LAST WORD

Ten years after Bulgari set out on its multifaceted Octo adventure, the brand has delivered something special to the culture of watchmaking itself with the Octo Finissimo Ultra. We take a look at how Bulgari went about creating the world’s thinnest watches

Watchmakers present their credentials in a few ways, and accolades are just one. Some display observatory awards denoting a legacy of accuracy. Still others summon up an array of patents reflecting the spirit of innovation and creativity marking their manufactures. A lucky few get to demonstrate both with hundreds of years of history. Bulgari decided to create its own legacy, and to do it in a way that no other brand had done. The result today is the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch at 1.80 mm thick, caseback to sapphire crystal top. Such a watch does not appear overnight though…

In 2012, Bulgari built the foundation for this monumental achievement with the Octo L’Originale, and delivered the ground floor in 2014 with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual. This tourbillon wristwatch boasted the thinnest manual-winding flying tourbillon movement in the world at just 1.95 mm thick. What set the brand apart was that it set out to break its own record – and establish new standards that surpassed all that had gone before. Of course, Bulgari was in that healthiest and most inspirational adventure – to do something only it could do, and then top itself.

Bulgari’s horological adventure since 2012 can be summed with a few numbers: ten years, eight world records, more than 60 international awards, and (in the new Octo Finissimo Ultra, covered in-depth in our Highlights section this issue) eight patents. And the Octo Finissimo story is far from over, having now entered a new dimension, as Bulgari puts it. Coincidentally, the Octo obviously shares key characteristics with these numbers, being eight-sided and having plenty of distinguishing aesthetic features along the same lines, including the inner flange of the watch.