REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

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 ultrathin
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.”
What kind of effort are we talking about? For example,
the entire dial of the Octo Finissimo is 0.2mm (0.3mm if
a coat of lacquer is applied) which makes it thinner than
a single index on the majority of other watches. In order
for this to be achieved, the indexes and even the “Bvlgari”
signature have to be galvanically grown and transferred over
to the dial, almost as if they were stickers. In the instance of
the Octo Finissimo, it is just the seconds track in the subdial
that is printed. The very first Octo Finissimo was a manual
wind (now replaced by a micro-rotor, automatic-winding
model) with a BVL 128 movement that was 2.23mm and a
final watch that was 5.15mm in total thickness. In order to
achieve this, even the way in which the watch was assembled
had to be completely rethought.
Says Buonamassa, “Of course we wanted a sapphire
back to showcase the beauty of our in-house caliber with its
beautiful ‘full bridge’ architecture. However, to conserve
space, the sapphire back is integrated into the case, basically
pre-fitted into the monobloc case. Next, the movement is
placed into the case, [then] the dial and hands are added
and finally the bezel and sapphire are placed on top. It is the
bezel that seals the watch.” Each bezel features eight hollow
threaded posts that are inserted through the case and fixed
at the back of the watch with special fasteners that look like
five-sided nuts. I particularly like that because they are not
slotted, they are never out of alignment as you see on other
watches that are fastened in the back in this way.
Above, clockwise
from left
Antoine Pin,
managing director
of Bvlgari’s
Watch Division.
The dial of the Octo
Finissimo measures
a mere 0.2mm thin.
Each dial is
finished by hand.
Opposite
The escapement
is supported with
a balance bridge
that’s screwed
down on both
sides, rather than a
balance cock, which
improves the ultrathin
movement’s
shock resistance.
The barrel bridge
doubles as a power
reserve display.
The Octo Finissimo
Petite Seconds in
rose gold, with hour
markers that are
galvanically grown
and then transferred
to the dial.
30 COVER STORY