This was bound to happen when we wrote about the Automobili Pininfarina Battista EV hypercar just over a week ago. After the car was recognized as the best concept or prototype at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in 2021, the Swiss independent watch company Bovet introduced a watch created in collaboration with Automobili Pininfarina, dedicated to the release of the most powerful sports car ever made in Italy. This is the striking and technical Bovet Battista Tourbillon model.
The history of Pininfarina began about 90 years ago when Battista "Pinin" Farina opened Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in Turin, Italy. This design and bodywork company became an industry legend, producing special cars for Lancia, Fiat, Isotta-Fraschini, and Alfa Romeo. Some of the world's most beautiful cars were created by this design studio, which is considered one of the best in its field.
The company, more commonly known as Pininfarina, still exists today and belongs to the Mahindra Group. In addition to the design studio, Mahindra Group decided to launch Automobili Pininfarina, focused on creating high-performance EV cars for wealthy individuals. The first product to come to life is the Automobili Pininfarina Battista EV hypercar, currently the most powerful sports car in Italy, delivering almost 2,000 hp.
Although Bovet has previously collaborated with the Pininfarina design studio, this is the first collaboration with Automobili Pininfarina. In honor of the Battista hypercar, Bovet 1822 created a limited series of Bovet Battista Tourbillon watches. Combining elements from other Bovet creations with Battista's style elements resulted in an impressive technical masterpiece. The watches are limited to 90 pieces - 30 in polished titanium, 30 in red gold, and 30 in platinum - it is likely that some of them will end up with one of the 150 lucky owners of this beast.
The Bovet Battista Tourbillon case, with a diameter of 45.60 mm, made of polished titanium grade 5, red gold, or platinum, is placed between two sapphire crystals yet remains surprisingly thin at 11.95 mm. Under the crystal is the dial, or rather the dial elements, as almost the entire mechanism is visible. Asymmetrical central hands, styled after car elements, indicate the time on a suspended blue hour track. The hands and indices, as well as three tips on the tourbillon cage, are highlighted with Super-LumiNova luminescent coating.
At the "6 o'clock" position is the patented double-sided flying tourbillon, which also serves as a small seconds indicator. The other indicators include a 10-day power reserve and a large date on the left and right sub-dials. These sub-dials are shaped like the number 90 in memory of Pininfarina's 90th anniversary and are decorated with a Triangolo pattern borrowed from the car.
Turning the watch over reveals the complex in-house developed caliber 16BM01TVGD. The two-tone bridges and plates, finished to Haute Horlogerie standards, are shaped similarly to the profile of the upper part of the Automobili Pininfarina Battista model. The mechanism uses a single enlarged barrel with an impressive 10-day power reserve. It is wound using a patented differential winding system that reduces the number of crown turns for a full wind.
The second patented element is the double-sided floating tourbillon, operating at a slow frequency of 2.5 Hz and seemingly floating in the air. It is also entirely manufactured in-house, including the hairspring. The entire mechanism consists of 400 components.
The Bovet Battista Tourbillon is worn on a black vegan rubber strap with blue accents and a pin buckle. The price of the watch is 285,000 Swiss francs (in the titanium case), and the total number is limited to 90 pieces - 30 in titanium, 30 in red gold, and 30 in platinum.
For more information, visit the bovet.com website.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS - BOVET BATTISTA TOURBILLON
Case: 45.60 mm diameter x 11.95 mm height - titanium, red gold, or platinum case - sapphire glass on both sides - Bovet “Amadeus” crown with black coating and blue rubber ring - water resistance 30 m.
Dial: dual asymmetrical blue "90"-shaped dial - blued hour and minute hands - power reserve sub-dial - large date sub-dial - suspended blue hour track - seconds indication on floating tourbillon
Movement: Caliber 16BM01TVGD, in-house developed - manual winding - 400 components - 18,000 vph (2.5 Hz) - single barrel with 10-day power reserve - patented differential winding system - patented double-sided floating tourbillon - hours, minutes, seconds on tourbillon, large date, power reserve indicator - Haute Horlogerie finish
Strap: black vegan rubber strap with blue accents - titanium buckle
Availability: Limited edition:
30 pieces in polished titanium
30 pieces in red gold
30 pieces in platinum
Price: 285,000 Swiss francs (for the titanium version)