Bovet 1822 Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two Reimagined

To a fellow watch enthusiast, who once mentioned to me “The lume-game on these hands and hour-markers, is insane bro”! Buddy, you spoke too soon. Can’t blame the guy with good intentions, because it would be hard to imagine or foresee, for a contemporary fine-watchmaking brand, like Bovet, to create something like this.

When the BOVET Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two tourbillon was introduced last year, it was hailed as an incredible expression of artisanal watchmaking, decorative arts, mechanical ingenuity, and innovation. Now, the reimagined version of the Chapter Two is ‘bold and bright’, yet discreet. 

Placed side-by-side with the original, the newest BOVET Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two is a completely new timepiece, modern and sporty, while still maintaining its high watchmaking excellence. This is a theme moving forward for the House of BOVET – using interesting materials, colors, treatments, and displays that modernize these intricate timepieces, while still emphasizing the artisanal nature of the Maison’s in- house production.

Speaking of in-house production, BOVET 1822’s processes greatly benefited from the incredible three-year collaboration with Rolls-Royce that resulted in the stunning pair of bespoke timepieces and the mounting system in the dashboard of the Boat Tail. Like participation in Formula 1 provides a trickle-down of technology into an automaker’s passenger cars, the intense research, development, and testing (including crash testing) of the Boat Tail timepieces resulted in engineering and production gains that have impacted every aspect of BOVET’s manufacture. Every single collection has benefitted from this exchange of engineering and technology, including the brand Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two.

The Super-LumiNova coated dials, not just indices or markings but the entire dial surface, are available in Yellow, Blue, Salmon, Turquoise, Green, and Violet. Each colour is limited to 8 timepieces. Once charged, these dials really pop, showcasing the luminosity in a unique way. You will be surprised and delighted the first time you see these timepieces when they transition from the light into the dark. Now you can see BOVET in a completely different light – the glow of Super-LumiNova. Over the past few years, the House of BOVET has been integrating Super-LumiNova into its timepieces in unique ways – in the lunar surface of the moon phase, on the sunshine dials of various collections – but this is the first time that Super-LumiNova has been applied so strongly onto the dials, a true statement of modernity. 

The Grade 5 titanium cases of these new BOVET Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two timepieces have been treated with brilliant black DLC, creating a “dark side” that contrasts beautifully with the bright and vibrant dial colours. The new BOVET Virtuoso VIII Chapter Two includes everything else that made this introduction special – the patented flying tourbillon with ten days of power reserve, the patented accelerated rewinding system, the writing slope case and sapphire crystal aperture, the fine movement decoration, the big date display, and the two dials forming a horizontal number eight, which in numerology and in multiple cultures symbolizes luck, perfection, and infinity.

For exceptional legibility, the seconds’ display is carefully designed to be displayed by a Super-LumiNova-coated sub-dial. The arrow of the index hangs over the surface of the delicate circular dial showing the 60 seconds. The easy, precise readability offered by this display, even in the dark, is remarkable. To achieve this, the seconds' dial must be affixed to the plate during the initial assembly phases, which makes the watchmakers’ work even more delicate when working with the Super-LumiNova coating, as one scratch will necessitate starting over.

It is hard to imagine that a Super-LumiNova dial with such a diameter, hanging over the date disks, could allow for such a large date display. The space between the units' disk and the hours' disk is reduced to optimize readability, making it as large as possible for enhanced legibility. The watchmakers also did not forget the date correction, which does not even require removing the timepiece from one’s wrist, and is performed simply by pressing down on the real sapphire cabochon crown. The rapid date corrector and iconic 12-o’clock positioning of the crown effectively avoid any accidental date correction. The 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 ten days of power reserve, all while maintaining the balance wheel's oscillations at 18,000 v.p.h. 

Finally, the power reserve of over ten days, 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, have received two patents. Because of this differential winding system in the new BOVET, the number of crown turns needed for full winding of the spring is halved without increasing friction and forces exerted on the gears. 

Just makes one wonder, if the monks in the 14th century had a superior lume-game as this, would the striking clock and repeaters ever be invented?