That '90s Show

Headlined by Capri Editions, the new Bulgari Aluminium collection exemplifies effortless summer cool

- JONATHAN HO

NOT EVEN 20 YEARS OLD and still unaware of Gérald Genta and the brouhaha surrounding luxury sports watches with integrated bracelets, I must admit that my first encounter with the Bulgari Aluminium was quite honestly lust at first sight.

Effortlessly stylish, versatile and eminently wearable, the timepiece existed in a milieu of its own with an unmistakable identity, timelessness and a countenance that was neither immediately masculine nor feminine; it was its own thing, influenced by nothing else in the watchmaking zeitgeist (that I would later discover as I grew in my own horological journey) and the perfect embodiment of Bulgari’s Italianità in 1998.

The potent symbol for sophisticated insouciance catapulted the timepiece into one of the rare instances that a watch was incorporated into the livery of an Alitalia Boeing 747.

In 2020, the collection came into its own, abandoning the casual charm of quartz and embracing mechanical selfwinding movements that further secured the journeyman watchmaker’s progressive milestone in the annals of horological history. Since then, the collection has expanded with a GMT model, the Diagono Chronograph and even a deep diving Diagono Scuba (a dressy designer watch giving the famed Submariner a run for its money, no less). In short, the Bulgari Aluminium was a singular and unexpected combination of ultra-light never-before-used metal and rubber, calling to mind audacity and reliability and irrepressible sprezzatura.

This year, Bulgari ups the ante with aesthetic updates and heralding new colours and executions with three creations to illustrate the art of dolce vita headlined with the aptly named Capri.

Summer Sprezzatura With The Capri