Watches and cars, cars and watches. These two industries are perfectly suited for each other as they both evoke similar emotions and joy out of all of us. Most watch lovers you’ll find today are also car enthusiasts, and rightly so as they are intricate finely tuned mechanical machines that do more than just go from A to B or simply tell the time.
We’ve now been given the latest collaboration between these industries, as one of the titans in the automotive industry Rolls-Royce have teamed up with Bovet 1822 to create some exquisite timepieces. This collaboration however is unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Bovet 1822 is creating a pair of reversible timepieces for the coach build Rolls-Royce Boat Tail. These timepieces include a tourbillon, with each piece being designed to be worn on the wrist, used as a table clock, pendant, or pocket timepiece (something that Bovet is well-versed in). The real kicker? these watches can be placed within the car’s center fascia. Now that’s something truly unique indeed.
The clock in Rolls-Royce cars has always been made to be quite special, as it often a canvas for the client to tell their story in a miniature version. This incredibly ambitious project brought together designers, craftspeople, and engineers from both luxury houses, to be able to express their shared values of excellence, heritage, precision, artistry innovation, and impeccable attention to detail.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars expressed his joy in this latest collaboration by stating that “Rolls-Royce Boat Tail is a pure expression of its owners’ interests, influences, and passions, with every detail minutely considered. We have enjoyed working with BOVET 1822 to create a pair of exquisite timepieces that also serve as Boat Tail’s dashboard clocks. In doing so we have together created historically significant items of detail, precision, and beauty. These remarkable objets d’art, unique to the first iteration of Boat Tail, represent the finest examples of the skills and values shared by our two great luxury Houses.”
Design:
The Bovet 1822 Rolls-Royce Boat Tail timepiece is made in pairs – in lady’s and gentlemen’s versions. The timepieces that were created for the very first iteration of the Boat Tail are created with 18k white gold cases. The front dials on these models match with the same Caleidolegno veneer that is found on the aft deck of the Boat Tail. The models are then finished with the owner couple’s name for a truly unique touch. The two models do differ as the gentlemen’s is highly polished, while the ladies are ornately engraved then filled with blue lacquer.
Rolls Royce Boat-Tail Bovet Gentlemans Timepiece 
Rolls Royce Boat-Tail Bovet Ladies Timepiece
The men’s front dial is a hand-made wood marquetry dial that has a hand-engraved Spirit of Ecstasy sculpture fixed to the tourbillon bridge. The woman’s front dial is also a hand-made marquetry dial, which includes an 18k white gold Spirit of Ecstasy sculpture.
Flip the watch over and the reverse side has a dial that is more individualistic. The gentleman’s reverse dial features an aventurine dial with a celestial arrangement of the night sky. This celestial arrangement is over the individual wearer’s place of his birth on his birth date. The lady’s reverse dial is decorated with an ornate miniature painting of a flower bouquet on a mother of pearl dial. Both the gentleman’s and lady’s reverse dials have hand-engraved bespoke sculptures of Boat Tail, complete with wheels, door handle, and mirrors.
The 44mm 18k white gold Fleurier case features a BOVET 1822 bow at 12 o’clock. The functions of the case include Amadeo Convertible system, reversible sides, pocket watch on a chain, pendant watch on a necklace, table clock, and of course the dashboard clock.
These unique timepieces also come with a dashboard holder for when the watch is to be used as a dashboard clock. The dashboard holder is 100% engineered in-house, designed, and developed by BOVET. The dashboard holder is made of up 51 aluminium and titanium components, features an engraving of two Rolls-Royce Boat tails in a white gold case that matches the timepieces.
The movement used by Bovet 1822 is a manual wound bespoke 60-second tourbillon. The movement itself is comprised of 284 components and puts out a frequency of 21, 600 v/h. This bespoke movement powers the normal functions of the hour and minutes on both dial sides along with the power reserve indicator on the front. The power reserve of this movement is estimated to be roughly 5 days!
This truly is a unique project, undertaken for the first time by two of the most specialised brands in their field. Each of the timepieces created is reflective of each individual Rolls-Royce Boat Tail owner With each watch example requiring almost 3,000 man-hours to develop and manufacture the timepieces.
To round up these exquisite timepieces, we’ll end with this quote by Pascal Raffy, Owner, BOVET 1822, which sums up these pieces nicely, “I am so proud of the BOVET 1822 team, who worked in tandem with their counterparts at Rolls-Royce to produce something truly spectacular. The owners of the coach-built car and these bespoke timepieces are personal friends, as well as valued collectors of BOVET 1822. It was important to do the very best for them – two completely unique pieces that are unlike anything we have ever done before.”
