Following the success of the Récital 26 Brainstorm® Chapter One, the House of Bovet 1822 premiered the Récital 26 Brainstorm® Chapter Two. The timepiece is presented in the iconic sloped writing case that features Bovet’s patented Double-sided flying tourbillon, a second-time zone with a twenty-four city disc and a precision moon phase while offering the chronometry of 5 days power reserve.
To increase the level of exception, Mr. Pascal Raffy has chosen to limit the number of timepieces crafted annually to a mere 800. The Récital 26 Brainstorm® Chapter Two has occupied the House’s technical office and prototype watchmakers’ office for the past four years.
Innovative architecture
The Récital 26 Brainstorm® Chapter Two is the second timepiece in the Bovet collection to be fitted with a sapphire crystal case with an asymmetrical profile imagined by Mr. Pascal Raffy in 2016. The slope of its bezel allows the collector to explore new display mechanisms that guarantee intuitive and increased readability. Concentric rollers, rotating domes, and three-dimensional needles were used to express time in new ways.
Furthermore, the House of Bovet 1822 has imagined a movement that justifies the use of the “writing slope” case entirely made of sapphire. Selected for its crystalline transparency, sapphire is the second hardest material known after diamond and it is lighter than titanium. This choice immediately revealed one of the major challenges. If sapphire cases have been known for almost forty years, their designs have remained relatively simple, because of the machining and polishing constraints due to the hardness of the material. Achieving a complex case, especially with the asymmetrical profile, confronted engineers and technicians with difficulties and challenges that were eventually mastered with the unveiling of the Brainstorm® Chapter One in 2019. This triumph continues today with the unveiling of the Brainstorm® Chapter Two.
Ultimately, the middle and the glass form only one single element, 47.80mm in diameter. The back is made up of a bezel and four horns machined from grade 5 titanium. The sapphire crystal case opens to display the movement. To optimise transparency and ergonomics, the watchmakers fixed the movement at the bottom rather than inside the middle, as is usually the case.
Engineering brilliance
For this timepiece, the caliber is entirely manufactured in the Bovet 1822 workshops and is the result of a new design. Absolute control of energy guarantees an autonomy greater than five days of power reserve by the use of a single barrel, which maintains the oscillations of the regulating structure at a frequency which has been increased to 21,600 v/h. It was done for chronometry enhanced by the patented double-sided flying tourbillon.
The information provided by this new caliber is displayed consistently in the volume of the case. A dome dial, available in a choice of blue or green translucent quartz or blue aventurine glass, displays the hours and minutes of local time in the upper part of the case. The seconds are read by an index fixed on the tourbillon, itself, placed at 6 o’clock which makes a complete revolution, in 60 seconds. Finally, two rotating domes placed, respectively, at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock harmoniously complete the shaping.
The dome, located at 3 o’clock, displays a second time zone. The names of 24 cities representing the 24 time zones are printed on the rotating part of the dome which makes a complete revolution, by scanning the 24-hour graduation of the base ring. A three-dimensional V-shaped needle allows the collector to select the displayed time zone. This innovative combination, united with the dome, allows optimal readability, despite the reduced diameter of the entire display. In addition to a second time zone display, it also offers the world time function, allowing the time in each of the 24 time zones to be read simultaneously.
In addition, the moon phase indicator is positioned at 9 o’clock and is also displayed by a rotating dome. The surface of the lunar ground is engraved by hand before luminescent material is applied, also, by hand. The two circular windows which overhang the dome make it possible to read the age of the moon according to the specific orientation of its crescent, whether one is in the northern or the southern hemisphere of the Earth. The precision mechanism that drives this dome gives it an accuracy that requires a correction of one day every 127 years.
The domes of the second time zone and the moon phase rotate by the patented mechanism of the radial guidance system. Three rollers, in rubies adjustable by a micrometric screw, are arranged on the circumference of each dome. They ensure centering and the rotation minimises friction and therefore, freeing the interior volume of the globes, which increases the chronometry and the power reserve of the timepiece.
Finally, the five days autonomy of this combination of great complications are displayed by an indicator, subtly, positioned in the middle of the case between the two strap lugs. The indicator index runs linearly, while its engraving is gradually directed on the edge of the movement.
Technical specifications
| Reference | R26C2001, sapphire case, blue quartz dial R26C2007, sapphire case, green quartz dial R26C2010, sapphire case, blue Aventurine glass dial |
| Limited edition | to 60 movements / including 30 sapphire cases, only (in limited editions of 10 timepieces) |
| Case | Type: Dimier « writing desk » case Diameter: 47.80 mm Material: Sapphire with titanium lugs and case-back Bracelet: Double face full skin alligator with platinum thread stitching Buckle: 18K white gold folding buckle Water resistance: 30m |
| Movement | Caliber: 17DM06-DT Type: Hand-wound movement Diameter: 39 mm Frequency: 21,600 v/h Power reserve: 5 days Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds on the tourbillon, three-dimensional moon phase indicator World time with indexable second timezone with hemispherical city indicator |
| Dial | Convex in blue, in green quartz or aventurine glass dial |
| Patents | Double face flying tourbillon Radial guidance mechanism system Universal time display |
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