The rhythmic thump of rotor blades echoed in the valley as we drove towards Môtiers.

An unexpected stop slowed our progress, A helicopter lifting stones and timber had cars lining up in wait. Fanette apologised for the delay, but I was too busy staring at the chopper hovering in front of us to care. We were so close the car was shaking, I felt like I was in a James Bond movie. Never mind tomorrow, I hope today never dies.
We had just come from the Dimier 1738 facility in Tramelan, where I saw raw metal turn into finished watch parts. If you haven’t read part one of my story, go and do that now.

Before the red and white helicopter halted our progress we were on our way to Bovet’s chateau in hills above Môtiers. I was excited but that can wait, I thought, as golden autumnal leaves were blown all over Fanette’s car. The chopper lifted heavy loads vertically to their final resting place, it was an expensive but very Swiss way to move things. Parfait.
After a few minutes, the road finally cleared and we were on our way down the valley, en route to Restaurant les Six Communes in Môtiers for lunch. Shortly after we arrived and Keith, Bovet’s head of content was waiting inside with a cheeky grin on his face. He had ridden his Triumph from Tremlan and even though we left first, had beaten us there. Something about those twisty mountain roads made me think he may have been enjoying himself a little more than he should have been. Keith reminds me of my dad, who also has a heavy right hand on a motorbike. Who can blame them I guess.

Lunch With The Green Fairy

As soon as we sat down the cheese started flowing. It was fondue on the menu and the waiter placed a large simmering pot in front of us. If you haven’t had real fondue before, not that fake chocolate stuff, make sure you don’t have any breakfast before and don’t plan on having any dinner afterwards. It’s rich. My previous (and first) fondue experience was in Bern two days earlier, in a restaurant with wood chips on the ground and pine trees around the table. What is this life?
Although I felt like curling up in the sun in a cheese-induced coma, there was one last thing to try before we finished up. Absinthe, which comes from the area. The waitress brought to the table a jug with taps positioned around it. By the look of things, and what I had heard about the green fairy, I thought ‘This is going to get messy’.

Looking at Fanette for some reassurance, I was searching for the words to tell her that I’m a lightweight. Handling exquisite watches on a belly full of cheese and absinthe didn’t sound like the best idea. Thankfully my lack of cultural experience had misled me again as I was told that the jug was full of water as an accompaniment to the shot they put in front of me. I would be staying upright after all.
We left the restaurant and drove up the winding road to the chateau, through the trees and onto the cobblestone driveway. It’s a beautiful place, like Hogwarts for watch nerds.

The assembly facility

After admiring the view overlooking Môtiers and Fleurier for a few minutes, we entered the newer side of the chateau. The administration, marketing, social and logistics teams work here, at the lower level. Just like the design department in part one, the energy was calm and welcoming. We then turned left and headed upstairs, past an elevator that moves watches from this level to the workshop above. The first thing that hits you when you enter the workshop is the view out of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of the room. They overlook Môtiers and suck in masses of light that bathes the rows of adjustable-height benches in front of them.
‘I’m living the dream’ is all I could think.

This room is where Bovet watches are put through finally assembly and quality control before they’re sent off to retailers, downstairs. It’s surprisingly small, no more than 15m long and about the same wide. I had always imagined a well-known brand like Bovet to have a vast facility with rows of watchmakers and robots all working to build watches cost-effectively at scale. This couldn’t be further from the truth. There were no Robots to be seen, and the watchmakers were scattered about the room. Empty desks between them made it feel roomy and calm.
There’s magic here, the air is thick with it.

The first watch I saw on a bench was the Rècital 12. The friendly watchmaker was checking and assembling the bracelet, which, although a new skill for the Bovet, was done efficiently and with practised precision. Before we get into what else I saw in the workshop, there are two things I want to mention here that I found super interesting. Yes, I’m a nerd.

1. The floor of the workshop is perforated with thousands of tiny holes, for ventilation, but also to make sure the room is kept at a constant negative pressure. This is to make sure any dust that makes its way in, is quickly sucked out through the floor. You can feel it in your ears as you walk in. I asked one of the watchmakers if he ever drops tiny parts through the holes and he said he hadn’t yet, not sure If I believe him. I’m sure there are more than a few spring bars and screws down there.
2. All of the watchmakers were wearing the same shoes, crocs with soft fabric soles. This is to make sure they don’t generate any static electricity when the watchmakers are shuffling around. Something that can wreak havoc on small metallic parts. A few days before, Rèmi from Krayon was wearing them too, they seemed to be a part of the industry uniform. I searched the Internet trying to find a pair to buy but I can't find them! If anyone has a hook-up, let me know.

Don’t Embarrass Yourself In Front Of The Watchmakers Mitch

On a bench on one side of the room was a pair of tweezers, some screw drivers a metal plate and some tiny screws. The mission, if I chose to accept it, was to insert the screws into their respective hole. You might think this would be easy, I have pretty steady hands (or so I thought), but when you’re working at such a small scale every tiny movement gets magnified.
My seemingly rock-solid fingers looked like ten rattlesnake tails under the loupe. The first screw went in easily enough, the second one was a little less easy, and then I got on to the smallest screw. My god is it hard to manipulate something that small while looking through a loupe with one eye. I have a whole new appreciation for the watchmakers that do this every day, the patience and calm needed to do it well is immense.

After frying my nerves trying to use the tiny screwdriver, I had the opportunity to walk around and look over some shoulders for a few minutes. Walking as quietly as I could, I soaked it all in. Knowing I would have to leave soon, I wanted to see as much as I could.

A Minute Repeater In For Service

One of my highlights, surprisingly, wasn’t seeing a new watch being made, but an older one being serviced. There was a minute repeater from the early 2000s sitting on a bench awaiting some TLC. Some work was needed internally but the watchmaker was able to show me how it operated before disassembly. He explained (in French) the intricacies of the mechanism and even made it chime for me, it was very special.

By the look of the case it was well-loved by its owner, there’s something cool about a minute repeater with scratches on it. It’s like a Ferrari with worn down tyres. Memories etched into rubber and gold.

A Double Microscope

At the end of one of the benches sat a microscope with two sets of viewfinders. I thought this was odd at first, but after asking Fanette, she said that they use it for training and to have another set of eyes when doing quality control. A precaution just in case one person misses something. In an age of operational efficiency and automation, this is super impressive and shows where Bovet’s values lie. Perfection and quality over human resource efficiency.

Two gentlemen were using it while I was there, it looked like a young watchmaker was learning the ropes, lucky guy.
I was able to have a go when they were done and it’s a surprisingly intimate experience. You are physically close to someone which is inherently intimate, but it goes beyond that. You're transported to a world that doesn’t exist to everyone else, it’s a serene and lonely kind of connection. We were inspecting some dials and at that scale, it feels like you are the only two people on the planet.

Micro Paintings

When I thought of micro painted dials in the past, which happens a lot if you must know, I thought they would look good from a distance but up close the details would fall apart. How could they possibly be able to paint at that scale? Proven wrong again.

Through the tandem microscope, I saw a micro painting of a tiger and a horse. It was incredible. Think of the detail in a painting on a wall-sized canvas, then put that on a dial no bigger than a coin. The tiger had visible whiskers, and the mane of the horse looked photo-realistic. To get this extreme detail, the artists use brushes that are made up of a single hair. One more time at Bovet my brain couldn’t comprehend what was happening. If you get the chance to see a Mirco painting in person, look at it through a loupe, it will blow your mind.

One thing I’ve taken away from my visit to Bovet, and something that I’ve been thinking about for the month or so after, is that the general public has no idea what it takes to create these watches. Even the more technically simple pieces like the Rècital 12 take a team of incredibly talented people to produce. From the design, and parts manufacturing to the final assembly, it’s a miracle it happens at all.

I love Bovet (can you tell?) but I always thought that when it came down to pulling the trigger on one, I wouldn't be able to justify it. The little voice inside my head would tell me it’s not worth it. And this is the problem with being an enthusiast in this world of luxury, we very rarely see the ‘why’ behind the prices.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m talking about things that cost what is a huge amount of money to most people. Me included. But I think you’re doing yourself a disservice not paying attention to something because you think it’s not worth it.
The value in Bovet isn’t just the materials used or the ‘market’ it lives within. It’s in the people behind the product, their passion and commitment to making beautiful things. It’s the feeling of holding something special and the emotion that takes over when you have a connection. When it does eventually happen, I’ll be finding it a little easier to tap my card than I used to.

Cya in the next one. x

P.S. If you haven’t read part 1 of my visit to Bovet, you can do so HERE. Part 3 coming soon, but for now I'll leave you with some more images, enjoy!

If you've made it this far, you might as well follow me on instagram, there's plenty more images from my visit to Bovet over there. @mitchjhbarber