Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC Watch Is So Thin It Broke Records
Now the thinnest mechanical watch, it garnered Bulgari its ninth award in 10 years.
GENEVA — In the 10 years since introducing the Octo Finissimo range, Bulgari has garnered eight world records.
That was until Monday, when the Roman
jeweler and watchmaker earned its ninth award, debuting a new iteration of the family's Finissimo Ultra range, marked by unprecedented thinness.
The Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC is a record-breaking 1.70mm-thick timepiece, making it the thinnest mechanical watch resistant to shocks and magnetic fields. It is also the thinnest COSC-certified chronometer.
The watch, introduced as part of the 2024 new watchmaking collection in Geneva, Switzerland to coincide with the Watches and Wonders trade show, breaks Bulgari's previous record in the Octo Finissimo Ultra range achieved in 2022 with a 1.80mm-thick timepiece.
It marks a milestone in the ongoing battle between high-watchmaking labels, which have made thinness one of their greatest strengths, including Richard Mille and Piaget, among others.
“What makes us so proud of the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC is not just that it represents a remarkable triumph over the constraints of physics, but the spirit and depth of mechanical ingenuity behind it that so perfectly encapsulate the ethos of our maison,” said Bulgari chief executive officer Jean-Christophe Babin in a statement. “To break new ground, to think differently in seeking to achieve greater reliability, performance and elegance, that is what propels us forward,” he offered.
The coin-like thickness was the result of a collaboration with engineers at Concepto Watch Factory, a Swiss workshop specializing in complex mechanisms.
Reworking the case by shaving off an extra 10th of a millimeter, engineers managed to embed the 170 components making up the manually wound BVL180 manufacture caliber inside the twomaterial slim case, which is crafted from sandblasted titanium or platinum and an ultra-resistant and dense tungsten carbide for the back case and main plate, ensuring adequate resistance and strength.
The hour and minute dials, the large barrel, boasting a 50-hour power reserve, and the escapement play with the circular geometry of the bezel opening. The watch's sandblasted titanium bracelet is even thinner than the case, at 1.5mm.
“The Octo Finissimo is a vast playground of innovation and design — and a source of unprecedented challenges — for Bulgari's R&D department. This marks the ninth occasion our engineers, watchmakers and designers have defied the laws of physics to offer complex timepieces of unparalleled slimness,” said Antoine Pin, director of Bulgari's watchmaking division, in a statement.
“These accomplishments go deeper than the watchmaking prowess they represent, they define our DNA. Bulgari stands to innovate, to keep pushing the boundaries, and to master the art of the extraordinary — and to always surprise,” he added.
After venturing into connected timepieces, equipping the first Octo Finissimo Ultra timepiece bowed in 2022 with a QR code engraved on the barrel's ratchet wheel unlocking an NFT artworks, the Octo Ultra Finissimo COSC featured a Datamatrix on the back unlocking storytelling content online.
The Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC is launched in a limited run of just 20 pieces retailing at 600,000 euros and 620,000 euros for the titanium and platinum versions, respectively. It comes with a case that doubles up as a setting and winding system, equipped with a digital display.