Bvlgari revives its Monete icon with Milanese mesh and the world’s smallest round mechanical calibre
Few Maisons can turn fragments of ancient history into contemporary watchmaking quite like Bvlgari. With the Maglia Milanese Monete, unveiled at LVMH Watch Week 2026, the Roman jeweller-watchmaker revisits one of its most evocative signatures—the Monete secret watch—pairing it with an artisanal bracelet technique that dates back to Renaissance Italy.
The Monete concept first emerged in the mid-1960s, when Bvlgari began incorporating authentic ancient coins into jewellery watches. Rather than treating antiquity as mere inspiration, the Maison used genuine Roman currency as functional design elements.
The Maglia Milanese Monete continues that tradition, featuring a silver coin dating from around 198–297 AD bearing the image of Emperor Caracalla. The coin forms a hinged cover that opens to reveal a discreet dial beneath—a classic secret-watch arrangement that blends jewellery mystique with practical timekeeping.
This interpretation introduces another historic craft: Milanese mesh. Formed from intricately interlaced gold threads, the technique was developed by Milanese goldsmiths centuries ago and prized for its exceptional suppleness.
Bvlgari deploys it here in a rose-gold bracelet that drapes fluidly across the wrist, contrasting with the watch’s geometric architecture and octagonal design cues.
The case is crafted in rose gold and set with brilliant-cut diamonds, while the dial beneath the coin cover features white mother-of-pearl and diamond hour markers. Even the crown is finished with a diamond, reinforcing the piece’s dual identity as both watch and jewel.
Powering the watch is Bvlgari’s Piccolissimo BVP100, currently the smallest round mechanical movement in production. Measuring just 13.5mm in diameter and 2.5mm thick, the calibre weighs only 1.9g and contains 102 components. Developed at Bvlgari’s manufacture in Le Sentier, the movement now appears in a crown-wound version visible through a sapphire caseback.
The result captures Bvlgari’s distinctive approach to watchmaking—where Roman heritage, jewellery artistry and Swiss mechanics converge in a single object worn on the wrist.
