Virtuoso XI

• Limited Edition: The artisans at BOVET can only produce one or two a month.
• Case: 18K White Gold “Writing Slope” Case set with brilliant-white diamonds (optional).
• Size: 44 mm
• Movement: Hand wound and Skeletonized re-engineered Virtuoso VII manufacture movement
• Function: Hours, minutes. 60-seconds Flying Tourbillon
• Power Reserve: approximately 10 days with a single barrel
• Water Resistance: 30 m
• Dial: Fully skeletonized with incredible transparency. Every plate, bridge and surface is fully hand-engraved.
• Caseback: Sapphire glass
• Strap/Bracelet: Black Alligator strap, 18K white gold buckle
• Factory Warranty: 5 years

The House of Bovet Introduces the Virtuoso XI, which combines contemporary high watchmaking with artisanal hand-finishing and hand-engraving. This piece is an ode to BOVET’s artisans, who take such pride in every step of the process.

Inside Skeletonization

The delicate dance when skeletonizing a movement is to remove enough material to enhance the aesthetics and completely show the inner workings, while still keeping the movement robust enough to function impeccably. Take away too much material from the bridges, for example, and they could deform and damage the performance of the movement.

With the Virtuoso XI, the movement was specifically conceived and designed from the start to have enough space to engrave both sides of the bridges and plates, and room to admire them, and the result is exceptional. More transparent than any timepiece that BOVET has ever produced, every aspect of this high watchmaking movement is on full display.

The hand-engraving for the Virtuoso XI takes around 60 hours for the movement and the Writing Slope case. The engraving is done free-hand and leaves no room for mistakes. The artisans delight in the dance of their tools as they transform a plain bridge or plate into an engraved objet d’art.

The decoration is Bovet’s own Fleurisanne motif, one that the House has used for decades. Inspired by the tree leaf pattern on Greek columns from centuries ago, this theme is one of the signatures of Bovet. The name of this motif recalls that the House is still based a stone’s throw from where it was founded – a small village named Fleurier.

The flying tourbillon movement that drives this exceptional timepiece meets Bovet’s demanding criteria of chronometry, reliability, and expression. It draws its energy from a single barrel that ensures more than 10 days of power reserve (240 hours, when the industry standard is 42-48 hours), all while maintaining the balance wheel’s oscillations at 18,000 vph.

Finally, the long power reserve, provided by a single barrel, would require meticulous winding if not for the spherical differential winding system. The application of this ingenious mechanism, and the multi-gear three-dimensional teeth of one of its pinions, has received two patents. Because of this system, the number of crown turns needed for full winding of the mainspring is halved without increasing friction and forces exerted on the gears.

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