Back in 1822, 200 years ago this year, founder Edouard Bovet, a watchmaker from Fleurier, Switzerland, and traveled the world. Due to this amazing history, the House of BOVET is inextricably linked to travel, and the House’s collection is complete with several double-, triple-, and world-time timepieces, all of which have been very successful with collectors around the world over the last 20 years.
As a result, multiple time zone timepieces are in the DNA of the House, and BOVET has produced a number of different variations on this theme. In 2020, BOVET introduced the Récital 26 Chapter Two, the timepiece which received the “Mechanical Exception” award at the 2020 GPHG, featured a universal time sub dial at three o’clock, taking the multiple time zone display a step further.
Now, to celebrate BOVET’s 200th anniversary, the House is proud to introduce the Orbis Mundi.
The Need
Imagine you are on a business trip from Miami to Geneva, Switzerland, then on to Dubai, and finally finishing in Singapore. Just figuring out exactly what time it is after crossing several time zones is challenging enough, and, if you are wearing a standard world time watch, chances are the world time information on the dial is too small for your weary eyes to actually read.
To address this need, BOVET 1822 has developed a major advancement in the setting and using of the world time function – the Orbis Mundi.
This new timepiece shows all 24 time zones at a glance, thanks to its top-of-the-world display, and all functions are set using just the crown. This display makes reading the time anywhere in the world a breeze. The world today is getting smaller and smaller, as more people are working from home and interacting more and more with others from all around the globe. BOVET 1822 might be based above the small village of Fleurier in Switzerland, but there are BOVET collectors and partners all around the world.
So, it's more important than ever to know what time it is anywhere and everywhere in the world.
The Solution
With the Orbis Mundi, reading the time in all 24 time zones is intuitive and simple, as the world cities radiate from the top of the globe so they can be viewed easily, at a glance.
“As you can imagine, I travel quite a lot as head of BOVET 1822, and deal with people in many different time zones,” owner Mr. Pascal Raffy says. “I wanted an elegant timepiece that would make it easy to set and tell the time anywhere in the world. My team of amazing developers and watchmakers and I came up with a surprisingly simple yet beautiful way to display all 24 time zones.”
When Mr. Raffy was designing the world time dome of the Recital 26 Brainstorm Chapter Two, which won the “Mechanical Exception” award at the watchmaking Oscars in 2020, he already had in mind its adapted use in the Orbis Mundi. In development for more than two years, the Orbis Mundi, Latin for “the world,” simplifies both the setting and the indications of the world timer for a new generation of watch lovers.
The Orbis Mundi, thanks to BOVET’s engineering expertise, is easy to set, using only the crown to both set the time and the 24 world cities. Turn the crown counter-clockwise to set the hours and minutes, and clockwise to set the unique 24 world time zone dial.
Exquisitely finished, the Orbis Mundi stands out for its ease of use and emblematic Fleurier case, a true symbol of two centuries of watchmaking excellence. The ergonomic 42mm Grade 5 titanium or 5N red gold case provides optimal comfort no matter the size of the wearer's wrist, thanks to its slim profile (11.25mm) and its iconic real-sapphire-cabochon-topped crown and BOVET bow at 12 o’clock. In addition to clear and easily readable hours and minutes, this timepiece opens up the dial to display the in-house BOVET balance wheel and regulating organ, with its three-arm rotating second hand and a 20-second Aventurine glass dial at 6 o'clock. On the right side of the world-time dial, which is pure Aventurine glass, is the power reserve indicator, highlighting the incredible and very useful seven days of power reserve with one single barrel. In fact, BOVET 1822 has a history of impressive power reserves, all due to the fact that Mr. Raffy is a collector and knows how important long power reserves are for complicated timepieces.
The sapphire glass of the screw-down back lets collectors appreciate every detail of this finely finished manual-wind manufacture movement, polished, angled, and decorated like the House of BOVET’s high complications, thanks to the work of the in-house artisans. The exhibition back is also a hallmark from the history of Maison BOVET: the BOVET brothers are famous for inventing the see-through cover during the 1800s to showcase their finely engraved movements. The House of BOVET is one of the few completely integrated manufactures in the watchmaking industry. Due to the fact that BOVET produces 95% of the components that go into its timepieces (the only things not produced in-house are the barrel springs, sapphire crystals and the straps), the House uses the term “Swiss Handcrafted” instead of “Swiss Made,” as the Swiss Made barrier, 60%, is too low.
The Orbis Mundi suits today’s global society – even if we can’t travel as freely as we could before, it’s more important than ever to know what time it is anywhere and everywhere in the world.
The Orbis Mundi from BOVET 1822, exemplifying uniqueness at its best. After 200 years of BOVET history, now more than ever, the world is yours.
