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2017: OCTO FINISSIMO AUTOMATIC<br />
Bvlgari followed up the incredible minute repeater with<br />
another world record, now in the category of the automatic<br />
small seconds watch featuring a micro-rotor. And, perhaps<br />
just as importantly, introducing the world to Bvlgari’s now<br />
signature ultra-thin integrated bracelet. Launched in 2017,<br />
the Octo Finissmo Automatic and its BVL 138 movement<br />
would eventually supplant the manual-wind version, though<br />
I like to think that this makes the manual-wind, specialedition<br />
Octo Finissimo Skeleton in titanium — like that<br />
on the minute repeater — made in just 50 examples for<br />
Revolution that much more collectible. Says Babin, “We<br />
moved to the micro-rotor automatic movement because we<br />
knew from our clients that this was a desired added touch of<br />
practicality. Yet we managed to achieve this without adding<br />
a single micron in the thickness to the movement going<br />
from manual to automatic, which I consider as great an<br />
achievement as any of our complications.”<br />
The automatic Octo Finissimo was launched in three<br />
versions: a matte titanium version, a sandblasted gold<br />
version and a bright rhodium-treated steel version, each<br />
stunning in its own right. However, what made each watch<br />
particularly groundbreaking was that it was accompanied<br />
by the industry’s first truly advanced integrated metal<br />
bracelet. Compare a vintage Nautilus 3700 watch head to<br />
its bracelet and you understand that the two parts are made<br />
by different manufactures. And as beloved as the quirky Gay<br />
Frères bracelets are, they are never quite equal to the watch.<br />
Says Buonamassa, “The idea was that if we had spent all<br />
this tremendous investment and energy into creating a truly<br />
groundbreaking watch, then we absolutely had to create an<br />
equally groundbreaking bracelet.”<br />
Not only does the Octo Finissimo bracelet complement<br />
the model with its combination of muscular design when<br />
viewed from the front, yet extraordinarily slender profile<br />
when viewed from the side, it is also incredibly comfortable.<br />
Says Babin, “This is down to the incredible clasp that<br />
Fabrizio designed that is fully integrated and that you barely<br />
even feel is there. Again you see that at Bvlgari, it’s always<br />
technical innovation serving the needs of aesthetics.”<br />
Above<br />
The Octo Finissimo<br />
Skeleton Ceramic<br />
(left) and Octo<br />
Finissimo Automatic<br />
Ceramic (right),<br />
both introduced<br />
in 2019.<br />
Above left<br />
Fabrizio<br />
Buonamassa’s<br />
sketch of the microrotor<br />
that powers<br />
the BVL 138 caliber.<br />
COVER STORY 35
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