a platinum collaboration

Bovet’s collaborations with renowned Italian car design firm Pininfarina have given birth to six special-edition models. The latest is the OttantaSei tourbillon (Italian for 86), in celebration of the automotive design and engineering company’s 86th anniversary, which was released last year. Only 86 models will ever be produced, 10 of which will include the newly unveiled platinum model.

The OttantaSei is the sleekest of the Bovet and Pininfarina collaborations. Despite the fact that the timepiece comes from a company devoted strictly to watchmaking and one whose expertise is in automotive design, the watch takes design inspiration from jewellery making. “The movement is a little like a diamond,” said Paolo Tevisan, head of design for Pininfarina. “We wanted to treat it the way jewellers do when the stone is floating and you can appreciate light from different angles.”

Unlike some watch and car collaborations, Pininfarina and Bovet worked closely together on every detail of the watch. Four sapphire crystals around the 44 mm diameter of the watch allow for the movement to be viewed at every dimension. While the watch takes up a lot of real estate on the wrist, it’s the slimmest of the Bovet and Pininfarina watches with a thickness of 12 mm. Watchmakers at Bovet had to create a special casing system that did not hinder the lateral transparency of the sapphire crystals that encircled the case and reduced the thickness of the timepiece.

A power reserve of 10 days is made possible through a single barrel that keeps the double-sided flying tourbillon revolving for 240 hours. And a spherical differential halves the time it takes to wind the piece without increasing the torque of the winding system.

Each limited-edition timepiece comes with a 5-year warranty. Price is upon request.