Round-UpThe ‘Thinissimo’ Game-Changer: Presenting The Best Bulgari Octo Finissimo Timepieces
In its limited 11-year existence, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo line has seven world records and a multitude of awards under its belt. More importantly, the iconic eight-sided watch offers form, function, and enhanced ergonomics. Here’s a look at some of their most noteworthy timepieces
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The quest for newness is constant, more so in an industry that is already centuries old. So, when a watch like the Bulgari Octo Finissimo comes along, everyone sits up and takes notice. A combination of Swiss watchmaking know-how and fascinating Italian design, the Octo Finissimo line has carved a unique, eight-sided niche in the horological world. In its limited 11-year existence, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo has set several world records and won numerous awards. And today, the watch is instantly recognisable for its slim, facetted case and integrated single-link bracelet.
First released in 2014, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual timepiece made waves for being the thinnest hand-wound manual tourbillon movement as well as for its muscular shape with an ultra-slim profile. The design was an amalgamation of ideas from horological legends Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth—whose brands Bulgari acquired in 2000—and Roman architecture, art, and automotive design. Since the first record in 2014 for the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual, to the 2016 record for the Minute Repeater, and the Perpetual Calendar with a retrograde date released in 2021, the brand have outdone themselves, aiming not just for records and rewards but also offering fantastic complications within the ultra-slim cases of their latest icon.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Petite Seconds
The entry-level watch into Bulgari’s high-end collection, the Octo Finissimo Automatic comes in a variety of case materials—gold, rose gold, steel, titanium, carbon and ceramic. Its 40mm facetted octagonal case has a thickness of 6.4mm for the steel and rose gold, which the brand slimmed down further to 5.5mm for the ceramic version. (The 5.15mm thick Octo Finissimo Automatic in titanium, released in 2017, broke the record for the thinnest automatic watch that year.) The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic with a blue dial, and the Octo Finissimo S watch with a vertically-brushed silver dial, each feature a steel case with an integrated and supple steel bracelet that fits comfortably around the wrist. Behind the dial is the BVL138 calibre, also visible through the caseback.
With a sunray-finished brown lacquered dial against a satin-polished 18-karat rose gold case and bracelet, the Octo Finissimo Automatic has an elegance that is simple and astounding all at once. Thin applied line indexes and Arabic numerals at six and 12 o’clock in rose gold, a matching small seconds sub dial between six and nine o’clock, and rose gold skeletonised hands complete the graceful yet strong aesthetic of the watch.
Crafted from sandblasted ceramic, the Octo Finissimo Automatic features a single-link bracelet made entirely from ceramic. Indexes, numerals and hands are in a darker shade of grey, giving the timepiece a beautiful and dark aesthetic. Only, unlike the rose gold and steel variants which are water-resistant to 100m, the ceramic Octo Finissimo offers a 30m resistance.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT
Still housing the thinnest ever mechanical chronograph movement, the 43mm steel case of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT is 8.75mm thick. The GMT complication of the automatic BVL318 calibre is displayed in a sub-dial at three o’clock with a 24-hour scale marked in silver and grey for day and night. A small seconds sub-dial at nine o’clock and a chronograph recorder at six o’clock balance the layout. The most fascinating aspect of this timepiece is how the pushers at two and four o’clock, and the push-piece at nine that allows the wearer to set a second time zone, have been integrated into the body, and can easily be mistaken for added muscles on the already-imposing case.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton
With a beautifully skeletonised mechanical movement displayed on the dial against a 40mm titanium case that is only 5.37mm thick, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton is art in motion. A power reserve indicator sits between nine and 10 o’clock, while the small seconds sub-dial is nestled between six and nine o’clock. The minute track in black inside the flange frames the open-worked display of the manual-winding BVL 128SK calibre, which offers a power reserve of 65 hours. Skeletonised hands enhance the open-worked displays, while the almost-square caseback offers an unobstructed view of the movement. An alligator leather strap in black beautifully offsets the muted sheen of the titanium case.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton 8 Days
Bulgari identified their own Achilles heel and sought to improve it with the Octo Finissimo Skeleton 8 Days, considerably enhancing the Skeleton’s power reserve—and legibility. “We sought to increase the power reserve, for which the movement had to be redesigned. Hence, we decided to develop a new skeleton display also,” Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO, Bulgari, told The Watch Guide in an interview. White indexes against the grey of the titanium case, movement and bracelet give the watch a pleasant monochromatic appearance that is disturbed only by the pink of the rubies on the BVL 199SK calibre. A small seconds sub dial rests between six and nine o’clock.
With the Octo Finissimo collection, Bulgari continue to outshine themselves, with both form and function. Considering how much the collection has to offer and how many awards and accolades it has already won, the Octo Finissimo seems to have been around longer than just 11 years . Here’s looking forward to their next record-setting timepiece.
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