SUPERFINE

With eight world records in as many years, Bulgari has catapulted from jeweller to bona-fide watchmaker. We asked Antoine Pin, Head of Bulgari watchmaking, what’s next?

- JONATHAN HO

WITH EIGHT WORLD records in as many years, it’s hard to imagine that Bulgari’s watchmaking endeavours only began in earnest a little over 20 years ago. Then, seeking to establish itself as a respectable watchmaking house, the famed Italian jeweller acquired both the Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth brands in 2000, along with their manufacturing facilities in Le Sentier. Italian designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani joined in 2001 where one of his first briefs was to design a bracelet for the Octo.

Moving the brand’s watchmaking design team from Rome to Neuchâtel, Switzerland, he and his team got to work, reimagining the Octo as something bold and modern. By 2012, the Octo was born: a polished steel and satin octagonal case featuring an unprecedented 110 facets with a round bezel, a black lacquer dial and an alligator leather strap. Two short years later, Bulgari changed the game (and cemented its legitimacy forever) with the launch of the Octo Finissimo.

In English, Finissimo can be translated to something approximating “superfine”. The design was unmistakably new and more importantly, it’s our generation’s “Royal Oak” moment, an equivalence that Antoine Pin, the Head of Bulgari watchmaking, humbly disagrees. Nevertheless, no one is considering Bulgari as a jeweller first and watchmaker second. They’ve achieved legitimacy in 20 years in an industry which counts provenance in centuries.

It looks like there’s a world record for the Octo Finissimo every year now, for over eight consecutive years. How many more years can you continue this streak?