Small Talk JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BABIN

The CEO of Bulgari on the maison’s latest novelties revealed at Geneva Watch Days 2022, and trends in a post-covid world

What do you believe will be the biggest trends in the watch industry in the next five years? In the post-covid-19 world, crafting products is not enough; you also have to be a good company—generous, ethical—while being [an expert in your field]. Covid accelerated that trend. By 2023, millennials and Gen Z will represent 60 per cent of luxury [buyers], and these values will be even more relevant.

This year, we have come up with gold masterpieces in the Octo Finissimo collection to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The highlight of the show was an amazing skeleton watch with manual winding, the Octo Finissimo Skeleton 8 Days (pictured right). Eight is a magic number for us as we have eight consecutive world records in this collection. The small seconds surrounded by the scale indicating the power reserve is a fine detail, and overall it is a refined men’s watch. We redesigned the movement to host a large barrel, and reinvented the skeleton to become extremely graphic and geometric, just like the watch case.

Will Bulgari continue to focus on thin watches in the coming years or will the R&D zero in on other technical aspects?

The Octo has become an icon within the last 10 years. When I look forward, [say] 10 to 20 years, it will be much bigger [in terms of brand and popularity]; in the spirit of the Octo—the case that captures the shape of antique Roman ceilings, its sleek elegance— our goal is to express elegance through shape, thickness and functionality that will fit with the lifestyle of gentlemen of 2022, 2032, 2042 and so on.

Serpenti is our main growth driver for women in China. Our newest version of the Serpenti Tourbillon High Jewellery features the smallest tourbillon in the world, at the heart of the diamond-set watch. With a black spinel adorning the bezel and bracelet, the timepiece features a strong contrast of colours. It is a high jewellery watch designed to attract younger clients at a very high price point: a real masterpiece combining a beautiful jewellery setting with a complication designed by Bulgari and crafted in-house in the Swiss Jura mountains.