Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon (left) and the Serpenti Aeterna (right)
For its first-ever showing as part of Watches and Wonders Geneva, Bvlgari delivered a biting two-pronged offensive with the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon and the Serpenti Aeterna. The new Ultra is undisputedly the world’s slimmest tourbillon wristwatch (at just 1.85mm thin, just 0.5mm thinner than last year’s top dog, the Piaget Altiplano Concept Tourbillon) while the Serpenti Aeterna is now, in our opinion, the world’s most elegant bangle watch. It was a fitting debut, which we covered briefly in our report on the recently concluded fair, though we only noted that Bvlgari delivered good cheer in the Palexpo. That is an understatement that we will rectify.
Elegance is entirely subjective, so we will begin with the Ultra, which though more complicated, earns its stripes by dint of prowess and ambition. The high-complication department of Bvlgari’s watchmaking division has been chasing down records for more than 10 years now, and the thin chic war has raised watchmaking to new heights. To speak as plainly as possible, a mechanical movement is built up in layers of springs and gears. To make the thinnest possible watch, the goal is always to try bringing everything onto a single plane, as far as possible. That is the long and short of it of it, and it leads to spectacular architecture in movement design. It is not for everyone, but this is a limited edition of 20, so that is a given.
In the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, calibre BVF 900 adopts the extreme strategy of dispensing with a base plate altogether. Instead, it integrates the caseback as one of its components – this is a leading strategy in this style of watchmaking. Dial-side (although this nomenclature is quite unsuitable for something like the Ultra), what would normally be dominated by the motionworks is also now a showcase for the gear train and the mainspring (obviously, the tourbillon too). As with previous Ultra models, there is no standard crown here. Instead, two effectively exposed gears (one at 8 o’clock and one at 3 o’clock) wind the watch and set the time, respectively. Again, these functions are now on the same plane, which is not the case in a standard movement.
Now, we will dispense with the many other details that go into making the Ultra a magnificent machine, although we may yet decide to dive deep (ahem) into the world of ultra-thin watchmaking soon(ish). We must close here with at least a few words on that Serpenti Aeterna, which is just a joy to wear.
Bvlgari Serpenti Aeterna
The most streamlined Serpenti yet, this one leans hard into graphics – it does not even look much like a watch. Most of the time, we take a dim view of that, but not here. To match our simplified take on the Ultra, consider the Serpenti Aeterna as the sort of watch you might wear purely for decorative reasons. That it is a watch is besides the point but crucially, it presents the time very effectively. Just as some snakes hide in plain sight, so too does the Serpenti Aeterna.
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