Bulgari Hits a High Note With a Trio of New Watches
Bulgari has been around since the 19th century, and for most of the last 150 years or so it has been known as one of the world’s pre-eminent jewellers rather than a leading watchmaker. That all changed in 2014 with the release of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual, the world’s thinnest tourbillon watch. Since then, the Swiss-Italian brand has upped the ante with one groundbreaking creation after another, including (for a time) the world’s thinnest watch, the Octo Finissimo Ultra in 2022. While the battle over thinness seems to have reached a detente, Bulgari’s latest collection shows the brand has lost none of its momentum. From the Octo Roma Grand Sonnerie Tourbillon to a new collab with Fender guitars, there’s no denying that Bulgari has earned its place among the world’s best watch brands.
Octo Roma Grand Sonnerie Tourbillon
Created in collaboration with the Italian-Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti, Bulgari’s new chiming watches combine tourbillon movements with some of watchmaking’s most advanced complications. Unlike a minute-repeater, which chimes the hours on demand, the grand sonnerie in this watch can be set to chime at regular intervals throughout the hour automatically. Equipped with four gongs and hammers (as opposed to two in a conventional minute-repeater), the Octo Roma Grand Sonnerie Tourbillon will chime the hours and quarters as they pass when in grand sonnerie mode and can also repeat the hours, quarters, and minutes on demand.
Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon
The Carillon adds another layer of complexity to the minute-repeater movement with three gongs instead of the standard two to create a more layered soundscape. However, with Viotti’s help, the chimes in this and the Grand Sonnerie Tourbillon have been tuned to create a “tritone,” often referred to as the ‘Devil’s Interval,’ a dissonant chord used by composers from John Coltrane to Stravinsky to Metallica. “Breaking with the classical consensus of horological musicality, Bulgari invents a new register with the technical and artistic collaboration of a musical prodigy,” notes Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bulgari’s executive director of product creation. “Even the four notes of its Grande Sonnerie, previously set to the Big Ben chime, eschew the sacrosanct Westminster tones.”
Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon
The third chiming watch in the new collection reprises one of Bulgari’s most audacious creations of the last decade, the ultra-thin 2016 Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater. While the new watch maintains the same 6.85 mm thickness as the original, it trades out the former titanium case for one made from ultralight carbon composite. It also updates the ultra-modern cutaway dial with one made from carbon, whose unique texture lends even more depth to the design.
Bulgari Aluminum GMT x Fender Limited-Edition
Maintaining the theme of musicality, the newest edition of Bulgari’s popular Aluminum line takes inspiration from one of the world’s most beloved instrument makers. Limited to just 1200 pieces, the Bulgari Aluminum GMT x Fender Limited Edition combines the travel-friendly functionality of a GMT with the brown and tan colour scheme inspired by the legendary Fender Stratocaster.
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