iW Magazine Summer 2019 | Page 109

Bulgari’s new Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic, far right, is the watchmaker’s fifth ultra-thin world record WHAT IS BULGARI’S PRIMARY GOAL WHEN DEVELOPING NEW WATCHES FOR MEN? Bulgari wants to craft the most elegant, contemporary watches for men. This means a watch with a slim fit. As a jeweler, we provide elegance for ladies and we want to do the same for men with men’s watches, and for us, slim fit is the name of the game for elegance. This led to our Finissimo collection, and to be sure the character is strong, we use the Octo shape. But to be most contemporary, we wanted the thin collection to be monochromatic. You have seen this with our full platinum, full carbon, titanium and sandblasted gold cases, which look contemporary because they are not shiny as you’d expect. Our rhodium-sandblasted steel also looks a bit like aluminum. These watches are each one color, in different materials. We now have an assort- ment of the various colors, which differ by their materials. We essentially developed our own colors with the titanium and the gold. WHY SPECIFICALLY DEVELOP THE CHRONOGRAPH? The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic measures 6.9mm thick, with a 3.3mm caliber inside. Back view of the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT, showing periph- eral rotor powering the ultra-thin BVL 318. What was missing until now was a thin chronograph. Earlier, our friends at Zenith helped us with Velocissimo, for which we used their El Primero. For us this was a big opportunity to continue to prove our ultimate contempo- rary elegance. The chronograph market is big, about twenty percent of worldwide watch sales. In certain places like Italy, twenty-five percent of the watches sold are chronographs. In other markets, such as in China, it is more like five percent, in part due to the larger size in thickness of typical chronographs. The Octo Tourbillon Automatic, only 1.95mm thick, is also lightweight (48 grams) with its carbon case and bracelet. SUMMER 2019 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 109