The Bvlgari Octo Exemplifies Finesse in Watchmaking
Bvlgari's Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar won the grand prize at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix, proving that eye-catching design and finesse are two perfectly compatible concepts. Once again, the Italian brand demonstrates that when it comes to watchmaking, everything is a question of contextualization and, above all, good timing.
In a market where the bulk of mechanical innovations are iterations of past inventions, a house like Bvlgari stands out by providing relief. Since introducing the Octo collection in 2012, it has been recognized and appreciated for its design with powerful lines, and worked them in such a way as to fit them into the cases of the Octo Finissimo line, the finesse of which, since 2014, has required watchmakers to reconsider their approach to mechanics. This elegant orientation has enabled the Italian house, whose watchmaking workshops are located in Le Sentier (a small Jura village nestled in the heart of the Vallée-de-Joux, one of the top places of Swiss watchmaking), to stand out and earn a reputation, with the Octo Roma and Octo Finissimo collection, among the top 5 of the most identifiable luxury watchmaking entities on the market.
The World or Nothing
Bvlgari Horlogerie, the house's watchmaking division, integrated into the LVMH group in 2011. The Octo collection was presented in Rome in 2012, receiving an overwhelming amount of success that demonstrated to the world that watches with a strong and original design are likely to meet the luxury benchmarks that have become essential worldwide. And as if by chance, all of them offer a design that distinguishes them and makes them identifiable by all observers, including neophytes. This year, to ensure that this notoriety becomes universal, Bvlgari releases the Octo Roma WorldTimer. This timepiece, presented during the Geneva Watch Days, emphasizes travel, to resonate with service sector executives who will soon be resuming their business flights and for whom airport lounges are like a second home. The 41 mm diameter watch is available in polished and brushed satin stainless steel on a steel bracelet, or on a textured rubber strap in a black DLC-treated steel casing with sandblasted surfaces. It presents 58 facets, all ready to catch the light on the wrist of its owners.
For working people who need to rely on exact timekeeping, Bvlgari has created an elegant and identifiable watch that allows instant reading of the time in 24 cities, or 24 time zones. From Rome to Samoa, Anchorage to Cape Verde, no place on the globe can escape them, when it comes to knowing the local time versus the time of the place they call home. Joining the Octo Roma collection, this new watch is driven by a new integrated movement comprising of 261 components. Developed and produced by the Manufacture du Sentier, it provides information using two disks: one for the 24 reference cities and the other with a 24-hour graduated scale. Together, they ensure a simple and instant reading of the time. To adjust this function using the winding crown, all you have to do is first position the city of the chosen time zone at 12 o'clock. Then, set the time until the hour and minute hands indicate the exact time in the selected time zone, while carefully ensuring that the 24-hour indicator matches the same time zone. Once these quick operations are completed, it is then possible to read the time in all time zones. Detail-oriented observers will note that the cities selected to each represent a time zone were meticulously chosen by Bvlgari. Thus, for the Caribbean, the island chosen is not Bermuda but Saint-Barth: a dream destination embodying the heart of luxury in the region. Likewise, certain towns where Bvlgari has a hotel or plans to open one are favored.
A Watch for the Record Books
Jean-Christophe Babin, who joined Bvlgari in 2013 as the new CEO with 10 years of experience at Tag Heuer, immediately understood the potential of the Octo line. To make it even stronger, he chose to underline its chic image by initiating, in 2014, the conquest of the extra-thin sector with the launch of the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manuel watch. Undoubtedly powerful and well in its time, the piece eclipsed, in fact, various competing models with more classic lines. To achieve this, the engineers at the Manufacture du Sentier had to overcome several major challenges. For example, integrating seven ball bearings for the primary gear and a ring finger for the cage itself, in order to achieve the record thinness of 5 mm while providing 55 hours of power reserve. Building on its momentum, in 2016, Bvlgari launched the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater, a piece whose caliber of only 3.12 mm then made it possible to produce a titanium case with 40 mm in diameter for only a 6.85 mm in diameter thickness. The watchmakers and engineers, convinced of keeping a theme with a bright future, unveiled the Octo Finissimo Automatic in 2017. With a 5.15 mm thickness and an automatic Bvl 138 caliber not exceeding 2.23 mm thickness (micro-rotor), the beautiful piece offered the brand a new victory in the ultra-thin category.
In 2018, Bvlgari set a new record with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic. This 42 mm-diameter watch, made of sandblasted titanium with only a 3.95 mm thickness overall, built up the pressure on the competition. To achieve this, the Manufacture has developed an original time-setting system, operated by a pusher associated with a column wheel. This edition was to call for other inventions, such as the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT presented at Baselworld in 2019. Offered in titanium, this 42 mm diameter instrument, with a fineness of 6.90 mm, carried a self-winding manufacture chronograph caliber of only 3.30 mm thickness. In this configuration, the two push-pieces, placed on either side of the winding crown, allow the measurement of short times over 30 minutes (counter at 6 o'clock), while the push-piece integrated in the caseband at 9 o'clock allows changing the time quickly to make it adapt to the time zone where the wearer is located while keeping, in the counter at 3 o'clock, the time in the starting zone. The only one of its kind in the industry, this version has cemented Bvlgari's standing among the biggest brands, recognized for the graphic strength of its luxury productions.
When you hold a good hand, you must not let go. And Bvlgari was able, once again, to reveal how much it celebrated beautiful mechanics with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Automatic Skeleton watch, presented during the Geneva Watch Days 2020 held at the end of August, in the city of Calvin. This 42 mm diameter titanium piece, the sixth world record in terms of mechanical finesse, is just 7.40 mm thick and incorporates a mechanical caliber with automatic winding by peripheral oscillating weight only 3.50 mm thick.
Seven Records and One Grand Prize
After seven years and nearly 60 international awards, the Bvlgari house has established the Octo Finissimo line in the landscape of fine watchmaking. To reach the seven records, the engineers of Le Sentier chose to launch the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar—a piece designed, developed, and produced in the brand's workshops at Le Sentier, with the aim of being the world's thinnest in its category. The self-winding Bvl 305 caliber—just 2.75 mm thick and comprising of 408 components—takes place in a sandblasted titanium or platinum case just 40 mm in diameter, for a total thickness of 5.80 mm. Beautifully balanced, it allows the display of hourly information on the dial, as well as calendar information with retrograde date, day, month, and retrograde leap year. Equipped with a 60-hour power reserve, the part, whether in platinum or titanium, has been designed so that the ultra-thin case is water-resistant to 30 meters. Available on a sandblasted titanium or alligator strap with a platinum pin clasp, this marvel of balance and readability won the Grand Prix de l'Aiguille d'Or this year at the GPHG—one more prize for this line, which does not cease to make the headlines.
And it's a safe bet that the Manufacture is preparing a new surprise for us in the form of an 8th world record for finesse. Some imagine an astronomical complication, others a world time to enhance the complication valued by the Octo Roma of the year. To find out, we will have to wait for the spring.