NEW CLASSIC
Bulgari’s new Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon is a modern take on a deeply traditional high complication
BUILT AROUND THE TOURBILLON minute repeater calibre BVL 428, which chimes on three hammers with three gongs rather than two like a conventional repeater, the Octo Roma Blue Carillon Tourbillon essentially brings two traditional complications of the tourbillon and the striking mechanism together to vocalise a contemporary interpretation. Featuring a graphic skeletonised movement with blue bridges, a platinum case and a blued titanium midcase, the Bulgari Octo Roma Blue Carillon Tourbillon is designed to amplify the sounding of its gongs with perfect musical pitch and clarity.
Measuring 44mm by 12.83mm the Octo Roma
Blue Carillon Tourbillon is considered “thick”, but with good reason. Its generous proportions are designed to maximise sound propagation, enabling increased torque from the three-tone construction and greater sound power production. In particular, the blued titanium caseband is designed to maximise sound and allow it to spread as much as possible.
Normally the racks and snails of a minute repeater are situated under the dial, so all the mechanical magic that happens from when the time from the position of the hands is “read” and then transmitted to the the hammers and gongs, all takes place “backstage”. On the Octo Roma
Blue Carillon Tourbillon, the gongs are attached directly to the body of the case for the most efficient sound transmission, while the middle-case is made of titanium to ensure the clearest possible sound diffusion. The back is also hollowed out and redesigned with a titanium grid that protects this resonant area and enables outward transmission of the sound; finally, with its skeletonised dial, you do get to see some of the action on the face, just not the hammers and gongs vibrating.
The architecture of the BVL428 calibre, the cut-out of the bridges and the positioning of the various components are original, contemporary and contrasted in orderto reveal the beauty of the mechanism.