wear. So I definitely think that something we have managed to do in the past few years.

“If you look at the 19Thirty series, for instance, you have the 19Thirty in rose gold, with the red or green guilloche dials, which are more classic and elegant...”

Is this segregation you’re describing basically about the Fleurier and Dimier collections?

I wouldn’t isolate them completely as Fleurier being the classic and Dimier as the modern. I would say that within the Fleurier collection, there are the more classical, elegant and sophisticated models. But there are also more modern and sporty Fleurier watches. If you look at the 19Thirty series, for instance, you have the 19Thirty in rose gold, with the red or green guilloche dials, which are more classic and elegant. And then there are the black DLC cases, with Super-LumiNova dials, that are in blue, green, and salmon. So that’s modern. It’s the same timepiece, but we have managed to give it a different look and feel.

“...And then there are the black DLC cases, with Super-LumiNova dials, that are in yellow, blue, green, and salmon”

“It’s the same timepiece, but we have managed to give it a different look and feel.” Seen here is the DLC 19Thirty with the salmon dial

Bovet Fleurier 19Thirty SHOP THE COLLECTION

Is it a challenge to stay true to the Edouard Bovet’s legacy and the brand’s DNA, while also innovating and being fresh and forward-looking?

It definitely is. I think it’s a challenge to do it in a way that makes sense, you know, and create something that looks good. When you’re trying to marry the past and the future, the classic and the modern, you have to do it in a way that the end result looks aesthetically pleasing and beautiful. That is the real challenge.

Talk about the Miss Audrey collection, and how it was named after you.

I personally was not aware of the intention behind the collection being named after me. I would have never named a timepiece after myself. But my father is a romantic at heart, and he decided to name collections after all of his children.

“I personally was not aware of the intention behind the collection being named after me. I would have never named a timepiece after myself”

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“My father is a romantic at heart, and he decided to name collections after all of his children”

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This here is the Miss Audrey in green

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This watch also follows the Amadeo system of converting a wristwatch into a table clock and a pocket or pendant watch. “That’s the name of my younger brother,” informs Raffy

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So there’s the Miss Audrey collection named after me; and the Miss Alexandra collection, named after my younger sister.

Bovet Fleurier Miss Audrey Sweet Art SHOP THE COLLECTION

And there’s the Amadeo system (of converting a wristwatch into a table clock and a pocket or pendant watch), and that’s the name of my younger brother.

The Amadeo system, used in the Bovet Fleurier collection, is named after Bovet CEO Pascal Raffy's son, Amadeo—Audrey Raffy's younger brother

This Fleurier timepiece—seen here as a wristwatch—uses the Amadeo system

It can also be used as a pocket watch, as seen here

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What was the idea behind the collection, apart from it being an offshoot of the basic Fleurier template?

This actually happened well before my time with the company. But from what I know, and what I can tell from knowing my father is that the intention was to make a very understated, elegant, and sophisticated timepiece—something that was feminine, but not over-the-top. It had to be something that could be worn on a daily basis, but could also look really elegant with eveningwear. The thing about my father is that he’s not a jeweller; he’s a watchmaker. And they’re two very different things. So even in our ladies’ collections, you’ll see that there isn’t necessarily a bunch of diamonds on them. They’re still pieces of haute horlogerie, not pieces of haute joaillerie. I think that is still the intention behind any collection that he does.

“The thing about my father is that he’s not a jeweller; he’s a watchmaker. And they’re two very different things,” states Audrey Raffy. Seen here is a perfect example of Bovet's haute horlogerie

This Amadeo Fleurier watch in gold features a reversible design, with a tourbillon mechanism, and the highest level of engraving and decoration, which exemplifies haute horlogerie standards

Bovet Fleurier

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And speaking about ‘ladies’ watches’ specifically… A few brands have started to distance themselves from categorising watches as meant for men or women. They believe it’s not their place to tell people what’s meant for them and what’s not meant for them. What is your take on watches becoming increasingly gender-neutral?

I think it’s pretty obvious, just by what I wear. I do sometimes wear jewelled watches, but mostly I wear what you would consider as men’s watches. Gender-neutrality is a very important topic, not just related to watches. It’s an important conversation generally, as the world in general is moving towards a place where the differences between men and women are not important anymore. It depends on your personal taste, on your personality and character. And I genuinely believe that more and more women are interested and educated in haute horlogerie more so than ever before. They are appreciating the complicated timepieces even more than those with diamonds and jewels.

What are the collections from Bovet that are your personal favourites?

I love them all. But I think, growing up, seeing my father with the most complicated timepiece on his wrist, made me want to kind of be the same. So I always tend to gravitate towards the most complicated timepieces that we have, especially knowing the amount of work and time that was put into the preparation and development of such timepieces. And every watch we do is absolutely stunning. The timepiece I’m wearing right now has over 400 components. It won the mechanical exception prize at the GPHGs. But at the same time I can put on a 19Thirty that is inherently much more understated, and simple—even without being simple, because it has a seven-day power reserve. But I have the same feeling and emotion when I have that on my wrist as when I wear this one.

Bovet’s tagline is ‘Engineering brilliance’. Which complication best exemplifies that?

I think all of our complications are engineering brilliance. It just depends on the degree of each one. For example, there’s the Grand Récital 22, which won the Aiguille d’Or at the GPHGs. (It features a tourbillon and elaborate renditions of a world-timer and moon phase indicator.) There isn’t much more that you can do in haute horlogerie. So that would definitely be up there. But we have so many others also; not just one.

“I think all of our complications are engineering brilliance. It just depends on the degree of each one. For example, there's the Grand Récital 22, which won the Aiguille d’Or at the GPHGs. (It features a tourbillon and elaborate renditions of a world-timer and moon phase indicator.) There isn't much more that you can do in haute horlogerie.”

How has your understanding of the brand changed since you joined? Give us an example of how you’ve added your creative touch to Bovet?

I think one of the things that I wanted my father to slowly gravitate towards was having a more modern, sportier side to the brand, which I think we have managed to do, with the colours, the materials, the straps and so on. And since I started working full-time, more than getting to know the brand, I have gotten to know my father better. When you’re looking at it from the outside, you do realise the passion and the dedication, because it’s quite apparent. But the amount of work, the importance and the influence that the work can have on the brand and on other people—these are things you only truly realise when you see it all from the inside. So, in a professional way, I started to respect my father a lot more after I saw that as a full-time insider.

Raffy says she prefers watches with multple complications, but adds, “I can put on a Fleurier 19Thirty and have the same feeling and emotion”

Despite being relatively simple, the 19Thirty is quite advanced. “It is inherently much more understated, and simple—even without being simple, because it has a seven-day power reserve,” Raffy adds

Bovet Fleurier

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