Virtuoso VII Retrograde perpetual calendar

Retrograde perpetual calendar, reversed hand-fitting and double coaxial seconds

Introduced in 2010, the AMADEO® convertible case system allows the timepiece to be transformed into a reversible wristwatch, a table clock or a pocket watch without the use of any tools. Like the collection’s other models, the Virtuoso VII presents two distinct faces on its emblematic case. The first face displays the hours, minutes, seconds and power reserve, as well as all the indications relative to the perpetual calendar.

Entirely developed and manufactured by BOVET 1822 (including the hair-spring), the movement of Virtuoso VII answers ingeniously to all these specificities. Traditionally, calendar information is presented centrally on the dial, leaving the hours and minutes to be displayed on the perimeter. The option decided here was to do quite the opposite. The hours and minutes are therefore displayed on a central dial. Since the human eye is accustomed to interpreting this type of analog display intuitively, reading the hours and minutes poses no problem despite the reduced size.

This left the periphery of the dial free to accommodate the day and month indicators. Their exceptional size and diametrically opposed position allowed for the use of larger inscriptions. To further enhance legibility, the names of the days and months have been printed in white or black (depending on the color of the dial) on sapphire discs. This transparency allows the subtleties of the mechanism to be admired without cluttering the space. In place of jaded apertures, black or white plates now distinctly reveal the name of the current day and month. The retrograde calendar display is positioned outside, yet concentric to the hours and minutes dial. For aesthetic reasons and to further enhance legibility, the calendar hand is placed beneath the hours and minutes dial. Only its arrow is visible, appearing mysteriously on a graduated scale. Finally, the leap year cycle disk, positioned at 12 o’clock, completes the calendar information, mirroring the seconds hand positioned at 6 o’clock.

This atypical construction enables the complexity of the perpetual calendar mechanism to be admired together with the exceptional talent of the artisan-engravers who have attentively decorated the tiniest of surfaces.
The second face of the Virtuoso VII transports us to an entirely different universe. The hours and minutes dial, off-centered at 12 o’clock, gives prominence once again to the movement, decorated here with circular Côtes de Genève centered on the seconds chassis. The seconds chassis is a patented mechanism developed by BOVET, which allows the seconds to be displayed on the same axis and on both sides of the movement, all the while inversing their direction of rotation. This side of the movement also features a seconds hand elegantly positioned at 6 o’clock. Finally, a power reserve indicator displays the energy amassed by the barrel spring, which alone provides five days of autonomy.