Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial Watch Review
The Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial affords views of several movement components usually hidden from view. Featuring a dial formed of pine-hued sapphire crystal, this watch is blessed with a prepossessing appearance. Despite its multiple indications, the dial also proves eminently simple to read.
Bovet watch
As Christmas nears, I am reminded of when I was a child with avaricious thoughts on my mind. Every year I would spend November and December partaking in covert missions, desperately trying to locate the yuletide gifts my parents had hidden from sight. The anticipation was almost too much to bear.
Eventually, in the early hours of Christmas Day, I would burst into my parents’ bedroom only to be met with the same grumpy command, “Go back to bed, it’s too early!” However, by 5 am, I was unwrapping my presents with great gusto. Gift tags remained unread and fancy ribbons were cast aside as I mercilessly tore wrapping paper; I was a boy on a mission.
After all the festive detritus was bagged and discarded, I would play with my new toys. Inexorably, after a few days of fiddling with my newly acquired possessions, I would select a sacrificial toy, keen to discover its inner workings. Screw heads would be butchered with an undersized Phillips screwdriver, allowing parts to be examined at close quarters. Ultimately, the process of reassembly ensued, but inevitably there were always a few surplus screws left over.
Skeleton watch
My reason for reliving these childhood memories is that many curious souls, myself included, enjoy seeing mechanisms at play. Indeed, for many horophiles, a finely filigreed skeleton model proves a tempting proposition. This genre of watch eschews a conventional dial to reveal many exposed movement components, some of which can be seen performing a captivating dance.
Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial – an alternative approach
Bovet, the high-end Swiss Manufacture, has recently unveiled the Récital 21 Sapphire Dial, a watch that provides an alternative approach to horological nudity. In common with a ‘regular’ watch, this Bovet model is endowed with a dial, but unusually it is formed of green sapphire crystal. This detail affords sight of numerous finely decorated movement parts, all bathed in a pine-hued tint.
As well as sating the desires of horological voyeurs, this model seduces watch aficionados with an über-desirable high complication: a perpetual calendar (see later). Beyond merely indicating the hours and minutes, the Récital 21 Sapphire Dial indicates the day, date, month and leap year. It also features a coaxial seconds and a power reserve indicator, both located to the rear.
Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial – front of house
Like many luxury watches, the Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial features a colourless, supremely-hard sapphire crystal, shielding the hands from harm. So far, so normal. However, as stated earlier, the dial, positioned below, is also formed of sapphire, executed in a verdant shade.
The hour and minute hands are partially openworked and are teamed with fletching-style hour markers. Crisp dots fringe the dial area, arranged at 12-minute intervals. Both the hands and hour markers are treated with Super-LumiNova, aiding readability in dim light.
A third hand arcs clockwise around a curved track, providing a poetic means of indicating the prevailing date. As the hand slowly advances its motion is barely noticeable, but on reaching the final day of the month it snaps back to ‘1’ and the journey begins anew. This jumping action may be performed in the blink of an eye but its retrograde action evokes smiles of delight that last much longer.
A problem with some skeleton watches is that the indications can become lost in a sea of intricately shaped parts; however, no such issues afflict the Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial. The pane of green sapphire features two rectangular-shaped apertures revealing the day at 12 o’clock and the month at 6 o’clock, while a circular aperture at 3 o’clock plays host to the leap-year indicator. By using these three cut-outs and presenting information in white letters against a black backdrop, everything proves simple to interpret, while at the same time the wearer is served delightful views of wheels, springs, the mainplate, etc.
Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial – to the rear
Bovet has produced several models with indications positioned to the rear, an idea it has now employed on the Récital 21 Sapphire Dial. As stated earlier, the rear of the watch is home to the brand’s patented coaxial seconds, a speciality of the house, and a power-reserve indicator. By adopting this approach, the Swiss marque has mitigated dial clutter without compromising functionality.
Bovet Caliber 13DM05-QPR
As previously mentioned, the Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial is a perpetual calendar. Using a series of cams, the hand-wound movement, the Caliber 13DM05-QPR, has the mechanical intelligence to identify those months with 28, 29, 30 or 31 days and advance to ‘1’ accordingly. Providing the watch remains wound, the date will not require manual correction until 2100 which, despite being divisible by four, is a common year ie not a leap year.
The watch has a power reserve of 5 days, a remarkable figure for a movement featuring only one barrel. However, should you chat with Bovet devotees, you will discover the firm from Môtiers has much expertise in making watches that run and run and run. Beyond its mastery of making watches endowed with prodigious power reserves, the Maison also makes its own balance springs. This is a rare in-house talent in an industry that usually procures balance springs from a handful of external specialists.
Close inspection of the movement reveals bridges enriched with circular Côtes de Genève and anglage, blued screws, circular grained wheels, etc. Indeed, wherever you choose to look, your eyes will encounter sublime finishing.
Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial – case
An endearing trait of all Bovet models is they exhibit a unique aesthetic, setting them apart from most mainstream watches. For example, this model is housed in a ‘Dimier writing desk’ case. Its sloping profile represents a departure from most ‘regular’ watches and proffers much visual appeal.
Measuring 44.40 mm in diameter, the case is made of ‘polished titanium’. This metal is lightweight, strong, corrosion-resistant and hypoallergenic. The crown is set with a ‘natural blue sapphire’ adding a tasteful soupçon of colour to the right flank of the case.
The watch secures to the wrist with a glossy green alligator strap fitted with a polished titanium ardillon buckle, reinforcing the overall sense of lushness.
Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial – closing remarks
The Récital 21 Sapphire Dial provides an interesting alternative to traditional skeleton watches courtesy of its generously proportioned case and its highly complex calendar mechanism. By placing two functions towards the rear of the case, the dial is uncluttered and proves simple to read. The finishing, much of which is performed by hand, is exemplary and the widespread use of verdant hues proves very agreeable.
Over the years, I have visited several watch factories and, on a couple of occasions, I have been shown a series of small polythene bags containing partly disassembled timepieces, the consequence of amateurish tool-wielding. Indeed, on one occasion, I recall seeing the remnants of a movement ‘clarted up’ with glue after an owner made a botched attempt to reassemble it. While this should serve as a warning to all tinkering types to leave watchmaking to professionals, it does demonstrate humankind’s innate curiosity. The Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial indulges that curiosity while obviating the need for tools.
Further reading
Technical specification
- Model: Bovet Récital 21 Sapphire Dial
- Case: Dimier “writing desk” case in polished titanium, diameter 44.4 mm, 15.40 mm thickness to 10.25 mm, water resistance 3 ATM (30 metres), sapphire crystal to front, exhibition case back.
- Functions: hours, minutes, coaxial seconds, power reserve indicator, perpetual calendar (day, retrograde date, month, leap year)
- Movement: Caliber 13DM05-QPR, hand-wound movement, frequency 21,600 vph (3 Hz), 37 jewels, power reserve 5 days.
- Strap: shiny green alligator with polished titanium ardillon buckle
- Price on application