Récital 30

The Récital 30 is the ultimate world timer, focusing solely on the ground-breaking world time system on rollers from the Récital 28 Prowess 1, which won the GPHG Mechanical Exception Award for 2024.

Prior to the Récital 28 and the Récital 30, all world timers were wrong during the Daylight Saving Time periods. Collectors either had to set their world timers for the countries that changed or for the countries that didn’t change (only about a third of the world changes, 70 countries out of 195) – either way, a large part of the world was always wrong.

The breakthrough was deciding to use rollers instead of a conventional display. Because the dates when the USA and Europe change to Daylight Saving Time are not fixed from year to year, it was impossible to do it in a traditional way. The 24 city rollers are printed on four sides, and the time period roller is printed with the four different periods: UTC, American Summertime (AST), Europe and America Summertime (EAS), and European Wintertime (EWT). When you press the upper pusher of the Récital 30, all the rollers turn 90 degrees at the same time. The cities that don’t change for Daylight Saving Time are printed four times that city (e.g. Beijing), and the cities that do change, like Geneva, are printed three times Geneva and one time the city next to it, in Geneva’s case London, so Geneva and London both change position on the dial when they go to Daylight Saving Time.

The Récital 30 allows world travelers to accurately display the global time zones during the four time periods of the year – so it is never wrong.

The Récital 28 was limited to a total of 60 movements, as only six can be handcrafted each year. The Récital 30, however, which was developed alongside its big brother, is not limited in this way, meaning that anyone and everyone now has access to this world time system, which required over six years of development. Very rarely does a timepiece start its life in the most complicated iteration, but with the Récital 30, this is exactly what happened – the Récital 28 (very complicated and very limited) came first and its little brother the Récital 30 democratized BOVET’s ground-breaking Daylight Saving Time solution.

The Récital 30 emphasizes the essentials needed for keeping track of world time. The world time rollers cover nearly the entire dial, making it the clear focus of this timepiece. In the center is a day/night indicator linked to local time. As a result, the Récital 30 is the perfect companion for world travelers.

Highlighting New Delhi

The Récital 30 features New Delhi prominently on the dial. India has a very unique 30 minute off-set, and Mr. Raffy came up with an idea to include this challenging time zone on the dial.

New Delhi is in black on the dial with a yellow indicator, and the second color-matched yellow minute hand is linked to New Delhi minutes (with its 30 minute off-set).

“India is a country growing fast on the global stage, and I wanted to honor this exciting region on the Récital 30,” explains Mr. Raffy. “The collectors in India are very knowledgeable and demanding of true excellence, and I was proud to include this unique 30-minute offset, something that has rarely been done before.”

The Récital 30 comes on light blue cordura strap -- who says a ground-breaking complication like this can’t be light-hearted and fun?

Customization.

Thanks to BOVET’s emphasis on verticalized manufacture and the human touch, the House is uniquely open to customization and requests for bespoke timepieces. With no assembly lines and with every component passing through the hands of BOVET’s artisans, bespoke creations are welcome and encouraged at BOVET, and the Récital 30 presents an invitation to make it unique, offering the perfect canvas. Collectors can change the city names, choose from a number of different colors of the 24-hour dial and the minute track, and even change the Indian version to the Universal version or vice versa if they move from one region to another in the future.

A New Chapter – In-House Cases

For the first time ever, BOVET is making its own cases in its facility in Tramelan. All titanium Récital 30 cases will be made in-house in their entirety, while the 18K red gold Récital 30 cases will be produced in the Tramelan manufacture starting in 2026.

For high watchmaking timepieces, it is important to craft as many components in-house as possible to maintain control over the very demanding quality of the cases and other components. Handcrafting the Récital 30 cases in-house means enhanced interaction between the technical office, the engineers, the production team and the watchmakers.

“I need to offer to my artisans new challenges,” says Mr. Raffy. “At BOVET, we combine art and innovation, and we perform the exceptional every day. The case is an exercise in design, integrating a domed sapphire crystal and shaped hands, recalling a window to the universe, while the timepiece itself has an undeniable vintage look and feel. I knew from the start that the case and overall design of the Récital 30 had to be exceptional, unexpected, and have real meaning.

“The Récital 30 was always in the back of my mind, from the very beginning of our research into solving the Daylight Saving Time problem, which started six years ago,” continues Mr. Raffy. “When I sit in the courtyard of the castle, I always think about useful and meaningful timepieces. On the wrist, we have to have the indication of time and it’s more important than ever to have it linked to the world, which has become so small and accessible today. I wanted to offer our collectors a wearable, very intuitive timepiece to guide them and remind them where they are from and where they are going. Complicated yet simple to use, this timepiece is the result of the innovation, the outstanding attention to detail, the exceptional knowledge and the human touch of all our artisans, showcasing BOVET's unique qualities.”

With the Récital 30, BOVET continues to revolutionize world time timepieces and has created the ultimate men’s complication.