The celebrations of
Pininfarina’s 80th anniversary continue with the
presentation of a masterpiece, result of the
collaboration between Bovet and Pininfarina: The Ottanta
Tourbillon.
The collaboration started during an initial meeting with
Mr Pascal Raffy, the owner of Bovet and Dimier 1738 when
Mr Paolo Pininfarina received the assurance of having
found in Bovet the brand with which he would co-write a
new chapter in history to magnify the legendary past of
each House and proposing a shared vision of the future.
In contrast to the notion of a private label, the
concept was based from the very start on an active and
equal partnership, marrying the specific strengths of
the designer and watchmaker while taking into account
the constraints of their respective activities. Those
behind the project felt that this was the only way to
achieve a perfect symbiosis of technical virtuosity,
performance and beauty without compromise.
As a tribute to the 80th anniversary of Pininfarina, the
technical designers of Dimier 1738, created a tourbillon
which makes one complete revolution in exactly 80
seconds, whereas traditionally this operation lasts one
minute. To achieve this, they created an intersection in
the going train. After the third wheel, the train is
divided into two separate reduction trains: one powering
the seconds-crown, which makes one revolution every
three minutes, the other, specially designed,
transmitting its energy to the tourbillon cage to ensure
that it completes each of its rotations in 80 seconds; a
solution both simple and ingenious. It will be noted
also that the rim of the balance wheel has been designed
in the shape of an ‘8’, centred in the ring representing
the ‘0’, evoking once more with subtlety and attention
to detail the 80th anniversary of Pininfarina. The upper
pivot of the tourbillon cage carries a hand which
naturally does not display the seconds but traverses
eight segments, recalling the number of decades in
Pininfarina’s history, and points to eight emblematic
phrases penned by Pininfarina and engraved on the
timepiece. The assembly is balanced by a specially
designed Pininfarina screw.
The essence of the partnership between Bovet and
Pininfarina resides in the decoration of this automatic
tourbillion. Bovet provides its exceptional expertise in
mechanical architecture and its mastery of multiple,
age-old and modern decorative techniques, while the
latter contributes its virtuosity in terms of design,
elegance and colour associations.
In close collaboration
with their counterparts at Pininfarina, the design team
at Dimier 1738 developed exterior parts and a “motorisation”
that merge into a single, coherent entity, managing to
overcome considerable obstacles to create an overall
effect of clarity and depth despite the extreme
complexity of the movement. Experts in the art of
showing materials and volumes to optimal effect,
Pininfarina designers suggested using the widest
possible range of nuances of grey, sensing that the
adoption of a monochrome approach would have the effect
of smoothing volumes while recourse to different colours
would prove aesthetically unappealing.
To achieve unsurpassed refinement in terms of
decoration, the engineers and craftsmen of Dimier 1738
analysed 56 decorative samples and shades of grey and
anthracite. Many of these were specially designed and
developed for this occasion. All were rigorously tested
to guarantee technical and aesthetic results that are
unalterable over time. In a final detail that symbolises
the virtuosity of Dimier 1738 craftsmen, the surfaces of
bridges on either side of the tourbillon cage feature
circular bipolar Clous de Paris decorative work, a feat
seemingly impossible to achieve until now.
The visual identifiers of both Houses are expressed to
perfection by the watch’s exterior parts, which together
evoke their most prestigious creations. The case is a
revisited version of the already famous Amadeo by Bovet,
proposed here in titanium and steel completed with black
DLC covering. Two other versions with a white or rose
gold bezel and case-back are also available. If this
Amadeo case is uncompromised aesthetically, it remains a
fantastic distillation of mechanical craftsmanship.
Two push-pieces on either side of the bow allow the
upper section of the wristlet to be extracted. A “minute
repeater” type slide releases the bottom bezel which
pivots on a hinge at 6 o’clock. This operation allows
the lower section of the wristlet to be released. The
watch can then be removed and transformed into a
miniature table clock resting on a stable support
assured by the lower bezel. According to mood or
necessity, the user can then reattach the wristlet and
choose which face of the watch to display, or reclose
the lower bezel and replace the upper section of the
wristlet with a chain, turning this prestigious object
into an elegant pocket watch.
In addition to Pininfarina’s active contribution to the
design of the watch, eight emblematic phrases each
reflecting one decade of the brand’s existence and
signed by Mr Paolo Pininfarina himself have been
engraved around the middle of the case. The work of
engraving was the most demanding task in the manufacture
of this case in terms of time and resources, to ensure
that despite its size, the wording remained clearly
legible to the naked eye.
The strap for its part is composed of two types of
rubber whose surface reflects the block-polish and
sand-jetted finish of the movement’s constituent parts.
It has duplicate-moulded stainless-steel inserts
ensuring harmonious integration with the case and an
“alcantara effect” calfskin lining created specifically
for optimal comfort. Fifty different operations were
required for its manufacturing. Adding a final touch to
this anthology, the dial has a brass flange with an
anthracite colour finish and a rock crystal lower plate
which reveals, in addition to the movement in its
entirety, the power reserve hand and balance decorated
meticulously in the same shade of blue as the
Pininfarina logo, which appears also on the stitching of
the sumptuous leather presentation case.
