Over the past 23 years, BOVET has specialised in the perpetual calendar complication, which is one of the most challenging in the high watchmaking pantheon of complexity. At BOVET, the perpetual calendar is often combined with other complications, as seen in the award-winning Récital 22 Grand Récital and Récital 28 Prowess One.

In other timepieces, the perpetual calendar stands alone, paired only with a retrograde date feature — just to make it even more technically demanding. Examples include the Virtuoso III, the Virtuoso VII, and the Récital 21.

This year, BOVET introduces a new version of the Récital 21, this time with a sapphire crystal dial available in three captivating hues — green, blue, and brown. This dial gives the Récital 21 a completely different character: stylish, modern, refined, and a touch mysterious. The dial provides a window into the inner workings of this high-watchmaking manual-wind movement.

Designed for Readability

Every BOVET timepiece is designed to display the necessary information in the most readable way. With the Récital 21, the minute and hour hands are located at the centre of the timepiece, providing more space in the periphery for perpetual calendar information.

The sapphire crystal dial, coloured and slightly smoked, offers a glimpse of the complex mechanism powering this timepiece. You can see the day of the week and the month indication, along with the gears, pinions, and wheels that make everything move.

The date is indicated by a retrograde hand that rotates around the hours and minutes. The discs display the days and months in vertical apertures at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock respectively, while the leap year cycle is displayed in a circular aperture at 3 o’clock.

The new sapphire crystal dial puts the entire perpetual calendar mechanism on display, allowing you to see how everything works — without detracting from the purpose of the complication, which is to clearly display the information you need. Achieving the perfect crystal colour with the right amount of transparency and no distortion is a considerable challenge, and one BOVET has achieved to perfection.

The sapphire crystal dial showcases BOVET’s artisanal virtuosity. Coated liberally with Super-LumiNova, the key information glows brightly at night, creating a strikingly modern effect.

To add to the visual impact, BOVET’s watchmakers developed a mechanism that slows down the date hand during its retrograde jump — a dramatic effect best appreciated when the last day of the month changes to the first. A treat worth staying up until midnight for, especially on New Year’s Eve.

Turning the timepiece over to the movement side, you can admire the patented double coaxial seconds mechanism, as well as the power reserve indicator, which, when fully wound, displays a five-day power supply from a single barrel. The power reserve is optimised by the complete hand-finishing of all components, and the in-house balance spring and regulating organ, entirely designed and manufactured in the BOVET workshops.

One Pusher Advances All

To further enhance the collector’s ease of use, Mr Raffy and the Maison’s technicians introduced an ingenious system that streamlines adjustments to all the indications. There are dedicated correctors for the day and date, day of the week, and month functions, and the day and date corrector advances every indication on each push.

So, if you need to adjust your timepiece after it has stopped for several days, you simply press this unique corrector until the correct date is displayed. All other functions of the perpetual calendar — day of the week, month, and leap year — are synchronised at the same time.

Grade 5 Titanium Case

The new sapphire crystal dial version of the Récital 21 is available in Grade 5 Titanium in BOVET’s iconic writing desk case. As a result, the timepiece sits perfectly on the wrist, presenting the time elegantly to its wearer.

Even the most demanding collectors will be captivated by this elegant timepiece’s style and ease of use, as well as its complex technical components, revealed through the new coloured sapphire crystal dials.

Thanks to these new dials, the Récital 21, available now, presents a fresh and modern character — breathing new life into one of BOVET’s finest high complications: the perpetual calendar.

We invite collectors to “Look Beyond” with the Récital 21, where Swiss handcrafted excellence and engineering brilliance converge.

At a Glance

Complication: Perpetual Calendar with Retrograde Date
Dials: New Sapphire Crystal in Blue, Green, and Brown
Power Reserve: 5 days
Case: Polished Grade 5 Titanium Writing Desk Case
Dimensions: 40 mm diameter, 15.40 mm thickness sloping to 10.25 mm
Components: 464, including 37 jewels
Frequency: 21,600 vph / 3 Hz
Warranty: 5 years