The Future of Luxury: The BOVET Battista Tourbillon
BOVET 1822, crafters of beautifully-designed and sophisticated timepieces, reveals the exquisite new Battista Tourbillon, created alongside the pure-electric Battista hyper GT Working closely with Automobili Pininfarina, BOVET has created a timepiece that perfectly complements the Battista, with unrivalled craftsmanship and attention to detail
The two brands share a vision and expertise in making beautifully designed and handmade pieces of art, passionately created by dedicated teams focused on a sustainable future.
Powerful.
Precise.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
These words describe the new Automobili Pininfarina Battista AND the new Battista Tourbillon from BOVET 1822. Designed alongside one another, both ground-breaking objects of art share the same design vision based on legendary styling and innovation. The Automobili Pininfarina Battista has been recognized for its design excellence with several awards to its name already, as production of pre-series Battistas reaches completion and clients prepare to take delivery of the world’s first pure electric hyper GT later this year. Each vehicle is bespoke to the client’s personal specification, ensuring unrivalled exclusivity. In the same manner, BOVET 1822 has received numerous awards in the watchmaking industry, and the House is renowned for its bespoke work. The new BOVET Battista Tourbillon and the Automobili Pininfarina Battista hyper GT are poised to reinvent modern luxury.
Two Brands Rooted in Design
The Pininfarina name is characterized by its rich history in design excellence and craftsmanship, creating automotive artwork for more than 90 years. BOVET echoes this ethos in horology, with generations of artisans over its almost 200 years of history shaping incredible, meticulously detailed timepiece artistry. This mutual expertise was apparent from the very beginning, of BOVET and Automobili Pininfarina’s partnership in creating the Battista Tourbillon timepiece alongside the Battista BOVET Fleurier SA press.bovet.com – instagram.com/bovet1822 – facebook.com/bovetfleurier hyper GT, when BOVET owner Mr. Pascal Raffy and the Automobili Pininfarina Design Team met for the first time in Cambiano, Italy.
“At Bovet 1822, the human element is essential, and so it is for Pininfarina,” explains Mr. Raffy.
“Cars and timepieces share the same values: design and performance. When you start a project and there is no interest other than the pursuit of perfection, passions do not just add up – they multiply.”
This shared vision and expertise becomes apparent in every aspect of the collaboration. The unique skills of both houses led to the creation of a one-of-a-kind timepiece that simply could not have been be realized without the shared development process between the craftsmen at BOVET 1822 and the design team at Automobili Pininfarina. The completely in-house development and manufacturing of this hand-made masterpiece of horology, constructed by the world’s most skilled precision artisans, offers the freedom to create highly bespoke parts and decorations with utmost precision, while assuring that the highest quality standards can be met. The creation of a client’s Battista is a process of virtually unlimited personalization, with more than 128 million combinations for the interior color and materials alone, ensuring the only limits are the dreams of the client. Because of the expertise between BOVET and Automobili Pininfarina, this can be taken a step further, giving clients the possibility to express their own personalities and that of their bespoke Battista through the Battista Tourbillon as well. “Since the day we first connected with Pascal Raffy and the artisans of Bovet 1822, we felt mutually inspired by the opportunity to create another art form for clients desiring the pinnacle in design and watchmaking,” says Per Svantesson, Chief Executive Officer, Automobili Pininfarina. “With the unveiling of our first timepiece, we aim to showcase another step forward in the world of artisanal horology.” In a luxury world where conglomerates and big groups dominate, it’s rare to find two independent, family-owned Houses, at the pinnacle of their respective fields, collaborating.
Purity in Design
The Automobili Pininfarina and BOVET design teams worked hand-in-hand in the creation of the Battista Tourbillon. Already from the very first meeting between the teams, the shared vision and drive to push the limits of what is possible became clear. This focus on innovation, both in style as well as in materialization and manufacturing, was a key point from the very beginning. This vision for the future, shared by both Automobili Pininfarina and BOVET 1822, was of great importance to Mr. Raffy, inspiring not just the Battista Tourbillon but the start of a fruitful partnership between both houses.
The Battista Tourbillon is an expression of the shared design values between BOVET and Automobili Pininfarina. With a focus on lightness and purity, the timepiece extends Battista’s design philosophy and brings it to another dimension. Detailing inspired by Battista’s most characteristic design features can be found in every part of the timepiece, including the movement’s mechanical components. The exquisite craftsmanship of BOVET made it possible to design remarkable details that only the most skilled artisans can manufacture by hand. Box sapphire crystals on both sides ensure that the inner beauty of this mechanical masterpiece can be enjoyed and admired, opening up the view of the movement visible from all sides. In addition, the sapphire crystals are shaped at 12 and 6 o’clock to integrate the specially designed Vegan rubber straps. The process of manufacturing a timepiece at this level of complexity and quality is based around the highly skilled artisans from the house of BOVET, who make nearly every component of their timepieces in-house at the production facility in the village of Tramelan, Switzerland.
The Battista Tourbillon features exquisite detailing inspired by the design language and features of the hyper-GT itself. Every element of the timepiece’s design has been crafted to reflect Automobili Pininfarina’s PURA design philosophy, which uses elegant simplicity and lightness as its starting point. Applying the design know-how and philosophy of Battista on such a small-scale object was an enormous challenge, though, requiring a completely different approach from both design teams, automotive and timepiece. Combining this different expertise from both sides, the timepiece incorporates fresh and groundbreaking ideas within a classically-oriented watchmaking structure coupled with extraordinary finishing.
Inspiration for this came from Battista’s most recognizable features, like the exterior curves and design details. The Automobili Pininfarina and BOVET design teams took these shapes and created watch hands, bridges, dials, and other structures that connect the design of Battista to that of the timepiece. The design features more fluid, Pininfarina-style shapes compared to traditional timepieces. As an example, the flying bridge above the two main dials of the timepiece has a subtle three-dimensionality that is unique and reflects the curves of the Battista.
Throughout the entire timepiece, references to Battista can be found. Subtle background characteristics such as the Triangolo pattern on the dials or the top of the Battista, reimagined in miniature and viewed through the sapphire crystal exhibition case back, marry the timepiece and the hypercar. The timepiece features the Automobili Pininfarina and BOVET collaborative flags on the power-reserve dial, a signature Pininfarina detail that celebrates both companies’ heritage and future.
About Automobili Pininfarina
Automobili Pininfarina is based in operational headquarters in Munich, Germany, with a team of experienced automotive executives from luxury and premium car brands. Designed, engineered and produced by hand in Italy, the Battista hyper GT and all future models will be sold and serviced in all major global markets under the brand name Pininfarina. The new company aims to be the most sustainable luxury car brand in the world. The company is a 100 per cent Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd investment and has been named Automobili Pininfarina following the signing of a trademark license agreement between Pininfarina S.p.A. and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Pininfarina S.p.A. will take an influential role in supporting design and production capacities based on their unique 90-year experience of producing many of the world’s most iconic cars.
The Automobili Pininfarina Battista
The Battista is be the most powerful car ever designed and built in Italy and it will deliver a level of performance that is unachievable today in any road legal sports car featuring internal combustion engine technology. Faster than a current Formula 1 race car in its 0 -100 km/h sub-two second sprint, and with more than 1,900 hp and 2,300 Nm torque on tap, the Battista will combine extreme engineering and technology in a zero emissions package. The Battista’s 120 kWh battery provides power to four electric motors – one at each wheel – with a simulated WLTP range of over 500 km (310 miles) on a single charge. No more than 150 Battistas will be individually hand-crafted at the Pininfarina SpA atelier in Cambiano, Italy.
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