Bovet
Bovet Fleurier SA is an ultra-high-end Swiss watch brand. Founded by Édouard Bovet in 1822, the company soon made a name for itself in China with the success of its pocket watches. Today, Bovet produces watches priced between $18,000 and $2.5 million, many of which can be swapped from pocket watch form to a wristwatch, as a nod to its history.
Édouard Bovet, a son of watchmaker Jean-Frédéric Bovet, founded Bovet in 1822 in London, England, for the purpose of exporting its Swiss Made watches exclusively to the Chinese market. The enterprise was so successful that the Chinese name for Bovet, "Bo Wei", became a common noun for watches in China. Today, Bovet is said to produce only 800 watches per year, about one-third of those being one-of-a-kind pieces made to order.
Bovet is an established watch manufacturer that can lean on its own production facilities, namely Dimier 1738 Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Artisanale where it fabricates and assembles its most complicated watch movements, and Dimier 1738 Manufacture Artisanale de Cadrans et de Sertissages, an artisan center providing dials for Bovet, and a select group of other luxury watchmakers.
Bovet watches frequently feature hand-engraved decorations, intricate, hand-painted dials in enamel, as well as multi-axis tourbillons, and other fine watchmaking complications. Cases crafted from precious metals or even sapphire crystal can be found on select Bovet watches, while others, such as those in the Fleurier and Bovet by Pininfarina collections, can be transformed by their wearer from a wristwatch into a pocket watch, pendant, or table clock.
Bovet’s ultra-high-end watches are primarily favored by seasoned timepiece collectors who can appreciate their handcrafted beauty, delicate craftsmanship, and complex construction.