The 2023 edition of the Geneva Watch Days fair begins today with almost 40 prominent brands ready to showcase their latest and greatest creations at the Rotonde du Mont-Blanc pavilion on Lake Geneva. Bulgari, one of the founding brands of GWD, has arrived at the watch event with a total of 6 new interesting creations, which includes a pair of new iterations of the record-breaking Octo Finissimo timepieces. Introduced almost a decade ago, the Octo Finissimo collection has gone on to define the Roman Maison’s watchmaking prowess and its quest for continuously pushing the boundaries of horology.
In its relentless pursuit of absolute thinness, Bulgari has earned an impressive series of world records over the last nine years. In addition to exploring technical possibilities, Bulgari has also experimented with aesthetics by crafting Octo Finissimo timepieces out of platinum, yellow and rose gold, titanium, ceramic, and steel. For 2023, the Italian brand created new iterations of the record-breaking Octo Finissimo Automatic and Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar models expressed in carbon and gold.
Out of the two, the one that caught our attention is the new Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Perpetual Calendar, which presents a brand new take on the timepiece that set a new world record for the thinnest perpetual calendar in 2021. Continuing with its legacy of creating norm-defying blends of materials and textures, Bulgari spawned the newest iteration by combining gold with carbon, which has completely transformed the personality of the chic timepiece. The case, strap, and dial are all crafted out of extremely lightweight, anthracite-colored carbon with a matte finish. The hands, markers, lettering, and crown are all fashioned out of gold, adding a beautiful and rather luxurious contrast to the high-tech carbon material.
Other than the new materials and textures, the new version of the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar is almost identical to the timepiece that debuted two years ago, which won the coveted Aiguille d’Or prize at the Grand Prix d’horlogerie de Genève in 2021. The masterpiece had set Maison’s 7th world record for slimness thanks to the caliber BVL 305 movement that has a thickness of just 2.75mm despite offering the Perpetual Calendar complication which requires no adjustment before 2100. Thanks to the ultra-slim profile of the movement, the case enveloping it is only 5.8mm thick.
The transparent caseback of the CarbonGold version which is held in place by eight gold screws reveals the beautifully crafted beating heart of the timepiece. Everything from the Côte de Genève-decorated rose gold bridges to the oscillating weight forged from rose gold-plated platinum is on display. The dial layout is also practically unchanged, which was originally designed as a tribute to the legendary designer Gerald Genta. It features two retrograde indications for the date and the leap years.
Bulgari Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Automatic
Just like the CarbonGold version of the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, the latest iteration of the Automatic model gets the same eye-catching combination of gold and carbon. Other than the new materials and finishes, the Octo Finissimo CarbonGold Automatic is identical to the timepiece that debuted in 2017 to set a new world record for the thinnest automatic movement. The timepiece is powered by Bulgari’s caliber BVL 138 movement that measures just 2.23mm in thickness. The carbon case has a diameter of 40mm and a thickness of just 6.9mm. This timepiece also gets a transparent caseback to put the movement on display.
