Figures play a prime role both in time itself and in watchmaking, and so there are sometimes unmistakable signs when it comes to making the right decisions. Especially for a man such as Pascal Raffy, passionate owner and meticulous CEO of Bovet Fleurier SA, seasoned connoisseur of the symbolic values of numbers through the cultures and beliefs of the whole world, and as dedicated a traveller as the brand founder almost two centuries ago. On a visit to Fleurier one Friday the 13th (last January), he learned that the 13th century castle overlooking the town cherished by the brand was for sale. It was love at first sight, but Pascal Raffy listens to his mind as well as his heart and therefore did some research in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises. His investigations yielded an extremely positive result, in that the former owners who had bequeathed the medieval residence to the Canton of Neuchâtel in 1957 proved to be none other than the descendants of Henri-François Dubois-Bovet! Since Bovet is a founding member of the Fleurier Quality Foundation*, Bovet plans to install not only a museum open to the public in one of the towers of the castle, but also and above all its workshops and its Manufacture. It is thus within this symbolic and historically eloquent setting that Pascal Raffy will soon be introducing the new Bovet movement carrying the famous Fleurier Quality Foundation label. Wealthy tourists fascinated by the Sportster and by “fleurisanne” engravings are going to love it, and journalists are already looking forward to the upcoming Bovet presentations!

* see GMT n°10