an we do it? No sooner was the question asked three years ago than our teams answered: how are we going to do it?” recalls Antoine Pin, Managing Director of the Bulgari Watch Division. “This ability to meet challenges is embedded in the brand’s DNA. As for the word ‘ultra’, it expresses this desire to go beyond the limits, to play with extremes, an idea that we love in-house!”

An eighth world record that takes its place in a proud lineage. A classic example of what happens when the journey experience is as important as the destination. Without the expertise acquired by Bulgari over the years, the Octo Finissimo Ultra could never have been created. Better still, no one would have dared to attempt this insane feat. For it takes audacity and confidence to set off in pursuit of this ultimate ambition: to create the world’s thinnest reliable and robust mechanical watch.

Although indispensable, the expertise acquired was not enough. The designers, engineers and watchmakers had to start from scratch when they realised the scale of the challenge. One does not create the finest mechanical watch in the world by relying solely on existing concepts. You have to envisage a complete paradigm shift, to forget everything and rebuild.

This is what leads Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bulgari’s Product Creation Executive Director, to state that “the challenge of this eighth record was the most difficult to overcome, since we had to break the rules not only in terms of movement design, but also of the case, the caseback, the bracelet and the folding clasp. To achieve this degree of thinness, you not only have to review your way of thinking, but you must also draw upon a wide range of skills, play with multiple materials and adapt to a multitude of new constraints. In this sense, the Octo Finissimo Ultra is unquestionably the ultimate complication in this vast field of possibilities represented by ultra-miniaturisation.”

The Octo Finissimo Ultra also retains all the codes of the collection, starting with the purity and elegance of its design – an additional constraint that the R&D teams working on this project set themselves. This premise notably involved the monochrome style signature of sandblasted titanium, a 40 mm octagonal case – although a larger size would have simplified matters – and an integrated bracelet as thin as the watch. As for the seconds display on the wheel at 6 o’clock, it is once again off-centred – another collection signature – in relation to the indication of the hours and minutes on two regulator-type counters.

This world-record thinness also plays on the perception of the visible and the invisible: the Octo Finissimo Ultra appears to be both a two-dimensional and a three-dimensional object. From the front, the timepiece reveals volumes and invites an immersion in the depth of the mechanism, while the components come to life on various levels and offer a truly three-dimensional vision. Viewed in profile, the watch that is as barely visible as a sheet of paper magically becomes a two-dimensional object. Finally, when worn, the Octo Finissimo Ultra triggers a physical sensation that is doubtless unequalled.

With its QR code engraved on the barrel’s ratchet wheel, the Octo Finissimo Ultra opens up new horizons in contemporary Haute Horlogerie. Once scanned, this individual key invites you into a new dimension, connected to a unique timeless experience. Each of the ten first Octo Finissimo Ultra timepieces will be delivered with an exclusive NFT artwork which, thanks to blockchain technology, guarantees the authenticity and uniqueness of the watch. It also gives each owner exclusive access to a digital universe dedicated to their own watch. In this sense, the Octo Finissimo Ultra represents the transition from ultra-miniaturisation to immateriality.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Movement Mechanical ultra-thin Manufacture manual-winding movement – BVL Calibre 180 (1.50 mm thick). Winding and time-setting wheels in stainless steel; seconds display directly on the fourth wheel; ratchet wheel engraved with unique QR code that links to an exclusive NFT artwork. 50-hour power reserve; 28,800 VPH (4 Hz) frequency.

Case and dial 40 mm sandblasted titanium case and tungsten carbide plate with anthracite DLC treatment (1.80 mm thick); hours and minutes counters, black PVD-treated hands; water-resistant to 1 ATM.

Bracelet Ultra-thin titanium bracelet with integrated folding clasp.

Limited edition of 10.