Two new Bulgari
Serpenti Incantati
THIS PAST FALL, BULGARI UNVEILED ITS MOST COMPLEX
WATCH EVER, A GRAND STRIKE REPEATER WITH
PERPETUAL CALENDAR, AS WELL AS A ONE-OFF WATCH
FEATURING A DRAMATIC SKELETON TOURBILLON BUILT
WITH A GENUINE ANCIENT ROMAN COIN.
The pair of unique-piece watches solidly underscore Bulgari’s focus
on its Octo collection and its mastery of minute repeaters. In addition to
debuting these unique pieces, Bulgari expanded its Divas’ Dream collection
of complicated watches for women with an aventurine and diamond-dialed
watch displaying time like historical ‘mystery watches’ using rotating discs
instead of hands to indicate time.
The debuts, first seen during a launch event in Shanghai, arrive on the heels
the recent nomination of five Bulgari watches to the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie
de Genève 2018, a record number of nominations for a single watchmaker in
one year.
In addition to the headlining complicated debuts, Bulgari also showed a
series of new Serpenti, Tubogas and Lvcea watches, each expanding Bulgari’s
distinctive jeweled collections made for women, while adding blue hues to
several Octo Finissimo ultra thin watches.
The Bulgari Octo
Grande Sonnerie
Perpetual Calendar
THE GRANDE SONNERIE
The Bulgari Octo Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar combines two
elaborate complications: a grand sonnerie (grand strike) and a perpetual
calendar. Equipped with four hammers, the movement (the automatic
BVL 5307) sounds the hours, quarter-hours and minutes on demand. The
perpetual calendar here features a full range of calendar indications – day,
date, month and year – along with moonphases, all regulated by a Bulgari
tourbillon.
This 44mm watch is cased in rose gold and shows off its caliber from
the front as well as from the clear sapphire caseback. Bulgari has created
a specialized Octo Roma case designed to encompass the new movement,
which is thicker than Bulgari’s most recent Octo offerings. Notably, the case
features a dark middle section that holds the caliber between the bezel and
the caseback.
“The black middle case is unusual,” explains Fabrizio Buonamassa, Bulgari
Horlogerie’s Artistic Director. “The middle case is floating. We have made
openings throughout so the sound travels through. It is made using titanium
with a DLC coating, and its wall is very thin to help transmit sound. Of course
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