THE BUZZ WAS STRONG AT BASELWORLD 2018 SOON AFTER BULGARI DEBUTED ITS LATEST ULTRA-THIN WATCH. ITS OCTO FINISSIMO TOURBILLON AUTOMATIC, WHICH BY THE WAY IS EQUIPPED WITH A TOURBILLON, SNAGGED A RECORD FOR THE WORLD’ S THINNEST AUTOMATIC MOVE- MENT. THE WATCH IS THE FOURTH IMPRESSIVE ULTRA- THIN DESIGN FROM THE COMPANY IN AS MANY YEARS. IT FOLLOWS BULGARI’ S OCTO FINISSIMO TOURBILLON IN 2014, THE OCTO FINISSIMO MINUTE REPEATER IN 2016 AND LAST YEAR’ S OCTO FINISSIMO AUTOMATIC.
Bulgari’ s efforts have been acknowledged by consumers online and at retailers for several years. But Bulgari’ s watchmaking peers have also rewarded the brand’ s horological work. At last year’ s Grand Prix d’ Horlogerie de Genève, Bulgari took home awards for both the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skeleton and the Octo Finissimo Automatic.
IW INTERVIEW
To gain insight into how Bulgari decided to develop its series of recordbreaking ultra-thin watches, we sat down with Bulgari’ s Managing Director of Watches, Guido Terreni, during Baselworld. Here’ s what he told us.
Can you tell us why Bulgari started making ultra-thin watches?
In 2011, when I wanted to enter the ultra-thin world, we were just leaving the financial crisis and the taste of the consumer was evolving from larger watches. What we wanted to do was to give gentlemen a contemporary elegance. We look at ultra thin as the opposite of the previous trends.
As an Italian brand we were very sensitive to aesthetics. We considered the ultra-thin watches an expression of traditional aesthetics. They are a design of the 1950s in 1960s and had not evolved from an aesthetic point of view. They were usually made with precious metals, and you always wore them with a suit. Or even a tuxedo.
So we thought, why shouldn’ t a gentleman from today enjoy ultra-thin timepieces? This is the reason we have made our ultrathin timepieces with titanium, or on bracelets. We also invented a monochromatic look, which is very modern. This is why we have been so successful, both critically and commercially. Gentlemen who are buying these watches are really true connoisseurs. They see this watch as a new signature in the watchmaking and landscape.
So you decided to create a series?
We wanted to build an assortment around the ultra-thin idea, so instead of playing with the dial like everybody else does, we wondered how we could evolve this in a monochromatic effect. Then we developed the titanium and the steel we use. You cannot rhodium-plate steel because it will peel off.
To develop this white steel, we first put a plate of gold, which is yellow, and you then have to cover the gold with palladium, and only then can you finish with the rhodium plating. The watch has three layers to create this white finish. This is our aesthetical choice. And from a price point of view it is quite similar.
Our goal with the sandblasted finish is to give a new look. Most gold is polished or brushed, so our finishing appears quite fresh.
Tell us about the new record-breaking Finissimo ultra-thin?
This year we showed the thinnest automatic watch, which, by the way, is also tourbillon.
First of all, we start with the tourbillon cage. This is the same cage as in the manual winding tourbillon from 2014. It is very thin because we use a ceramic ball bearing system that holds the cage without a bridge. We actually kept this movement at the same height as the manual winding movement. The manual movement was 1.95mm just like this movement, which is automatic.
How is this possible? We use a peripheral winding mass. Now, at this thickness the crown was exactly in the center of the peripheral mass. So we have a pushbutton, and we don’ t have a crown that passes through to the movement, instead we have a system of wheels connected to the barrel.
The push button is a selector. When you press it you disengage one set of wheels and you activate another set of wheels that set the time. The crown allows you to set the time or wind the watch, and allows you to have a peripheral mass that doesn’ t interfere with the crown. This is 3.95mm thick versus 4.30mm for the previous record. There is a Bulgari logo on the peripheral mass.
Guido Terreni, Bulgari’ s managing director of watches
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