I
t’s a story that’s recited so often in watch
circles that it’s almost folklore. One
afternoon in the early ’70s, Mr Georges
Golay, managing director of Audemars
Piguet, telephones budding watch designer
Gérald Genta and charges him with the
task of creating a completely new sports watch.
The timepiece must be totally unique, says
Golay, waterproof, luxurious yet durable, sturdy
yet stylish, and, most important of all, needs
to be designed by tomorrow morning.
In meeting Golay’s brief, the ‘Royal Oak’
laid down the template for a whole new genre of
timepiece. Debuting as a prototype at Baselworld
1972, the ‘Royal Oak’ provided the platform from
which Genta would design his two other most
celebrated creations, the IWC ‘Ingenieur’ and the
Patek Philippe ‘Nautilus’, which both arrived in- Genta had designed the holy trinity of stealthy,
athletic, avant-garde timepieces that continues
to define the ‘sports-luxe’ watch sector today.
Indeed, so intrinsic is Genta to this genre of
timepiece, that even today’s other great mechanical
sports watches are often mistakenly attributed
to him. While both the Vacheron Constantin
‘Overseas’ and Girard-Perregaux’s ‘Laureato’ clearly
borrow inspiration from Genta, neither watch was
the product of his pen. The other – and most recent
- entrant to the sports-luxe watch Hall of Fame
does, however, inherit its genes from Genta.
First released in the early noughties under
Gerald Genta’s eponymous brand – which Bulgari
had acquired alongside Daniel Roth SA in 2000 –
the ‘Octo’ was designed by Bulgari in Rome in the
mid-’00s, rebranded a Bulgari timepiece in 2010
before it was completely rebooted in 2012.
The current ‘Octo’ family is the collaborative effort
of Bulgari watch boss Guido Terreni and design
director Fabrizio Buonamassa, who, between them,
reimagined and reengineered the idiosyncratic,
multi-faceted timepiece, slimming it down, refining
its edges and creating one of the most contemporary
and charismatic watch shapes of modern times.
“The ‘Octo’ is the total expression of Bulgari
today,” says CEO Jean-Christophe Babin. “The
watch is the embodiment of our Roman roots,
our Swiss expertise, and our pursuit of timeless
elegance and uncompromising design.”
More than a facelift, the ‘Octo’ benefitted from a
complete mechanical upgrade. In acquiring Gerald
Genta and Daniel Roth, Bulgari had assumed
manufacturing facilities in Saignelégier, La Chaux-
de-Fonds and Le Sentier. Having moved its design
centre from Rome to Neuchâtel, the brand was
able to bolster its watchmaking credentials by
manufacturing its own movements.
“When it comes to our jewellery, Bulgari
pursues feminine timelessness and contemporary
elegance,” says Babin. “When we asked ourselves
what such a mission would mean for men’s watches,
we immediately started thinking about thinness.
Now that we are able to design and manufacture
movements, dials, cases and bracelets in-house,
we were able to turn our ambitions to the rarified
area of ultra-thin watchmaking.”
The resultant collection was the ‘Octo Finissimo’,
a family of watches that has, to date, yielded three
world records in five short years. The first arrived
in 2014, when Bulgari announced that the ‘Octo
Finissimo Tourbillon’ was regulated by the thinnest
tourbillon movement ever created, measuring just
1.95mm in depth. The second record, in 2016, was
the ‘Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater’, which, you
guessed it, became the world’s thinnest striking
timepiece. Bulgari’s in-house-developed BVL
Calibre 362 was a mindboggling 3.12mm thick.
With an overall case depth of a mere 6.85mm, the
‘Finissimo Minute Repeater’ was slimmer than
the then-current iPhone 6.
“World records are the fruition of a journey
towards our ultimate goal,” says Babin, “to push
the barriers of mechanical watchmaking.”
Complicating the hat-trick of achievements is
this year’s ‘Octo Finissimo Automatic’, which,
at 2.23mm thick, enjoys the kudos of being the
slimmest self-winding movement currently on
the market. The movement – the Bulgari Calibre
BVL 138 – sits inside a 40mm case that stands just
5.15mm off the wrist. It’s a surprisingly solid affair
for something that weighs a grand total of 73g.
So, where next for the ‘Octo’? “This collection
offers huge potential,” says Babin. “Whether that’s
stunningly complicated movements or innovative
materials, we go where others don’t.”
Wherever that may be, the refined yet masculine
style statement of the Bulgari ‘Octo’ has resonated
with enough watch fans to bestow upon it almost
immediate legendary status. Seventies chic
updated for the 21st century man. nCLOCKWISE
FROM LEFT
Titanium ‘Octo
Finissimo Tourbillon’,
$228,000; titanium
‘Octo Finissimo’
with leather strap,
$17,850; titanium ‘
Octo Finissimo Minute
Repeater’, $225,000;
and titanium ‘Octo
Finissimo’ with bracelet,
$19,250, all by Bulgari.
“WORLD RECORDS
ARE THE FRUITION OF
A JOURNEY TOWARDS
OUR ULTIMATE GOAL
TO PUSH THE BARRIERS
OF MECHANICAL
WATCHMAKING.”
MEN OF THE YEAR 2017 GQ.COM.AU 117