It was during our recent visit to the BOVET 1822’s Manufacture at the Château de Môtiers that we had the opportunity to meet Pascal Raffy – Owner and Managing Director of the brand. We bring you snippets from our conversation that covered topics as diverse as the growth of BOVET 1822 as a marque of high artistry, and the inspiration for the Astronomical series…
Since you acquired it, the brand has been growing in visibility, quality, and artistry; how were you able to achieve this?
Since I was 13, I had been taught by my grandfather about art in general and art in watchmaking, particularly. I grew up understanding that for the French, a timepiece is not about just keeping time, but about safeguarding your patrimony, your values and tradition. In watchmaking, art is mechanics invested beautifully with meaning and sustainability through the years. It is a high honour being the owner of a marque such as Bovet, which is nearly two centuries old, with such depth and artistry acquired through the years – with mastery in various techniques such as engraving, enamelling, guilloche, setting of pearls and special stones, in the dynamics and complexity of movements that need three to six years of patient work. I have around 100 artisans that help me to express watchmaking in two different collections. One collection is very conservative with the bow, the other one with the writing slope is much more open to tomorrow – both innovative and celebrating the artisan skills of watchmaking.
Are you happy with where Bovet is now?
In terms of the philosophy of the house, its fundamentals, its education, and its values, I am absolutely delighted. I am satisfied with Bovet’s presence around the globe, but disappointed with some distributors in our network, who are unable to appreciate and understand the skills, artistry and the years of patience and investment that result in our timepieces. It has been difficult to establish two facilities after only ten years – we make our own dials, movements, and all other pieces including the hairsprings. I now intend to devote the next ten years to finetuning a distribution network that consists of people who can understand, appreciate, and respect how long it takes to make a Bovet timepiece.
How difficult is it to create the unique timepieces that Bovet brings out every year?
It is mostly the inspiration for the idea itself that takes time. It was in 2014, in the courtyard of the castle, that the idea for the five timepieces of the astronomical series – the Récital 18 Shooting Star, the Récital 20 Astérium, the Dimier Récital 22 Grand Récital, the Récital 28 of 2021, and the fifth watch –came to me in the same night. The message for me was to look at the sky and understand how the earth would look when you see it from the sky – this became the Shooting Star. Sometimes the ideas come all together in one night or sometimes it takes ten years. Inspiration is like this, beautiful and magical.
The second timepiece shows how the earth would look from the universe; the third timepiece shows the three elements – the sun, the moon, and the earth; and an attempt to protect the earth. I have been dreaming about the fourth chapter, the timepiece of 2021, for at least ten years. The problem lies not only because of its mechanical features, but in keeping the same design elements as the Astérium and Grand Récital with the additional features of the 2021 – all in the same case. In 2021, the House of Bovet will be able to debut an astronomical timepiece that no one else has ever done till date. The last one will in 2022 celebrate in one single timepiece all the features of the four earlier timepieces of the series, and at the same time celebrate 200 years of the watchmaking patrimony of the House of Bovet.
Has it been the right decision to unveil this series, consisting of the Shooting Star and the Astérium, one year after the other?
As we do only 60 movements, and not even one more, a year, I don’t think it is a mistake. It takes us 12 to 24 months to create 60 timepieces; this means that each astronomical watch is taking over the baton from the last one. The decision to end the journey of the astronomical timepieces in 2022 has already been taken; in 2022, we will unveil the fifth and the last of our astronomical series.
That is really sad…
Yes, but you may be sure that there is more to come. Until 2022, the ideas for our timepieces are absolutely clear. The one that we are bringing out in 2021 needs 24 months of finetuning. The decorative arts that will be displayed in the 2021 timepiece is much more intricate than those of the Astérium, the Grand Récital, and the Shooting Star. Timing is of the essence and we are debuting the 2021 timepiece two years after the Grand Récital, and not after one year. I think we are fine with the schedule.
How important is your quote, “A beautiful expression of time” to the House of Bovet?
That is the philosophy of Bovet. Elegance is a way of life therefore the elegance of your life is reflected on your wrist. Quantity is not everything; a judicious mix of colours, mechanics, design, engravings or gem-settings when required, all coming together harmoniously – all these on the wrist provide a selfish pleasure for the gentlemen.
Why does Bovet consider the making of hairsprings in the traditional manner important?
We have with us here timepieces from the 19th century – 1845, 1837, 1871 and so on – all of which still work beautifully if you wind them. Our hairsprings are traditional; it fits our house and its philosophy, but we also use new materials on other aspects of the timepiece. We are able to create beautiful chronometers with our hairsprings, and so we are happy with them.
What are the challenges that are facing Bovet in today’s global scenario?
The philosophy of the brand itself is our biggest challenge; as long as our philosophy of not selling our soul does not change, we will face challenges. As long as we keep creating unique timepieces with good taste, we will be protected but it will not be easy. Every day is a challenge in today’s globalised world. We are all interconnected and you need globalisation and you also need uniqueness. These two contradictions feed each other. I go to the supermarket to pick up sandwiches often, but when I need a beautiful dinner, I cook it myself. It is the same in life; you face challenges but they spur you on to perform better yet keeping to the same roots, principles and traditions.
Bovet still works in your words with the “purest respect to tradition”; will this ever change?
No; this will never change as long as I live, as I don’t know how to do it. I am not made for mass production; you have to be very talented to express your creations in mass production. I do not think that the House of Bovet will ever adopt that business model. I am very lucky to have teams that are sensitive to beauty, who are trained in the beautiful arts and are also passionately in love with the house of Bovet and its ideals.
It took me ten years to set up all of these facilities at our Château de Môtiers Manufacture; I don’t think that there is any other independent house with so much talent – 43 different skillsets. Now, it is time for me to take care of our distribution network that can respect and appreciate the watchmaking skills we express in our timepieces.
How are you planning to deal with BOVET’s distribution problem?
We found after conducting an in-depth study that we have, around the globe, 60 points of sales that represent us in a fitting manner. In the other places, we will open our boutiques with partners who understand us. We will have a network not based on quantity but quality and our manufacturing capacity, which is around 1,000-1,200 timepieces per year. We are happy with that quantity because it is not possible to maintain that level of artistry and quality if we are making 4,000 timepieces.
Where will you be opening your next boutique?
We have boutiques in Tokyo and Moscow; I think Asia deserves two additional ones as does the Middle East. We have to be present in Europe, and if we get a really good partner who understands us, one in the US. We will be listening to our partners – we have some really good partners in the Middle East – and working with them to develop our clients.
How has the feedback been for the ladies watches that Bovet has recently been concentrating on?
I have always been looking for an ideal timepiece for ladies, but it was only in 2014 and 2019 that we found a beautiful balance – with the Miss Audrey timepiece with the bow and the Récital 23 Moon Phase for ladies, with its writing slope, all components hand engraved, and gorgeous moon phase – all of these take time. We will be increasing our offerings for ladies gradually.
Do you find it more difficult to create a ladies’ watch than a men’s watch?
It took us more than ten years to find the beautiful balance for the Récital 23. For any single timepiece, I first envision it in my mind and then with our team of artisans, we develop and engineer to get the final result. We do our work with passion, paying attention to the finest details – as in haute couture, we work and rework multiple times to get it absolutely right.
