In 2015, the BOVET Complications Collection is being completely renewed with the arrival of the Virtuoso II watchmaking specialties caliber, developed and manufactured by the Maison’s artisans to power a multitude of watchmaking complications useful to collectors. At the same time, the Virtuoso II caliber meets the specific and unique requirements that characterize BOVET timepieces, such as the reversibility offered by the Amadeo® convertible case system.
All of the timepieces in the collection provide information on both sides of the movement. One face displays hours, minutes, and seconds as well as the power reserve and allows the movement’s characteristic architecture to be admired. The other side repeats hours, minutes, and seconds and adds information related to the specific complications of the timepiece, which are jumping hours with retrograde minutes in the instance of the Amadeo® Fleurier Virtuoso V.
The single barrel of the Virtuoso V’s movement enables the oscillations of the balance wheel to be maintained at a frequency of 21,600 vib/hour for a full five days. One side of the timepiece presents an off-centered traditional display at 12 o’clock, which accommodates the hour and minute hands and allows the movement’s atypical structure to be admired. The various bridges present voluptuous shapes and the concentric curves of the dial that they seem to embrace. Once again, balance and symmetry bring graceful harmony to the whole timepiece. The seconds cage positioned at 6 o’clock completes the vertical axis with a triple hand, each arm of which successively covers 120° of the scale on its dial. The center wheel and its bridge, visible at 4 o’clock, mirror the balance wheel-hairspring and balance cock, while the power reserve indicator is located at 10 o’clock.
The other side of the timepiece presents a complication that is quite literally on show. Here too, the seconds are displayed at 6 o’clock and reveal the transparency of their cage. Patent No. 0169-DI-CH refers to this precise double co-axial seconds display mechanism. The seconds are shown on both sides of the movement and share the same axis, even though their direction of rotation is reversed. The true merits of this technical feat are revealed when it is applied to an Amadeo®convertible case.
The movement’s architecture displayed on the other side of the timepiece is evoked by plates that are alternately lacquered and hand-engraved, then harmoniously staggered in a series of layers until they reach the top dial indicating the hours and minutes. The jumping hour display appears in an aperture in the center of the timepiece. This complication enables quick and intuitive reading of the time in complete simplicity and creates a privileged place for the expression of watchmaking decorative arts.
To further refine the space attributed to the time on the Virtuoso V, the minute hand points towards the center of the dial and repeatedly covers a segment of 160° before retreating in a semi-instantaneous leap each hour. The combination of these two types of displays is particularly rare, as it requires perfect synchronization between the jump of the hour disk and that of the retrograde minute hand. The artisans of the DIMIER 1738 Manufacture have mastered this technical feat to perfection.
Pascal Raffy designed Virtuoso V to offer a space that artisan dial-makers, hand engravers or miniature painters could personalize to meet the desires expressed by collectors. Be it the dial displaying the timepiece’s various indications or the different decorative plates, there are no fewer than eight dials each requiring more than 10 hours of work, carried out on each timepiece by the artisans of the DIMIER 1738 Dial Manufacture. Elegant, delicately hand-engraved surfaces are inserted between the dial and the lacquered or painted plates.
The perfect symbiosis of technical watchmaking expertise and decorative arts makes the Amadeo ®Fleurier Virtuoso V a true masterpiece. The two sides of the timepiece and the convertibility of its Amadeo®system enables it to be transformed into a reversible wristwatch, a desk clock or a pocket watch without the need for any tools. For even greater ease of use, a corrector enables the hour disk to be adjusted independently of the reverse hand-fitting positioned on the other side of the movement.
Technical details
Case
Type: Amadeo® convertible
Diameter 43.5mm
Thickness (With Glasses): 15.70mm
Thickness (Without Glasses): 11.80mm
Gold Weight: 83.06gr (red gold) / 86.05gr (white gold)
Case Material: 18K red or white gold
Bracelet Full skin alligator
Buckle 18K red or white gold ardillon
Chain Rhodium-plated silver chain
Water Resistance: 30m
Movement
Calibre Virtuoso II à spécialités horlogères DIMIER 1738
13BM11AIHSMR
Type: Hand-wound
Diameter: 13 ¾’’’
Frequency: 21’600v/h
Power reserve: 5 days
Dials
Black or white polished lacquered with Roman applied numerals
Functions
Jumping hours, minutes retrograde, sub-seconds (patented co-axial seconds), power reserve indicator, reversed hand-fitting (hours, minutes and seconds)
Edition
Limited edition of 100 Timepieces per color of dial and of case
