Origins of a Horological Icon

But before we go into the history and milestones of the Octo Finissimo, let’s pause to examine the genesis of the integrated sports watch and the way in which Bvlgari is both spiritually aligned and yet a radical departure from its rivals. So, time was, if you were a Riviera Rake with the last name Agnelli or Rubirosa in that halcyon era between the ’50s and the ’70s, before the Côte d’Azur was overrun by oligarchs and priapically winged orange Lamborghinis that look like mobile fertility symbols, before the era of champagne bottle wars and when culture, taste and money still aligned, you had to dress in a certain way. And that was with a certain educated but nonchalant élan, a Cifonelli or Caraceni blazer worn or, better, cast over one shoulder like an old bathrobe as you hopped out of your Ferrari 250 SWB and carved your path through the trellises of connubial haut monde mademoiselles to the bar at the Hôtel du Cap. Now the watch on your wrist could hardly be something as pragmatic as a diver’s tool watch. No, what you needed to have, to casually check how many hours from sunset and that rendezvous with that Italian screen ingénue decamped incognito to a nearby villa, was an integrated bracelet, sports chic watch.

In the ’70s there were two models, the Royal Oak created in 1972 and the Nautilus in 1976. The man behind both these watches, and clearly an individual with a penchant for slim timepieces with faceted bezels that exhibited a dynamic tension between bold, muscular designs counterpointed by slim (some would even say lithe) profiles, was one Gérald Genta. When Genta eventually created his own eponymous brand, he would also design an octagonal watch with an eight-sided bezel. Cut to several decades later in 2000 when Bvlgari would purchase both Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth, at the time both owned by Singapore’s Tay family of The Hour Glass fame, and inherit a great deal of high-complication competences — two watch manufactures and the octagonal model that, while appealing, had not yet realized its full creative potential.

Indeed, it took a few years for Bvlgari’s team of Babin, Fabrizio Buonamassa and then-watchmaking head Guido Terreni to realize what Genta’s design truly could be. However, to achieve this, they had to undertake one of the most technically innovative and daring creative programs in the history of luxury watchmaking. The complexity came about because one of the key objectives with Bvlgari’s new Octo model, to be named the Octo Finissimo, was to create the world’s thinnest mechanical watch. Says Jean-Christophe Babin, “With respect to my competitors, movement innovation like this hadn’t really been achieved since the last real pioneering era of the late ’60s, when the industry was chasing the achievement of the first automatic chronograph with Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton pursuing the Caliber 11 and Zenith ultimately arriving at the groundbreaking El Primero.

2014: Octo Finissimo Mechanical Hand-wound

Buonamassa, Bvlgari’s design director, explains, “The objective of thinness was not arrived at in isolation. After all, there are many brands that have been associated with ultra-thin watches, especially in the 20th century. The objective was to enhance this dynamic tension, this unique proposition between having a watch that was, when viewed straight on, very muscular and even aggressive, yet when you turned it on its side, it was really surprising in how thin it was. I wanted, as Jean-Christophe expressed, to bring something to watches that the world had never seen in terms of this proposition.”

But this objective of dynamic tension between bold and thin necessitated Bvlgari to push the technical envelope in every component of the Octo Finissimo. Says Babin, “The Octo Finissimo was only possible because we own our movement maker, dial maker, casemaker [and] bracelet maker, as it would be impossible to convince outside suppliers to make the effort we needed.”

I should also pause to reflect on the beauty and pragmatism of Bvlgari’s movement design. First, the movement is as Buonamassa called it a “full bridge” design, which means each part of the gear train is retained by a different bridge, making it much more practical to service. Further, the balance wheel sits on a bridge fixed on both sides rather than a cock which is only fixed on one side. This provides better stability and shock resistance.

2016: Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater

However, in 2016, another model in the Octo Finissimo family had collectors, journalists and even the most jaded retailer’s eyes moist with emotion and our hearts filled with unbridled avarice, because Bvlgari had just created the coolest minute repeater in modern watchmaking and one of the real defining watches of the new millennium. Says Jean-Christophe Babin, “While it is unusual [that] you refer to this complication as cool, somehow it is very appropriate. That’s because minute repeaters, which are considered to be the pinnacle of watchmaking art, are extraordinary creations but they are very rarely considered to be cool. That’s because they are generally classically styled watches. In comparison, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater, which set the record as the world’s thinnest minute repeater, was created intentionally as the ultimate stealthy complication. It was made in grade 5 titanium, with just the smallest details that showed the difference between this and a simpler three-hand watch. Why? Because we knew the world had changed and we felt there was a whole new generation of connoisseurs that liked to live in a more relaxed, discrete and cool way. That’s the reason for the matte-colored titanium and the way the pusher for the repeater is so subtly integrated into the side of the case.

2017: Octo Finissimo Automatic

Bvlgari followed up the incredible minute repeater with another world record, now in the category of the automatic small seconds watch featuring a micro-rotor. And, perhaps just as importantly, introducing the world to Bvlgari’s now signature ultra-thin integrated bracelet. Launched in 2017, the Octo Finissmo Automatic and its BVL 138 movement would eventually supplant the manual-wind version, though I like to think that this makes the manual-wind, special-edition Octo Finissimo Skeleton in titanium — like that on the minute repeater — made in just 50 examples for Revolution that much more collectible. Says Babin, “We moved to the micro-rotor automatic movement because we knew from our clients that this was a desired added touch of practicality. Yet we managed to achieve this without adding a single micron in the thickness to the movement going from manual to automatic, which I consider as great an achievement as any of our complications.”

2018: Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic

But there was another model in the Octo Finissmo family, which like the minute repeater, established Bvlgari as an innovator in the high-complication segment, and that was the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic. Says Babin, “The watch [the manual-wind version of the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon] also set a record as the world’s thinnest at its launch in 2014 — it was launched beside the petite seconds manual wind. You should understand that, at Bvlgari, we do not pursue these world records for their own sake. At the early stage of development of the Octo Finissimo range, we realized that we were already at such a thin profile that it encouraged us to really explore what we were capable of in the ultra-thin category. And this resulted in the world records for the manual wind, the automatic, the repeater, the tourbillon and later the chronograph. I suppose part of this comes from my past as the CEO of TAG Heuer for many years. That was a brand that was purely about performance and precision, and so this became part of who I am. It would not be possible for me to create a watch that was aesthetically compelling but that did not also have this performance credibility. On the other hand, I think the world records as well as the many prizes we have received for our watches, from the likes of Revolution and the Geneva Grand Prix, are great for the morale at our manufacture.”

2019: Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic

It’s funny that the world went from having almost no in-house automatic chronographs with a prevailing reliance on the Zenith El Primero, the Valjoux 7750, the Dubois-Dépraz module or the Frédéric Piguet 1185 to almost everyone having an in-house chronograph. Much of this was made possible by the advent of CAD/CAM (computer aided design and manufacturing) and CNC (computer numerical control) machining. However, in every instance, regardless of which manufacture, the resulting movements — regardless of their technical fireworks, comprising column wheels and vertical clutches — are extremely thick. In a world that has suddenly reverted to more classic proportions, many of these manufactures find themselves caught out because their movements necessitate watches that are too thick for consumers’ tastes. So it was with a huge smile, a palpable sense of relief and absolute exuberance that the watch world greeted Bvlgari’s 2019 Octo Finissimo Chrono GMT. Powered by the caliber BVL 318 which is a scant 3.30mm in depth, the resulting 6.90mm-thin grade 5 titanium watch is a revelation on the wrist.

2020: Bvlgari x Revolution Octo Finissimo Chrono GMT Automatic Limited Edition

2020: Octo Finissimo Automatic Satin-Polished Steel

Finally, with Bvlgari being an iconic Roman brand, I could not finish this article without remarking on their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic that is sweeping the world. Says Jean-Christophe Babin, “We are an Italian brand and we were profoundly moved to see how badly the pandemic had affected Italy. We learned of a hospital, Lazzaro Spallanzani, that was doing incredible work. There are three researchers there — Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, Francesca Colavita and Concetta Castilletti — who managed to successfully isolate the virus in under 48 hours. But they were lacking a key piece of equipment — a 3D imaging microscope that would allow them to take the next step in combating the virus.

Timeline of Records and Accolades