REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

Royal Oak 15202. Both are thin watches using the Jaeger-
LeCoultre-designed caliber 2121 as their base. In the last few
years, innumerable brands have tried to contest for a place
as a worthy competitor to these icons. However, the Octo
Finissimo was launched before the current Nautilus and
Royal Oak craze, and is further distinguished by being both
wildly different, yet more spiritually aligned than any other.
First, it is the only watch that is significantly thinner than
the original 3700 Nautilus or the 5402 Royal Oak. Second,
it is also the only one with a bracelet that is significantly
thinner and more ingenious than the original watches.
And third, it is the only watch that is far more innovatively
constructed. In this regard, it is truly a child of the new
millennium. Its indices are galvanically grown and glued
onto the ultra-thin dial. The movement is fixed inside a
monobloc case from the front and then sealed by screwing
the bezel to this case. It actually is the one watch that you
could imagine Gérald Genta appreciating most today.
When Bvlgari first launched the Octo Finissimo, it did
so in a myriad of interesting, technical materials such as
sandblasted titanium, ceramic and carbon fiber. Even the
precious-metal rose-gold version was unconventional in
that it was also sandblasted. But now that the Octo Finissimo
is an established success, and it has finally been executed
in steel with a black dial, you totally understand the logic.
If the Nautilus and Royal Oak are charmingly backwardlooking,
the Bvlgari has its ethos fully locked into the future
and it virtually bristles with the dynamic tension between
its architectural muscularity and its ultra-thin elegance in a
way that the other two watches do not. Now offered in steel,
it is not really a competitor to the other two watches as much
as a far more modern alternative that carves out a niche all
its own, at a price less than half that of its predecessors.
Hublot never fails to impress me. And that is because
it was set up by Jean-Claude Biver and Ricardo Guadalupe
to run as efficiently and dynamically as a start-up, while
boasting some of the most extraordinary results in the
watch world. It is also a brand that many people erroneously
consider to be purely lifestyle segmented. However, a
look back at the key technical innovations of Hublot since
2005 will show that the brand’s technical achievements
are staggering (look out for the story in this issue). The
42mm Big Bang Integral was one of the best conceptualized
timepieces of the fair because it recognized precisely that
many watch buyers are looking for something with all the
modernist cool of the Hublot, but in a more wearable size and
At the opening of
the exhibition, the
leaders of the LVMH
Watch Division held
a press conference
to launch the
showcase.
On stage, from left
The emcee of the
event; Commercial
Director of Bvlgari
Antoine Pin; CEO
of the LVMH Watch
Division and TAG
Heuer Stéphane
Bianchi; CEO of
Bvlgari, Jean-
Christophe Babin;
CEO of Hublot
Ricardo Guadalupe;
CEO of Zenith,
Julien Tornare.
Opposite
CEO of Bvlgari,
Jean-Christophe
Babin, poses for a
shot to celebrate
the launch of this
inaugural event.
50 THE MODERNIST