The Canvas Of Time

The recent collaborations between watchmaking brands and the contemporary art and design fraternity reveal absolutely covetworthy creations for horology and art fiends in equal measure.

- TAN SIOK HOON

OCTO FINISSIMO TADAO ANDO BY BULGARI

Tadao Ando is revered, even among the world of Pritzker Architecture Prize laureates. When the self-taught starchitect received the international award in 1995, he was lauded for being “that rare architect who combines artistic and intellectual sensitivity in a single individual capable of producing buildings, large and small, that both serve and inspire.”

For his third Bulgari partnership to construct and interpret time, the Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando—a 160-piece limited series—is the result and sensational evocation borrowed from Ando’s stark and subtle contemporary design sensibility revolving around his architectural use of cement, glass and light.

For the Japanese architect’s second iteration of the Octo Finissimo limited series with Bulgari, he extends on his previous expression of time, depicted by a spiral engraved on the dial to symbolise the black hole as the birthplace of time. The debut of a crescent moon this instance amidst the night sky spiral is inspired by the Mikazuki concept of the lunar evolution—the first stage of the next moon en route to becoming the full moon. This transitory nature of time is emblematic in many cultures including the Japanese where the moon is regarded as both the clock and calendar—and now it is rendered on a blue lacquered dial to elicit hope in the night and a bright future.