The movement itself is manually wound and has a power reserve of five days – operating at 3Hz (21,600 bph). Its design might not be to everyone’s tastes (like I said, Bovet really isn’t going for that), but it is damn impressive, and I think just about any watch lover would feel fortunate to have one of these in their collection.

Bovet continues to come out with interesting and massively complicated watches like the Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star on an annual basis. Few if any brands push so hard – even in uncertain times – to keep creating amazing and cool stuff. Even though you might not like it all, you have to give Bovet credit for keeping things fresh and interesting regularly. I applaud them, as well, for keeping so many watchmakers and micro-engineers employed.

On the wrist, the Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star is predictably a large but wearable watch at 46mm wide, here in 18k white gold. There is also an 18k red gold version of the Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star that will be produced this year. In addition to the different case material, there is the white lacquered dial option as well as a blue aventurine dial (where the time is indicated) option. The Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star is also 18.15mm thick (given the large domed crystal – which, incidentally, has excellent AR-coating for its shape), and is water resistant to 30 meters.

Bovet says that for 2016, 50 pieces of the “limited edition” Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star will be produced. That opens up the door for more versions of it in future years. I am pretty sure Bovet will also find a way of putting diamonds on this – as seems to be the preference for many of their customers. In any event, the Bovet Recital 18 Shooting Star, as its name implies, is a wildly imaginative and lofty timepiece with all the fantasy and originality I would hope goes into the value proposition of a watch that has a price of 295,000 Swiss francs. bovet.com