What distinguishes a Bulgari design from others?
We put shapes together in new ways to generate a new aesthetic. As you can see, our watches are based on very pure shapes. This comes from our Roman background. You can see a portion of a column for example. And we love bold proportions.
Are there differences in Italian watch design and Swiss watch design?
We combine Italian design and Swiss watchmaking knowhow. Just the watches come from Switzerland and the jewelry comes from Italy. But the Serpenti body comes from our Italian atelier and just the head of the Serpenti comes from Switzerland. We try to convey all of our different skills in these products. For Octo, in terms of shapes and proportions we are talking about pure Italian design. Pure and simple without any added elements.
Luxury products have to be timeless. That’ s why I’ m trying to work just with pure shapes.
Did you envision creating all three ultra-thin timepieces when you started the first one several years ago?
When you make these kinds of watches you need to have a precise production schedule. We needed more than five years to develop the Finissimo Automatic. When we started to imagine this type of series we needed to develop a long timeframe, otherwise you can’ t create this high level of watches.
A new Bulgari Octo Americas.
Bulgari’ s Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skeleton
Were there any technical changes needed to skeletonize the existing Octo Finissimo Tourbillon?
It was a challenge. For us it is important to have this kind of timepiece. When you skeletonize a movement it has to be a strong one. The plate on the tourbillon beyond is strong enough. The entire family Finissimo family is a strong one— in fact I wear my Finissimo Automatic as my everyday watch.
The Finissimo family is made somewhat like a Formula One car. No space for decoration, and just enough for it to work. Our idea was to have a wearable complication. And for the first time, the minute repeater was a solid piece of titanium. We needed enough space to have a great sound for the repeater. When we discovered that titanium gave a crisp sound, we decided to use it for the case and the dial. We liked it so much we decided to use it for the new Automatic.
The Bulgari Finissimo minute repeater chime is placed into the case.
96 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | WINTER 2018