If you are reading this article on the day of its release then it is Valentine’s Day. Lucky you (and lucky Bovet)! For me, Valentine’s Day is a charming occasion when men are expected to be unpredictable, extra-thoughtful, and gift-bearing. But it can’t be just any gift, it needs to be one that stretches our resources to a point where we can show her that we love her THAT much. Basically we need to hire a consultant on how NOT to be ourselves and take out a loan. If you really want to stretch all that to the max, you can invest in the close-to-$200,000 Bovet Miss Alexandra jewelry tourbillon timepiece. She will hopefully be impressed (because we can never predict that can we?). In the end it is worth it when they smile and gush with positivity.
Depending on your tastes of course, this is the first true women’s Bovet Dimier Recital collection watch. Its formal name is the Bovet Recital 9 Tourbillon Miss Alexandra 7-Day Tourbillon with Moon Phase… in the Dimier case with a Dimier movement. Boy is it nice. That egg-shaped case in precious metal with optional diamonds and skeletonized and decorated movement is stunning. Kind of makes you wish it was a men’s piece. No, Bovet has enough of those for the guys already.At 37.2mm wide and 41mm tall it isn’t a petite piece, but the overall look and feel of the watch are of course inherently feminine. That goes for the graceful curves and “heart” hands. As you can see, the shape of the hands makes it so that several time a day they form a heart. It happens most nicely at about 11pm or 11am, and you know what that means? “Love time…” because the watch said you have to. Thankfully that is the extent of the hearts on the watch. Bovet implemented them in a tasteful and subtle way as they know nothing makes a high-end watch more cheesy that making hearts out of too many precious materials.
The Recital 9 Miss Alexandra will come in either an 18k red or white gold case – with a range of diamond options, or no diamonds at all. Actually, no matter what, there will be a diamond as the endstone on the tourbillon bridge. The version I got to check out was in red gold with lots of smaller round-cut diamonds, but you can get one with larger baguette-cut stones in the bezel. Don’t forget that rather sizeable diamond cabochon in the crown.For me, the Bovet Recital 9 is all about the movement. I simply love these delicately skeletonized calibres with their timeless cut lines. Inside Miss Alexandra is an in-house made Dimier caliber 15BM01-MP manually wound movement with a seven day power reserve. Note that right above the large “realistic” moon phase indicator is a useful power reserve indicator. It is easy to miss but nice to know it is there.
The moon phase moon disc doesn’t move on this watch, but rather a double-circle disc in sparkly blue moves over the moon to cover it as a way of representing the moon phases. The Bovet logo applied to the rear of the sapphire crystal is a tasteful touch and looks oh so nice over the “sky” blue area around the moon. Below you will see the tourbillon anchored only by the bridge assembly. What I like about this is how well it allows you to inspect the movement and see how the tourbillon operates. Her inner watch nerd (which she undoubtedly has if you are getting her this watch, or if she is getting it herself) will come to appreciate this as well. And if she doesn’t, maybe you’ll take a stab at wearing it? Come on, how far will you go to wear a rather exclusive high-end tourbillon watch?
The decoration style of the movement is interesting. It consists of small cuts to the bridges and plates which almost create the illusion of more gems. The same decor is applied to the blue area around the moonphase – only that area has been PVD coated blue. The result is a fantastic sparkle and adds a classy look to the movement. If you want to read another review of a Bovet Recital watch you can check out the aBlogtoWatch Recital 0 watch review here. While she’ll probably still love you if you don’t get her one of these for this (or future) Valentine’s Days, you might still want to show her. What I most like about Bovet is that they operate in a mindset that royalty and aristocracy are still plentiful and more than present. The Recital 9 Tourbillon Miss Alexandra watch will be limited to 50 pieces in 18k white gold and 50 pieces in 18k red gold.
