Today it produces high-end artistic watches (priced between US$18,000 and $2.5 million) with a style that references its history.
The company is known for its high-quality dials (such as the Fleurier Miniature Painting models), engraving and its seven-day tourbillon.
[citation needed] At the time the area was known for metal working, a natural result of the iron deposits discovered locally in the 15th century.
Watchmaking flourished in and around Fleurier during the late 18th century but because production was sold on credit for the international markets, prices were undercut[clarification needed] and economic destabilization brought about by the Napoleonic wars caused watch making in the area to decrease significantly.
Édouard Bovet discovered the potential of the Chinese market as a student of Ilbery in London, from whom he borrowed some design ideas.
[9] Notwithstanding their high price, the popularity of Bovet watches in China meant that the company had to contract with other Swiss manufacturers such as Guinand to help them meet demand.
[10] The Chinese watch market collapsed around 1855 due to competition from France and the United States along with the tremendous number of Chinese-made counterfeits.
[6] They sold the company to their manufacturing inspectors in Fleurier, Jules Jequier and Ernest Bobillier, who were soon joined by Ami Leuba.
[7] As of 2013, watches made for the Chinese market by this manufacturer and others such as William Ilbery of London command high prices as collectable art objects.
[7] Jacques Ullmann and Co., another successful produce of watches for the Chinese market, purchased the Bovet brand in 1918.
After Jacques Ullmann went out of business in 1932, the Bovet name was acquired by Albert and Jean Bovet, who were successful watch makers and registered several patents for chronographs, such as the mono rattrapante: a device that would pause the second hand for a reading while the mechanism continued to run.
However, no watches were actually manufactured by the company until after it was acquired by Roger Guye and Thierry Oulevay in 1994, who opened a branch office in Geneva.
STT was renamed Dimier 1738 Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Artisanale and went into a full restructuring over the next two years in order to bring the standards up to those of Bovet.
There are currently about 150 employees of Bovet Fleurier SA and the Dimier manufactures, and the company only produces 800 watches a year.
[15] Bovet spends very little to advertise and prefers to have private salons for clients instead of attending public fairs.
The watches are unique for their high-quality enameling (such as the Fleurier Miniature Painting models), engraving, and a seven-day self-winding tourbillon.