The open-worked timepiece is a traditional design staple of the watchmaking industry. Today, with the introduction of the APERTO 1, Italian for “Open,” BOVET and Pininfarina unveil a highly contemporary take on this traditional design ethic.
This exciting new timepiece from the Houses of BOVET and Pininfarina combines the traditional arts of skeletonizing and exquisite finishing with innovation in materials and a thoroughly futuristic design. In addition, the BOVET APERTO 1 incorporates a brand-new system which makes exchanging the timepiece’s straps simple and effortless.
The BOVET APERTO 1 is a mechanical watchmaking masterpiece that redefines the traditional skeleton’s delicate, technical, and aesthetic role. It signals a bold new approach for the future of skeletonized high watchmaking. Transcending the ordinary, the timepiece continues to place the intricate dance of gears and mechanics on full display, while at the same time adding a new ingredient – supreme versatility.
APERTO 1: The Skeleton of the Future:
Designed in Collaboration with Pininfarina
With its bold, Pininfarina-led design, the APERTO 1 seamlessly blends past, present, and future. When briefing the world-renowned design house, BOVET owner Pascal Raffy requested Pininfarina’s designers to conceive a more versatile and modern interpretation of the age-old art of skeletonization, opening everything for all to see. He asked for simplicity, transparency and lightness to be expressed in a thoroughly contemporary aesthetic, emphasizing all-round usability, offering a high level of flexibility to the timepiece’s owner.
The result is an exciting, almost playfully modern timepiece which pays homage to the open-work watchmaking genre while transforming the visual appeal of a skeletonized timepiece into a more robust expression, perfectly adapted to our modern-day environment. Extremely light, thanks to its grade 5 titanium case and well-sized at 42mm, the APERTO 1 is supremely comfortable on the wrist.
Drawing inspiration from Pininfarina’s vast repertoire including sports cars, yachts, airplanes, architecture and furniture, the APERTO 1 exudes a perfect balance of elegance, savoir-faire and functionality, together with a spirited sporty character. With APERTO 1, time is revealed in its purest and most contemporary form yet.
For the More Technically Minded:
A Masterpiece of Engineering and Design
The BOVET APERTO 1 is powered by a brand-new, hand-wound, open-worked manufacture movement that captures the essence of futurist high watchmaking with its impeccable design and precision engineering, reduced to its bare essentials.
Its open-worked movement has had everything extraneous removed; its bridges and plates all merging in the center of the movement. Thanks to sapphire crystals on both sides, the in-house movement architecture of this timepiece is on full display.
APERTO 1 features a 42mm grade 5 Titanium case that is sandblasted in such a way that fingerprints will not show after handling. The movement itself is coated with black and tantalum grey treatments, highlighting its cutting-edge architecture. The movement components are all crafted in-house by BOVET, open-worked and finished by hand to perfection.
Each movement undergoes at least 10 hours of hand-finishing just for the plates and bridges alone. The techniques used include: PVD or CVD coating (depending on the color); bead blasting (challenging not to deform the components and to keep a uniform orientation of the grains); graining of the flanks; polishing of the bevels; polishing of stone gouges and screws; perlage, circular Côtes de Genève; polishing, and anglage. This extraordinary level of attention to detail, beloved by collectors, should be viewed through a loupe to be completely appreciated.
Ultimate finesse is required of BOVET’s dedicated artisans due to the movement parts being coated before assembly. Great care must be exercised not to damage the coatings in any way. One slip of a tool during assembly and the component must be discarded.
A significant and distinguishing feature of the APERTO 1 is its unique approach to interchangeable straps, inspired by BOVET’s patented Amadeo system. Ultimate versatility is the result. Using a completely new system created exclusively for APERTO 1, the owner is able to change the straps in just a few seconds by simply activating the pushers to remove each strap and insert an alternative one. The system couldn’t be easier or quicker, underlining the attention to the needs of collectors that defines all BOVET timepieces. Each APERTO 1 comes with two straps, and additional straps may be purchased through authorized BOVET retailers.
BOVET and Pininfarina
The Pininfarina name is characterized by its rich history in design excellence and craftsmanship, developing engineering artwork for more than 90 years. BOVET echoes this ethos in horology, with generations of artisans over its 200-year history shaping incredible, meticulously detailed timepiece artistry.
The partnership between this exclusive design House and BOVET began in 2010 when BOVET owner, Pascal Raffy, first met Paolo Pininfarina, the chairman of Pininfarina. They soon realized how much their companies had in common, particularly a love for superbly designed, fine mechanical items.
A collaboration was born that same year, one that has resulted in several unique BOVET timepieces, including the Cambiano, the Sergio, the Ottanta, and the Ottantasei. The companies’ mutual vision and expertise becomes apparent in every aspect of the collaboration. The unique skills of both Houses have led to the creation of singular timepieces that simply could not have been realized without combining the skills of BOVET’s dedicated artisans and the creative flair of the design team at Pininfarina.
The APERTO 1 extends the BOVET/Pininfarina universe into the future of open-worked timepieces and deepens the contemporary aesthetic that all Pininfarina-designed BOVET timepieces share.
“I’m very excited about this vibrant, young timepiece. The APERTO 1 embodies BOVET’s and Pininfarina’s passion for contemporary and futuristic design in mechanically exceptional timepieces. It exudes a new, modern design language, new colors, and new materials. The APERTO 1 is a departure for both BOVET and Pininfarina, creating a timepiece of great versatility while remaining true to the aesthetic senses of both Houses. We believe the APERTO 1 will not only captivate watch enthusiasts but also ignite the imagination of those who dare to dream and are willing to push boundaries.”
Pascal Raffy Owner of BOVET
“The relationship with BOVET is more than a collaboration as it is based on a common passion for beauty, craftsmanship and innovation, resulted in a collection of unique timepieces over the last 13 years. Today, we are proud to be next to BOVET presenting APERTO 1, the forerunner of a new chapter of the association of our values, able to express a new design language and a brand new experience for those who love timepieces as we do. ”
Paolo Pininfarina Pininfarina Chairman
