News: Bovet unveils meteorite-dial 19Thirty model, plus the latest Oris
With Watches and Wonders drawing to a close recently, it’s been pretty quiet on the watch news front. But at least these superb new releases from Swiss watchmakers Bovet and Oris are giving us something to talk about and marvel at—did somebody say “pure meteorite-dial”?
Oris Aquis Date Mother-of-Pearl
Mention springtime and many of us think of light and airy pastel colours, so it’s a good thing Oris has released this new trio of Aquis Date models in varying pastel shades, just in time for spring and summer.
Coming in three shades—blue, pink and green—each model has a stunning mother-of-pearl dial with luminescent indices and hands and a sporty rubber strap to match. The blue model features a deep-blue dial and contrasting baby-blue strap, whereas the baby-pink and sage-green models both have matching shades on the dial and strap.
With a 36.5mm stainless-steel case, these Aquis Dates feature a mineral display back, a uni-directional rotating bezel and are all water-resistant to a hardy 300 metres. Powering these colourful Oris models, then, is the Swiss automatic Oris caliber 733 with 26 jewels, 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 38 hours.
We don’t know about you, but we think these sugary-sweet Oris numbers make quite the treat for the warmer months to come.
Case | Stainless-steel
Dimensions | 36.5mm
Dial | Blue, pink or green mother-of-pearl
Crystal | Domed AR-coated sapphire crystal
Water-resistance | 300m
Movement | Oris caliber 733, automatic
Power reserve | 38 hours
Frequency | 28,800 vph
Strap | Rubber in blue, pink or green
Functions | Hours, minutes and central seconds. Date at 6 o'clock
RRP | 2,200 Swiss Francs
Bovet 1822 19Thirty Blue Meteorite
Bovet makes some of the watch industry’s most exquisite—and unusual—dials, with some notable examples including its Sweet Art model, featuring a dial made from specially processed sugar crystals. It’s also made various metiers d’art pieces that illustrate the brand’s mastery in fine guilloche work and enamelling.
Yet this is its first meteorite dial, which it has introduced into its 19Thirty watches, one of the collections with a blue-sapphire cabochon-topped crown at 12 o’clock, giving it the appearance of a pocket-watch on a strap—an aesthetic now synonymous with Bovet.
Like most meteorite watches from prominent luxury brands—from Rolex to Omega—the slice of meteorite comes from the Gibeon meteorite that landed in Namibia in prehistoric times. But whereas most meteorite dials are grey, this one has been subjected to a special blue-coloured PVD treatment, its transparency allowing the unique “Widmanstatten” pattern to show through. The effect is spellbinding.
The Namibian government recently announced that newly discovered pieces of the Gibeon meteorite will be considered national monuments and therefore protected. As such, meteorite dials will likely be far less attainable in the future. Get them while you can.
This 19Thirty is powered by a manual-wind in-house caliber with a power reserve of 7 days. As well as hours, minutes and small-seconds, it boasts a power reserve display at 3 o’clock. The movement, decorated with pearlage and Cote de Geneve is visible through the open caseback.
Unusually for Bovet, the 42mm case is sand-blasted grade-5 titanium and it comes on a matching blue fabric strap.
Case | Sand-blasted grade 5 titanium
Dimensions | 42mm
Dial | Blue meteorite-dial
Crystal | Double sapphire crystals
Water-resistance | 30m
Movement | BOVET in-house caliber, manual-wind
Power reserve | 7 days
Frequency | 21,600 vph
Strap | Blue fabric
Functions | Hours, minutes, sub-seconds and power reserve indication
RRP | 35,000 Swiss Francs
