They just get better with every season
There is a spring in Bulgari’s step this season. The watch division of the jeweller par excellence seems to be outdoing themselves this season. The timing was perfect to introduce their latest collection, coinciding with the biggest annual watch fair in Geneva, Watches and Wonders. Bulgari was getting set to wow the world with its latest range of horological marvels. It is one of the most anticipated watch brands journalists are looking forward to, and this Spring was no exception. This season they did not disappoint as they rolled out their Octo Roma, Octo Finissimo and the Serpenti! The Italian design flare with Swiss Watchmaking savoir-faire is certainly a dynamic combination that made them an awesome pair and a force to reckon with. And here are the stars for their Spring novelties.
Roma
Born in 2012, Octo Roma was a love Child of the Octo and Roma. It has the round bezel of the Roma and the octagonal case of the Octo which was inspired by the eight-sided vault found in the 4th Century Basilica of Maxentius, and together they formed what seems to be an impressive new icon in the making, though it’s still early days yet.
Octo Roma Automatic and Chronograph Steel Black DLC
An all-black Octo Roma is a new addition to the range. Its 41mm stainless steel case is wears a black DLC coating which exudes a dark and mysterious demeanour, and given a polished sophistication by the Clous de Paris decoration on its octagonal dial framed by the round bezel. The pyramidal-shaped clouds give it an added attractiveness when the light reflects on its sides when in motion.
The simple aesthetics consists of SuperLuminova filled hours and minutes indices and the hour and minute hands with the date window at three o’clock and nothing more. It is powered by a hand-wound in-house movement, Calibre BVL 191 with a 42-hour power reserve. It also comes in a 42mm DLC Coated stainless steel case Chronograph variation with three Sub-dials – an unusual position of the continuous seconds counter at three o’clock, the hours counter at six o’clock, and the 30-minute counter at nine o’clock. It is powered by automatic in-house movement Calibre BVL 399 with a 42-hour power reserve.
Octo Finissimo
The Octo Finissimo was introduced in 2014, as an elegant and refined alternative to the Octo, which was more robust and sporty. The slim aesthetic is the design philosophy that defines the elegance element of the range. What started as just a simple desire to have a slim wristwatch in their collection ended up with winning nine world records for the thinnest watches, including this Spring, after winning the first record, Bulgari caught the bug and turned the Finissimo studio into horological gymkhana. Svelte, elegant, and handsome, one can never be too thin.
Finissimo Tourbillon Trio
Leading the pack of record-breakers is the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon in 2014. It wowed and surprised the world with the thinnest tourbillon watches. The uber-thin skeleton movement with a thickness of a mere 1.95mm and hosts a flying tourbillon. This time around the Maison introduced three variants, The Octo Finissimo Tourbillon which comes in an all-matte black 40mm with 4.85mm thick titanium case coated with black DLC, or a satin polished rose gold case with the same dimension.
They are both powered by the incredible manufacture movement Calibre BVL 268SK with a manual winding system and come with a 52-hour power reserve. The third variant is the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic, which movement has the same thickness, with a slightly bigger satin-polished platinum case at 42mm in diameter and 4.95mm thick. The watch is powered by an automatically manufactured Calibre BVL 288 with a flying tourbillon with a 52-hour power reserve, similar to its siblings above. One distinguishing factor from its siblings here is the baseplate finished in blue, to emphasise the components themselves.
Serpenti
It is hard to believe the vivacious and glamorous Serpenti clebrated its 75 years old only last year. The serpentine beauty has seduced women the world over with its Tubogas wrap-around bracelet that sensually wraps around your wrist in multiple loops, if you like. This beauty has gone through countless renditions and it still looks just as beautiful and seductive as it was in 1948 when it was first launched.
Tadao Ando x BVLGARI
Since 2020, Bulgari has collaborated with Tadao Ando, the famous self-taught minimalist Japanese architect to design for Bulgari. This is the first time Mr Ando has the opportunity to ply his artistic interpretation on the Serpenti. And it has resulted in a very elegant wristwatch with a simplicity that can only be described as beautiful, the teardrop-shaped face is framed by a bezel set with diamonds, which comes with four different dials. Each represents a season, the green aventurine for Summer, the iger’s eye for Autumn, the white for Winter or the pink for Spring mother-of-pearl.
These semi-precious stones are broken into small pieces and are then reassembled together in marquetry style by the craftsmen in their atelier. They may look random shapes and sizes but they are skilfully put together without any gap between them. Such is their skill. They are then decorated with applique indexes and hours and minutes hands, and powered by quartz movement, and ladies do not have to worry about fiddling with the crown. These beauties are housed in 35mm cases, in yellow gold and steel case and bracelet with green aventurine dial, rose gold case and bracelet with tiger’s eye, steel case and bracelet with white mother of pearl dial, steel and rose gold case and bracelet with pink mother of pearl. Each caseback bears Mr Ando San’s signature and is available in a limited edition. And they are simply beautiful.
