Review: Crystal Writing Desk – The Bovet Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One

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Bovet Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One

The tourbillon, with its hypnotic dance, is usually the focus of attention, the star of the show, the belle of the ball It would take something more extraordinary to peel someone’s eyes away from that spinning contraption we all love Luckily for Bovet, they are the masters of the extraordinary.

This year, the brand takes its writing desk-inspired case to the next level and incorporates it in a most stunning way Enter, the Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One.

The Case, Dial, and Hands

The true novelty of the Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One resides in its case With a case crafted (almost) entirely out of sapphire crystal, the watch is Bovet’s most naked yet – nothing is left to the imagination.

Sapphire crystal is chosen as a case material, first and foremost, because of its transparency Whether or not it is to one’s taste, a sapphire crystal case is always a visual spectacle Being one of the hardest materials on Earth, sapphire crystal is also virtually scratch-proof.

This amazing quality is, however, balanced out by its brittleness What this means is that while the case wouldn’t scratch upon abrasion on most surfaces, a strong enough impact would shatter it One would be wise not to drop the Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One on an uncarpeted floor.

Another property of sapphire crystal that is less talked about is its lightness Anyone who has owned a titanium-cased watch will tell you how bizarre it feels on the wrist; in the immortal words of Ned Flanders from The Simpsons: “feels like I’m wearing nothing at all!” Now imagine wearing a watch encased in sapphire crystal, whose density is lower than titanium.

In defense of the Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One, lightweight cases tend to work best with complicated watches Due to increased number of parts, complicated watches often weigh much more and tend to become top heavy on a wrist Moreover, the Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter One isn’t exactly a small in size.

Measuring 48 mm x 15.5 mm, the watch is as big as it gets; the weight reduction from the use of sapphire crystal (instead of gold) in the case significantly improves wearability.

With the bezel inclined at 6 o’clock, the case resembles a writing slope – now a signature design of Bovet’s While sapphire cases have been in use for many years, their designs have, up to present, remained relatively simple due to machining and polishing constraints posed by the freakishly hard material The asymmetric profile of the writing slope case would have posed a sizable challenge for engineers to overcome.

The only elements of the exterior that aren’t made of sapphire are the back bezel, the lugs, and the crown, all of which are rendered in grade 5 titanium.

The writing slope design of the case allows the movement to be assembled in tiers

There are two dial options available: the first is a see-through blue quartz dome (as seen in our photographs); the second, made of blackened []

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