Bulgari claims the seventh world record for thinness with the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar
Bvlgari claims the seventh world record for thinness with the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar
THOUGH BULGARI HAS BEEN competently producing fine timepieces for the last few decades, its reputation as a jeweller often preceded itself. However, in the last decade, the maison has carved a niche for itself in ultra-thin watchmaking while executing a variety of high complications no less, combining the industry’s most challenging genres.
Topping previously held records for tourbillon, chronograph and the grail of high complications: minute repeater, Bulgari has once again outdone itself with the perpetual calendar, this time inching out Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin’s 6.30mm thickness by mere millimetres.
At 2.75mm thin, the world’s thinnest automatic perpetual calendar calibre is ensconced within a case merely 5.80mm thick, making this the seventh year that the Italian jeweller has usurped the crown from watchmakers with over a century of provenance. Ordinarily speaking, in order to make timepieces of wearable proportions, traditional watchmaking itself requires a degree of miniaturisation already; the challenge of ultra-thin horology means that previously slim margins of error are reduced to almost nothing and yet the expectation remains to produce a practical (for daily wearing) and reasonably reliable watch; as such a high degree of know-how and competence is required, making ultra-thin watchmaking a “complication” by definition.
The Bulgari defeats Audemars Piguet’s attempt in a few benchmarks: the Royal Oak’s 41mm diameter compared to the Octo Finissimo’s 40mm; 50% more power reserve with the Finissimo’s 60 hours versus the Oak’s 40 hours; that said, the Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar does pack a moon phase complication and day & night indicator while the Octo Finissimo doesn’t, hence we are not making an apples to oranges comparison but rather to give indicative benchmarks on the progression of watchmaking legitimacy by the Le Sentier manufacture.
Having acquired the Gerald Genta ‒ Daniel Roth’s Le Sentier manufacture from The Hour Glass in 2000 ‒ Bulgari has made tremendous leaps and bounds in the last two decades. Hence, we consider it a historic hat-tip to Genta’s creative penchant for retrograde displays when the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar features two retrograde indications for the date and the leap years, calling to mind some of the legendary watch designer’s most iconic watch faces.
The Octo design is itself head-turning and when it comes to perpetual calendar indications, the wealth of calendar displays required means that it is quite unavoidable that the dial becomes somewhat crowded.
On the scale of extreme minimalism like H. Moser’s Perpetual One to something like the Bovet Virtuoso VII Retrograde Perpetual Calendar, Bulgari’s first attempt is executed very legibly, thanks to large sub dials and the innovative use of symmetry with retrograde indicators.
The perpetual calendar is celebrated as a mechanical masterpiece as it is able to keep accurate date counts while accounting for leap years and the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar will not need any adjustment until February 2100.