Tourbillon 5 jours heures sautantes aiguillage inversé « Dame de Shanghai »

Caracteristics

Description

The geometry of this timepiece is both original and balanced. An aperture at 6 o’clock displays the jumpinghours disc. Minutes are indicated by a mobile index which runs over the inner circumference of the flange. The seconds hand is carried by the upper pivot of the tourbillon cage situated at 3 o’clock, while the power reserve indicator is at 9 o’clock.

Since the bridges and bottom plate are visible, they have been given a Fleurisanne hand-engraved decoration. The reversed hand-fitting allows the indication of hours and minutes to be transferred to the other face of the timepiece, where the “Lady of Shanghai” is revealed. The technique used is that of enamel lacquering. This practice is based on techniques for which BOVET was famous in the 19th century and has been developed by one of the craftsmen working exclusively for BOVET to reveal all of the qualities of Japanese ware. Of the different techniques still in use today, this method not only ensures the highest definition of detail but also offers greater shock-resistance than enamel. Like other techniques such as Grand-Feu enamelling, enamel lacquering requires a large number of successive firings according to the complexity of the motif and the number of colors involved. Facial expressions and draped fabric are among the most difficult subjects to render with this technique and the time needed to execute such work is measured in hundreds of hours.