Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic

After the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater, Bulgari claims another record with the Octo Finissimo Automatic, thinnest automatic watch in the world. Multifaceted cool The Octo Finissimo Automatic by Bulgari is extraordinary to see, touch and wear. It’s not small, at 40 mm, but its thickness of 5.15 mm really makes…

Bulgari Divas' Dream Lapis Lazuli

Bulgari Divas’ Dream

The two new Divas’ Dream watches by Bulgari combine very feminine lines and gemsetting, with a mechanical movement and an interesting complication. Minutes are shown by a retrograde hand which flicks back to zero once it has completed its one-hour arc. Hours are shown by a number in a window at the base of the…

Bulgari Lucea Il Giardino Paradiso

Bulgari Lucea Il Giardino Paradiso

Lucea, Bulgari‘s latest line of watches for women, has been with us for just two years, and it has attained a success that perhaps surprised even Bulgari. This year, many new models were presented, with new sizes, new colours, a full diamond pavé version, and this complication. Bulgari Lucea Il Giardino Paradiso is a jewellery…

Bulgari Diagono Magnesium Chronograph

Bulgari Diagono Magnesium Chronograph

They call it a sports watch. But the really sporty thing about it – the chronograph function – is to a degree marred by the incomplete seconds scale, and by the seconds hand that is too short to take an accurate reading. So by describing the Diagono Magnesium Chronograph as a sports watch, Bulgari mean…

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Skeleton Tourbillon 102541

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon

There are artists, archistars and fashion designers, all individuals who are accustomed to being in the limelight. The watch industry is traditionally different in that most brands don’t highlight a head designer. All the attention is on the brand. Exceptions include Christian Knoop at IWC, Sara Sandmeier at Baume & Mercier, and Carole Forestier-Kasapi, director…

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati

Bulgari Serpenti Incantati

Bulgari are on a roll. At a time at which many watch companies are suffering and sales are falling, Bulgari announce that they are enjoying double digit growth in their watch division. This year, Bulgari presented their first ever jewellery snake watch, a product masterminded by senior designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, and his brilliance at…

Bulgari Octo Ultranero Finissimo Tourbillon

Bulgari Octo Ultranero Finissimo Tourbillon

The Bulgari Octo Ultranero Finissimo Tourbillon is another variant of the Finissimo Tourbillon that was presented in 2014, and it is still the record-holder for the thinnest flying tourbillon movement, BVL 268, at 1.95 mm thickness. The movement is hand-wound and has a 52-hour power reserve. The principal new feature of this year’s Ultranero version…

Bulgari Octo Velocissimo Chronograph

Bulgari Octo Velocissimo Chronograph

In the pdf provided in the 2016 Octo press kit, Bulgari dedicates just one sentence to the Octo Velocissimo Chronograph. “For a sportier look, one may opt for the Octo Velocissimo Chronograph powered by the BVL 328 calibre, a high-performance movement capable of displaying the flow of time to the nearest tenth of a second.”…

Bulgari Octo Ultranero

Something of Bulgari’s Italian origins can be seen in the new Octo Ultranero pieces. They are black, but not all black. They are still intended as practical, legible timepieces, and so hands and hour markers are always in pink gold, contrasting with the deep black dial. The watch is powered by the self-winding “Solotempo BVL…

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton

The Octo Finissimo Skeleton by Bulgari is slim and modern, with its sleek black movement finished in black DLC and rich in contrasts provided by steel, gold and rubies. The hand-wound BVL 128SK movement is just 2.35 mm thick, hand wound, with seconds, minutes and hours, and power reserve indicator. This is a useful indication…

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater

Bulgari confirms its position as a major player in the watchmaking industry with the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater. It follows on from other record-setting pieces, such as the 2014 Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and this year’s ultra-thin flying tourbillon. The Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater is the thinnest minute repeater in the world, with a case thickness…

Bulgari

Company profile: Sotirios Boulgaris was born in 1857 in the village named Kalarites in the Epirus mountains in Greece, the son of Bulgarian immigrants. The area has a long tradition of jewellery-making in silver and he began his career as a jeweller in the village of Paramythia where had grown up. But he realized that…

Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon 2015

The Octo family by Bulgari was launched in 2012 and it is becoming a central pillar of the brand’s watch collection. Many new models were presented in 2015, all based on the slim case architecture that reached a high point last year with the presentation of the world’s thinnest tourbillon. The case was designed (and…

Bulgari Diagono Magnesium, very smart

This new version of the Diagono by Bulgari has a lot in common with Rolex, with its understated design, tough sporty image, robust protection and solid caseback. Diagono was first launched in 1988 and it was one of the first watches to use aluminium; this was followed by titanium, and rubber straps. The family comprises…

Bulgari Roma Tubogas

One of the watches by Bulgari celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Bulgari Roma watch – the original was intended purely as a free gift to Bulgari’s top 100 clients, and was a digital watch – Bulgari Roma Tubogas is another classic with reference to the modern world. Though Bulgari’s watchmaking is entirely Swiss in terms…

Bulgari Roma Tourbillon Finissimo

One of the watches in the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of Bulgari Roma, the Bulgari Roma Tourbillon Finissimo is a super-slim tourbillon with a manually-wound movement just 1.95 mm thick, world record thinness for a flying tourbillon. The balance runs at 21,600 vph (3 Hertz)and has a power reserve of 52 hours. The case…

Bulgari Roma Finissimo anniversary watch

How things have changed. The Bulgari Roma was introduced exactly 40 years ago not as a standard production watch, but as a solid gold free gift for Bulgari’s 100 most important customers. That watch, launched in 1975 when Bulgari’s watchmaking was just a sideline to its principal jewellery business, nonetheless presented some features that would…

Bulgari Octo Bi-Retro Brazil

This is a bit late, I know, but I wanted to post this watch, because I think it was the most original and attractive of the 2014 World Cup commemorative watches. In bright Brazilian colours, I would imagine that Brazilian customers will not be flocking to buy this piece – they would prefer to forget…

Al Pacino wearing the Bulgari Octo Velocissimo

At the 71st Venice Film Festival, Al Pacino was photographed wearing a steel Bulgari Octo Velocissimo. The name of the watch “Velocissimo” is not just cool marketing. Bulgari’s chronograph has an automatic movement, Calibre BVL 328, running at a higher frequency than usual, 36,000 vibrations per hour, ensuring precision for the classic chronograph functions. The…

Octo Finissimo, an ultra-thin tourbillon by Bulgari

Bulgari’s watch collection has developed into an extraordinary range, and the new pieces presented at Baselworld 2014 were very interesting: Lucea, the new women’s watch, Octo Velocissimo, a chronograph with a dramatically faceted case, Ammiraglio del Tempo, a grand complication, and many more. These watchmaking riches reflect the fact that this an important year for…