A First Look At The New Bulgari Octo Roma And Octo Finissimo Ultra
It was at the time of Watches And Wonders, as has become customary, that Bulgari presented some of its main watchmaking novelties, of which two stand out.
Bulgari Octo Roma
After last year Bulgari surprised us with the renewed Octo Roma, which we had the opportunity to try, leaving us with a good impression, this year the prestigious Italian brand brings us a stealthy iteration of the watch.
The new Bulgari Octo Roma “Black Out” now comes dressed in a DLC-coated steel case, presented in a 41mm case in the Automatic (time-date) variant and 42mm in the Chrono variant. Featuring sapphire crystal, a crown at 3 o’clock with guards that in the chronograph version add two pushers, an open case back and 100m of water resistance.
The dial now comes with a black Clous de Paris pattern with applied Arabic numerals and hour markers which, like the hands, are filled with Super-LumiNova, a date window at 3 o’clock in the automatic version and at 4:30 in the chrono one and with the latter adding three counters at 3-6-9 o’clock.
Equipped inside with automatic Caliber BVL191 and BVL399 movements that operate at 28,800 Vph and offer up to 42 hours of power reserve.
The watches come attached to a black textured rubber strap and are expected to hit the market in July with prices yet to be revealed.
Bulgari, Octo Roma, 103927 (automatic) and 103932 (chronograph). Black dial with Clous de Paris pattern, stainless steel case with a DLC-coated, 41 mm (automatic) and 42 mm (chronograph) diameter, sapphire crystal, 100 meters water resistance, black rubber strap. Calibre BVL191 (automatic) and BVL399 (chronograph), automatic movement, hour, minutes, seconds (automatic), small seconds (chronograph), date, chronograph (chronograph), 28,800 Vph, 42 hours of power reserve. Availability: July 2024.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra
The other big news brought by Bulgari is the new Octo Finissimo Ultra, which once again holds the world record for the thinnest watch after being dethroned in 2022 by the Richard Mille watch in partnership with Ferrari.
The new Octo Finissimo Ultra only needed to lose height by 0.05mm to recover the old crown, now wearing a titanium case measuring 40mm wide by 1.70mm high, thanks to its new very thin sapphire crystal, the main plate of the movement which also serves now with a case back made of Tungsten Carbide, and of course the BVL180 hand-wound movement of just 1.50mm which is now also COSC certified.
The skeletonized dial, which is largely occupied by the bridges, wheels and other components of the movement, still has space for two symmetrical sub-dials at 2:30 and 4:30, with the top one providing the hours and the bottom one the minutes.
Inside and as already mentioned we find the ultra-thin Caliber BVL180 that runs 28,800 Vph and offers up to 50 hours of power reserve.
The watch comes attached to an integrated bracelet matching the case material, which here is in titanium with a folding clasp with the brand’s signature.
The titanium watch is offered in a limited edition of 20 pieces for a price of USD 529,000 but is also available in a platinum variant but slightly thicker at 1.80mm in height.
Bulgari, Octo Finissimo Ultra. Skeletonized dial, titanium case, 40 mm diameter, 1.70 mm thickness, sapphire crystal, titanium integrated bracelet. Calibre BVL 180, hand-wound movement, hour, minutes, 28,800 Vph, 50 hours of power reserve. Limited edition: yes, 20 pieces, USD 529,000.
