The hairspring is both the heart and brain of the watch. Like the brain, it is so complex the only thing we know about is what it does.

Bovet is one the very very few watchmakers that actually manufacture hairsprings. They are fitted onto the balance wheel which goes back and forth at a regular speed (its frequency). Those displacements are counted by wheels and transformed into seconds, minutes, hours and everything beyond.

The hairspring opens and shuts, yet always comes back to its original shape. It is impervious to temperature changes, which is awesome at 0.03 mm thick. It is barely affected by air pressure nor magnetic fields. And it is rust free. That 1 mg gossamer thing remains almost-everything-proof, while beating 500 million times a year, for decades on end! It does require all of Bovet’s experience to achieve such a result.

So basically, it’s, in my mind, whatever makes us feel, rather than telling us what to believe. Loads of things fall into this class, even sport! Literature qualifies as the words, such as brush strokes, paint a picture in our heads that’s different for everyone. A technical guide does nothing but instruct; artwork enables lateral thought, individual emotion, along with a unique takeaway. A cool bit which adds a small bit of technical interest to something that is otherwise little more than jewelry.So the main thing you’ll notice when you look at the Bovet Amadeo Fleurier 43 is probably the rather striking image of a horse-mounted, crown-wearing, bow-toting riders of the Apocalypse bedecked in a cloak, galloping more clouds. Right. Standard wrist candy? Not so much. This really is something for the connoisseur. I mean, it’s easy to gripe over this view’s lack of mainstream appeal (particularly at Bovet’s price bracket), but if you are just earning one (and this bit is genuinely unique in that sense) you do not require a great deal of people to like it. There are a startling amount of people on the planet who have enough money to buy this kind of merchandise, and the odds are in Bovet’s favour which one of them will think that it’s the bees knees. And anyway, art has a weird habit of appreciating in value for the oddest reasons.Watches are not any different. It was widely derided for its look, but nevertheless sold like hot cakes. Nowadays, instead of his passing and his assured place in history, the Hayek Swatch is among the most collectable and sought after. Now, I am not saying this Bovet has exactly the same kind of importance to the market, but it might have that kind of emotional appeal to someone who has a specific penchant for the dial subject.