Her Hour: Audrey Raffy And Bovet's Family Affair

In 2023, after graduating from Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law, Raffy stepped into the leadership position within the family business – her father Pascal Raffy has owned the company and acted as its president since 2001. “[He] took over the company when I was eight,” she says,” so watchmaking and Bovet have always been a part of my life.”  

Raffy cheekily says that her position requires her head to be “in 15 places at the same time”, with her duties spanning legal, PR, partner relations, communications, management and more. “I didn't come from a purely watchmaking background and people have been very understanding and helpful in teaching me certain things that I might not have known on the spot,” she admits. 

Yet, leading a family brand imposes certain challenges, “Since I came on, I’ve been mostly taking the workload off my father,” Raffy says, “He is a traditional man, so he couldn't understand, for instance, putting a rubber strap on a US$300,000 timepiece. So, it took some time for him to see that maybe the rubber strap is comfortable to wear. And maybe the bright colors [of the straps] can bring a little sunshine and happiness into things.” Although it took some convincing to merge such different worlds of heritage craftsmanship and modern sensibilities, it produced a fantastic result – the Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter Two on a retina-busting yellow strap, which took home the prestigious Mechanical Exception Award at the 2020 GPHG. 

“This is what Bovet is all about,” Raffy explains, “it’s combining what we’ve been known for since the 19th century, like miniature paintings and engraving with complications, movements and new techniques and materials, like DLC or meteorite.” One doesn’t have to be a horological scholar to understand that the two categories can sometimes be completely opposite. By strictly adhering to this tenet, the maison continues to scour the heights of the competitive watchmaking world. Just last year, it won another Mechanical Exception Award. This time, it was for the Récital 28 Prowess 1. The watch, once and for all, solved the Daylight Savings Time dilemma. With its innovative design, including four different period rollers and 24 city rollers printed on four sides, all controlled by a single sapphire cabochon on the crown, this timepiece seamlessly adjusts to any time zone during Daylight Saving Time. It also features an enlarged flying tourbillon, a perpetual calendar with roller-based indications, and an impressive 10-day power reserve from a single barrel.

While Raffy is firm in her vision for the company, she admits that the business can be tough for women to navigate. “The minorities are still underrepresented and are struggling everyday to get equal opportunities,” she says, “Are things getting better in the watch world? They are. It’s not an overnight thing, but a long, continuous process. I believe that women need to get equal opportunities and positions based on merits.” 

But how can the players that control the majority of the global watch sector provide such opportunities? Raffy has the answer. “It’s helpful to hear the woman out, for her to speak out and for women to support and back each other up,” she says, adding, “The employers should also foster these talents and bring them out with intention through scholarships and mentorship programs.”

As for women who are just starting out in their watchmaking or collecting journeys, Raffy’s main advice is to not be afraid of asking questions and leveraging the network of social watch clubs in their pursuits, because, after all, there’s strength in community.