Bovet built its nineteenth-century fortune almost entirely around China. After Édouard Bovet reached Canton in 1818, the company developed ornate pocket watches specifically for Chinese buyers, marketed under the Chinese name “Bo Wei.” The watches were prized for their decorative movements, skeletonized views, enamel scenes, and paired presentation boxes—one watch for use and a second as a backup during repairs that could take more than six months. By the 1830s, Bovet had even established a manufacturing facility in Canton, later retreating to a smaller operation in Macau when restrictions connected to the Opium Wars disrupted its business.
The commercial success proved difficult to protect. Around 1855, Bovet’s Chinese market collapsed under pressure from French and American competition and what the company history describes as a tremendous number of Chinese-made counterfeits. The imitations damaged the exclusivity of a brand whose name had become so familiar that “Bo Wei” was reportedly used as a common noun for watches. The family ultimately sold its interest in 1864, ending Bovet’s direct control over the enterprise. The counterfeit problem never entirely disappeared: modern replicas of historical Bovet watches—including nineteenth-century copies and newer fakes—have continued to surface in European markets and on eBay, while genuine examples now trade as collectible art objects, with the most elaborate pieces reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars.
