Timeline: BULGARI WATCHES
1920s
The design of early-jeweled
watches was in keeping with the
current trends of the Art Deco style
emphasizing was the precious
setting rather than the movement.
1940s
The company began to produce
wristwatches in the form of
snakes, designed as gold-coiled
serpents worn wrapped around
the wrist with a jeweled head
concealing the dial.
1955
1975
The Bulgari launches Roma, a
gold digital wristwatch, in a series
of 100 pieces, as a Christmas gift
to top clients.
Employed by Bulgari gold-
smiths for decades, the intricate
Tubogas technique was named
for its resemblance to a 1920s
Italian car’s gas pipe.
1977
The Bvlgari Bvlgari emblematic
collection was born in a double
engraving, as the coin inscriptions of
ancient Rome.
1988
Bulgari introduces Diagono,
incorporating the BVLGARI
BVLGARI logo on the bezel.
1998
Aluminum, a watch in aluminum
and rubber, is launched.
2000
Bulgari buys Daniel Roth and
Gerald Genta.
2012
The first Octo watch and full
Serpenti collection debuts.
2004
Bulgari introduces its first Grandes
Complications watch entirely
manufactured in-house, featuring a
tourbillon movement.
2014
Octo Finissimo Tourbillon debuts
with the thinnest tourbillon move-
ment in the world, only 1.95 mm thick.
2016
Bulgari introduces the Octo Finis-
simo Minute Repeater, the thinnest
minute repeater in the market.
2017
Bulgari breaks a new record with the
Octo Finissimo Automatic, which is
the thinnest automatic watch in the
world. This model is awarded at the
Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève
(GPHG), the “Oscars” of fine watch-
making, “Best Men’s Watch of the
Year”. The GPHG Jury awards as well
the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skel-
eton in the category “Best Tourbillon
Watch of the Year”.
2018
At Baselworld Bulgari debuts Octo
Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic,
the thinnest automatic watch in
the world, additionally equipped
with a Tourbillon. Also, the Diva
Finissima Minute Repeater is
equipped with the thinnest
chiming movement in the world.
48 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2018
production needed to make more pieces than initially thought. Demand
was higher than they expected.”
GENTA & ROTH FACTS
“THE CONTRACT FOR THE DANIEL ROTH AND
GERALD GENTA NAMES TO BE ON THE DIALS WAS
FOR THE FIRST TEN YEARS ONLY (AFTER BULGARI
PURCHASED THESE TWO HIGH-END INDEPENDENT
BRANDS IN 2000). IT SAID, FOR EXAMPLE, DANIEL
ROTH FOR BULGARI, ON THE DIAL. THIS IS WHERE
ALL OF THAT MANUFACTURING ALSO TOOK PLACE.
BUT EVEN THEN, WE DIDN’T HAVE THE CALIBER
BASE PLATE PRODUCTION HERE. THAT WAS
OUTSOURCED PRIMARILY WITH ETA OR GIRARD-
PERREGAUX. A LOT OF THE EARLIER SONNERIES
WE’RE FROM GERALD GENTA.”
A healthy portion of those sonneries, he adds, remain the same as they
were when first devised.
TOURBILLONS
“In the tourbillon department we have three watchmakers right now. One
person specifically does the pre-assembly for things like jewels and pinions.
Normally with the tourbillons we assemble the cage and the movement
separately because the cage is a very delicate. We assemble the cage and
then test it with a proven working movement. That way when we put it into
the final watch, we know that if there’s a problem it’s with the movement,
not the cage. Also, with the skeletonized tourbillon, the gold one, the move-
ment is very delicate, so we try to do as much adjustment with the working
movements before it goes into the finished movement.
“The normal tourbillons, the skeletons and the sapphire models take
three days to adjust; the ultra-thin takes about five days. That’s because the
adjustments for the ultra-thin movements are extremely fine. With a minute
repeater every time you activated you are coiling a spring, which then
uncoils, so they needs their own power source. That’s why there are two
barrels in the repeater. The basic repeater has about 860 pieces.”