At Geneva Watch Days 2024, Bvlgari strikes the right chords with a trinity of chiming Octos, an Aluminium GMT x Fender special edition, and a mesmerizing Serpenti Pallini beaded with gold and diamonds.
A duo, a trio, and a quartet — After their glorious conquest of ultra-thinness and eternal mastery of Roman haute joaillerie, Bvlgari savoir-faire expands to the composition of horological symphonies, fusing the best of their Swiss mechanical artistry and Italian aesthetics. Creating acoustics out of geared poetry, Bvlgari latest passion is to explore the sound of time. From a trinity of chiming watches to an Aluminium GMT inspired by a legendary ‘50s guitar, music is Bvlgari’s artistic muse at Geneva Watch Days 2024. Here’s a deeper listen to their timekeeping melody.
Bvlgari Serpenti Misteriosi Pallini
The Serpenti, a mystical creature of perpetual rebirth and metamorphosis, strikes again — As a GWD24 special, it incorporates Bvlgari’s miniature Piccolissimo calibre and the glimmering rustle of Pallini artistry, evoking the skin of the exotic reptile. Pallini was first introduced in 1955, taking from the Italian translation of ‘small round beads’. This dual-coiling Serpenti Pallini wraps your wrist, embracing you in its scales comprising countless small gold beads and brilliant cut diamonds. Each is individually set using a technique called ‘en tremblant’ onto a gold mesh, demanding over 500 hours of craftsmanship. The Serpenti’s eyes comprise pear-shaped emeralds with Pavé-set diamonds or mother-of-pearl dial, cast in three iterations of rose, yellow, and white gold. The Piccolissimo BVL100 calibre is manually wound, offering a 30-hour power reserve.
Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon
Bvlgari’s recital-worthy polyphonic mastery comes housed in an iconic 2018 Octo Finissimo carbon case — based on a revolutionary design that earned Bvlgari the title of creating the thinnest minute repeater in history just two years prior. At GWD24, this total-carbon-cast case returns with a few nifty tweaks.
Taking their mechanical symphonies to new material realms, this renewed carbon Octo Finissimo swaps out its matte dark titanium MR pusher and crown for a much more polished, metallic finish. New life was also breathed into all three hands, switching them for a shinier, three-dimensional metallic make. What stays the same are the cut-out indexes and small seconds sub-dial at six o’clock on the burnt-ash-like dial. The 40-millimetre x 6.85-millimetre-thick case is crafted out of multi-layered CTP (Carbon Thin Ply), which is ultra-lightweight and rigid. It houses the record-holding ultra-thin calibre BVL362 movement, which is manual wound, featuring a minute repeater and 42-hour power reserve.
Bvlgari Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon
Going up an octave, the Octa Roma Carillon Tourbillon is mechanically harmonious and composed with careful symmetry, creating an intriguing aural contrast. Bvlgari summoned Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti to create its tritones. For reference, minute repeaters use a traditional two-gong hammer system, whereas a carillon uses three. The first hammer for hours, the second for minutes, and all three for quarters, creating a slightly more complex yet delicate mechanical poetry. Cased in 44 millimetres of rose gold with a thickness of 12.6 millimetres, it boasts a classic satin-polished DLC finish. The dial is sandblasted and openworked, allowing you to peek into the modified manual-wound BVL428. It also features cutouts for the hammers and gongs and an exposed tourbillon bridge at six o’clock. On its flipside, its mechanical glory is on full display, accompanied by a tiny power reserve indicator. Limited to 30 pieces.
Bvlgari Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon
Completing the trio of chimers on a high note is the Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon, which uses four hammers, one more than the Carillon. What’s a grande sonnerie, you wonder? Simply put, it automatically chimes the hours and quarters as they pass — in addition to the minute repeater. As all four hammers and gongs are engaged in a mechanical opera, it creates a musical instead of repeated rings.
Typically, we’ve seen Bvlgari release Grande Sonneries accompanied by perpetual calendar complications. But this time, keeping up with the capsule’s spirit of music, Bvlgari stuck to just a four-chime grande and perite sonnerie minute repeater and tourbillon. Housed in its 45-millimetre satin-polished titanium case is the BVV800, which is manual-wound and delivers a 72-hour power reserve. It boasts the same sandblasted, open-worked, mesh-like brass dial as the Carillon Tourbillon; however, the tourbillon has migrated to ten o’clock, and the hammers and gongs rest below it. Only five pieces will be made.
Bvlgari Aluminium GMT x Fender Limited Edition
Modern-day globetrotter meets eternal music legend. Riffing the right chords, this Bvlgari Aluminium GMT is inspired by the 1954 Fender Stratocaster and even dons its original livery.
Flexing the original hues of the Stratocaster, the Aluminium GMT adorns a brown rubber bezel with signature dual ‘BVLGARI’ engraving and matching rubber strap. The Stratocaster’s iconic lacquered gradient/sunburst finish is carried onto the dial of this Bvlgari Aluminium GMT, created by coupling creamy white and dark brown hues. This is surrounded by the 24-hour scale, whose dark brown half indicates nighttime while the creamy white indicates daytime. The inner dial features Arabic numerals only at twelve and six o’clock while the rest of the indexes are designed to emulate the frets of a Stratocaster. Cased in 40-millimetre aluminium, its caseback and crown are cast in DLC-coated titanium. Inside, the BVL calibre 192 is self-wound, offering a GMT function, a date window, and a power reserve of 50 hours. In addition to the 1,200 pieces, Bvlgari and Fender celebrate the Stratocaster’s 70th anniversary by delivering 140 Aluminium GMT watches in Fender-inspired special cases and 70 handmade Stratocasters.
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