Dr. N.
What is a prestigious brand in luxury watchmaking? What distinguishes the many watch manufacturers that crowd the market? I believe that a brand is prestigious if it is able to create watches that no one else can make.
In today's article I want to tell you about a watch that denotes, in those who wear it on the wrist, knowledge and love for mechanics. Some will snub it because it does not have a prestigious name on the dial: but for those who, like me, think it is one maison to be made prestigious by the watches it creates, not the watches to be made valuable thanks to an inscription on the dial, the eight Bulgarian it is a watch that has a lot to say.
Let's find out how it is made and why the very thin watch by Bulgari.
Bulgari Octo: the challenge of finesse
As a mechanical watchmaker, I have always been fascinated by technical challenges. The most accurate, the most complicated watch, the one capable of diving to extreme depths… These are all demonstrations of where human ingenuity can go.
One of the great challenges in watchmaking has always been miniaturization. Perhaps the most difficult form of miniaturization in a watch is thinning. Taking a mechanical movement, and reducing its thickness more and more, is more difficult than it seems. Some compare the reduction in thickness to a complication: even if technically incorrect - the complication is an addition of functionality - this gives an idea of how difficult it is to achieve the goal.
When, at the turn of the millennium, Bulgari acquires the brands Gerald genta e Daniel Roth, specialized respectively in watch design and mechanical movements, few expect that after a decade of work, a collection of watches will be launched capable of conquering five world records.
Bulgari Octo: the design
Many know that the design of the Bulgari Octor is characterized by the octagon, a figure dear to the great designer Gerald Genta. Not everyone knows that the particular arrangement of the facets on the dial and case - a total of one hundred and ten - was inspired by the decorations of the arches of the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome. A choice desired by the maison capitolina, which has chosen to combine Italian style with the high manufacturing quality of Swiss watchmaking.
Bulgari Octo: the technique
Bulgari was not satisfied with making a strong choice in aesthetic terms. He wanted to dare where only a few selected manufacturers had ventured, creating a line of watches that holds five world records:
- In the 2014, the Bulgari Octo Tourbillon Finissimo Manual it is the thinnest tourbillon movement in the world
- In 2016, theOcto Finissimo Minute Repeater It is the thinnest watch with a minute repeater mechanism
- In 2017 theOcto Finissimo automatic, whose movement is only 2,2 mm thick
- In 2018, Bulgari realizes theOcto Tourbillon Finissimo Automaticthis is also the thinnest in the world in its field
- In 2019, theOcto Finissimo GMT Chronograph Automatic, which with 3,3 mm thickness has the thinnest automatic chronograph movement in existence.
It is undeniable that we are faced with a respectable watch manufacturer, capable of creating creations that cannot be reached for many others. maison also emblazoned.
What is Bulgari's secret?
To make such a watch thin, it is not enough to reduce the thickness of the individual components: it is necessary to avoid that they overlap, and to do so it is necessary to radically redesign the movement. Hence double barrels, micro-rotors, and above all the horizontal displacement of the movement parts - implemented by exploiting the wide width of the case - are used to prevent them from increasing the overall height of the mechanism by overlapping. All while guaranteeing one power reserve high and flawless operation.
The materials used for the case and the bracelets are the most varied, from the classic rose gold to the innovative titanium, which gives a very low weight to this timepiece. Holding one of these timepieces in your hand gives you an unusual sensation, a mixture of solidity and lightness, which underlines even more the technical exceptional nature of this watch.
Bulgari octo, the most beautiful variants
One of the aesthetic changes most appreciated by mechanics enthusiasts is the skeletonization, which allows you to admire the movement directly on the face of the watch, thanks to the removal of the dial. We have an example below:
In 2017, the historic Florentine jewelry Tomasini Francia and the reality of the watch trade Afad SrL join forces with Bulgari to create a special edition, limited to only twenty pieces and exclusively for Italy, of the Bulgari Octo. It was built on the basis of a technically very interesting version of the Octo: the seconds hand is located at seven o'clock, instead of, as usual, at six o'clock, because placing it in the traditional position would have resulted in an increase in thickness: it was therefore it is necessary, to maintain the fineness of the movement, to place it at seven o'clock, also inserting a "dead wheel", that is a gear that has the sole purpose of transmitting motion, without multiplying or de-multiplying, from the balance wheel to the seconds hand. The aesthetic aspect is also noteworthy: the combination of the titanium case and bracelet with the blinding blue dial is pleasing to the eye and highly legible.
Below, we can admire one of only twenty specimens in the world of this magnificent watch.
Is the Bulgari Octo for me?
Whether you love the watch as an object of style or appreciate it for its technical refinement, the eight Bulgarian convinces watchmaking enthusiasts. No other timepiece offers such an original yet pleasant line combined with record-breaking performance. The Bulgari Octo range offers watches for everyone, from the only time to the sophisticated refined, all united by the search for maximum finesse and an inimitable style.
If you liked the article, don't forget to read the others your Chronosect!
