BVLGARI introduced its 2021 collection in LVMH Watch Week which took place between 25-29 January. Introduced for the first time during LVMH Watch Week, the new Bvlgari watch models reflect the creative spirit and expertise of the brand.
While Bvlgari glorifies its icon model with the new Serpenti Spiga, it also underlines the best métiers d’art craftsmanship combined with sophisticated mechanisms with Divas’ Dream Peacock. Lvcea continues its quest to play with light thanks to its unique three-dimensional dial.
On the men’s side, the cult watch Octo Finissimo increases its attractiveness thanks to its 100-meter water-resistant, satin finish chronograph GMT complication.
The brand new Minute Repeater movement is placed in a high-tech Octo Roman case with 3 hammers, reinterpreting the Haute Horlogerie with a contemporary expression, and Bvlgari Horlogerie rises at the pinnacle of innovation and experience with the greatest Swiss watch complications.
SERPENTI SPIGA
With the introduction of Serpenti Spiga, Serpenti rises again, a forever-icon, reinvented anew for 2021. A symbol of perpetual renewal, Serpenti, the captivating snake, is one of Bvlgari’s most enduring motifs. Serpenti’s iconic wrapping bracelet watches represent the ultimate synthesis of jewelry craftsmanship — timepieces that are jewels in every facet of their creation.
Now, the three Serpenti Spiga novelties collide that sensibility with Bvlgari’s jewellery-making expertise, for an impeccable reimagining of the line in brilliant diamonds and precious rose or white gold, according to the models.
With its refined and contemporary matelassé pattern and modular construction technique, it represents another expression of a Bvlgari style that would come to characterize the Maison’s watches and jewels. Production of the Serpenti Spiga watches entails skilled manual labor. Though each single modular element is cast and produced in series, it is always finished and meticulously assembled by hand.
Each individual piece is a triumph of focused artistry, executed with passion and skill: the two-row bracelets comprise 70 different elements, while the single-row watches comprise 40 links cast from 40 different moulds. The process requires hours of skilled craftsmanship and consists of inserting the modular elements around an internal flexible spring.
The gold links interlock seamlessly, requiring no soldering, creating a flexible band that is then shaped into bracelet watches, which fit perfectly and comfortably around the arm. A brilliant all-diamond High Jewellery interpretation, elegantly adorned with more than 800 diamonds and a cabochon-cut blue sapphire on the crown, completes the collection.
Lvcea
For 2021, LVCEA captures the light anew, leveraging the world’s most prestigious decorative arts to create sublime pieces that blur the line between jewel and watch. Animating the whole collection with fresh excitement, energy and genuine artistry, the new LVCEA Intarsio Marquetry timepieces reflect Bvlgari Watches identity as the Roman Jeweller of Time.
Since its debut in 2014, the LVCEA watch has become a symbol of radiant yet modern femininity. Elegant but approachable, it is the essence of the daily round watch — a timeless timepiece to complement the moments of a contemporary woman’s life. These are timepieces for everyday; accessible but captivating, joyful and chic, with a round dial to reflect the light that inspires its name.
Coming in two different sizes — a 28 mm quartz movement model or a 33 mm automatic movement model — and featuring a steel case combined with a black or grey alligator strap, the three new editions are magnificent — and yet they remain completely approachable, each piece beautifully suited to daily wear.
With its skeletonized dial, the new 33mmLVCEA Skeleton is a further refined expression of the Estetica della Meccanica, wherein the machinations of the timepiece are put on display, becoming part of the overall aesthetic.
Divas’ Dream Peacock
Bvlgari introduces three new Divas’ Dream watches for 2021: Divas’ Dream Peacock Dischi, the Divas’ Dream Peacock Diamonds and the Divas’ Dream Peacock Tourbillon Lumière, thereby enriching the Divas’ Dream collection with its latest passion for exquisite, ebullient colour — and representing the evolution of the Colour Treasures theme that was first introduced with the Serpenti Rainbow collection.
Crafted using some of the world’s most prestigious decorative arts, the new Divas’ Dream watches are a glorious synthesis of haute joaillerie and haute horlogerie, uniting irresistible style and jewellery-making know-how with rare Swiss watchmaking precision and expertise. Drawing on Bvlgari’s enduring fascination with natural world, the three new models represent a continuation of the Maison’s Divas’ Dream Peacock collection. This magical theme is brought to life on the dial through such ancient, intricate techniques such as marquetry, miniature painting and champlevé that Bvlgari has employed for over 130 years.
Crafted in a limited edition of 50 pieces, the Divas’ Dream Peacock Dischi features a natural peacock feather marquetry dial. Using this inlay technique that dates back to antiquity and was a popular technique in Renaissance Italy, before being revived by Bvlgari in the 1970s, the dial is set with 24 natural hand-cut feather elements with a central circle fully depicting the “eye” of the peacock feather. The elegance of the feather marquetry dial meets watchmaking expertise in the in-house BVL 308 “dischi” automatic movement, an exquisite technical solution based on the rotation of two discs indicating hours and minutes respectively through a round and a pear brilliant-cut diamond. The case is embraced at either end by two fan-shaped motifs that connect to a deep blue alligator bracelet.
Next in the magnificent series, the Divas’ Dream Peacock Diamonds features a peacock motif set against a mother-of-pearl backdrop. The bird appears in all its glorious majesty, delicately hand-painted with meticulous partitions evoking the precious Roman mosaics in blue and green shades. This refined and precise work requires 20 hours to apply the 14 colours needed to complete the decoration. The mechanical self-winding movement, Calibre BVL 191, powers the watch.
Octo Finissimo
Fueled by passion, renowned for excellence and artistry, Octo Finissimo continues to stake its claim as the contemporary quintessence of masculinity, this time redrawing the design codes of modern sport watches.
For 2021, it sets a new paradigm for performance-inspired style with the introduction of three novelties: the Octo Finissimo S in a new monochrome style, the Octo Finissimo S Chronograph GMT, and the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Titanium with a new dial and rubber strap.
The element that separates an Octo Finissimo design from any other is its thinness, which set six world records in six years, including in 2014 the world’s thinnest tourbillon, in 2016 the thinnest minute repeater, in 2017 the thinnest automatic watch, in 2018 the thinnest automatic tourbillon, in 2019 the thinnest automatic chronograph and in 2020 the thinnest tourbillon chronograph. Octo Finissimo’s unconventional approach extends to its aesthetic and thoroughly modern design as well; the collection is known for its use of uncommon materials such as titanium and ceramic.
The Octo Finissimo S is available in a new monochrome edition. This new stainless steel version features a 40mm steel satin-polished case with a new silver vertical-brushed monochromatic dial looking particularly contemporary and striking against the radial brushed bezel. The watch houses the automatic in-house ultra-thin caliber BVL 138 with micro-rotor (2.23 mm) and displays hours, minutes and uncentered small seconds at 7 o’clock. Being a luxury sport watch, the model is water-resistant up to 100 meters with a polished steel screw-down crown set with ceramic.
The Octo Finissimo S Chronograph GMT is equipped with the automatic in-house chronograph and GMT ultra-thin calibre BVL 318 with peripheral rotor (3.30 mm thick). Blending sporty practicality with mechanical complexity, this ultra-modern timepiece is available in satin-polished steel with a new blue sunray dial paired with the silver counters for a more sport chic look. Its ingenious mechanism allows to display a second time zone on the sub-counter at 3 o’clock. The octagonal case (8.75mm thick) features a diameter of 43 millimeter, complemented by an integrated vertical brushed steel bracelet with polished parts. Reaffirming the sportier character of the Octo Finissimo S line, the watch features a larger screw-down crown than the former sandblasted models to ensure water resistance up to 100 meters.
The third novelty for 2021 is a new version of the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Titanium, which is now available with a new dial and a rubber strap for a sportier look. The 42mm watch features automatic in-house chronograph and GMT ultra-thin caliber BVL 318 with peripheral rotor (3.30 mm) and has an overall thinness of 6.9 mm. As the previous novelty, it has a combination chronograph and GMT function that allows it to show two time zones at once.
Octo Roma
Bvlgari Haute Horlogerie is once again the spotlight, proudly presenting its new Masterpiece of Sound, the Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon. Designed to raise the level of sensorial expression through sound, the timepiece features a three-hammer chime combined with a tourbillon regulator: an artful Italian interpretation of Swiss watchmaking expertise that comes to life in its innovative materials and audacious design. A perfect fusion of artistry and technique, in which precision is the framework that underpins exquisite, transcendent beauty.
Completely manufactured in-house, the brand new manually-wound Caliber BVL428 is 8.35mm thick, and comprises a total of 432 components. Meeting strict criteria across a number of parameters, the construction of Caliber BVL428 hasprioritized sound first and foremost. The power and clarity of the sound is a key point of quality in all striking watches, and the generous proportions of the case are designed to maximize sound propagation, allowing for increased torque of the three-hammer construction and more sound power production.
In particular, the middle case is designed to maximize sound and allow it to be broadcast as much as possible. It features hollowings within the design to reduce the amount of metal between inside and outside, and three openings that correspond to the three chimes, to allow sound to exit from the chamber. Chimes are fixed directly on to the casebody for most effective transmission of sound and the case is crafted in titanium to ensure the clearest possible diffusion of sound. The back is also hollowed and revamped with a meticulously crafted titanium grid that protect this resonance zone and allow sound to be transmitted to the outside.
The movement is equipped with one classical barrel ensuring the power reserve of at least 75 hours for the movement at full charge, meanwhile the functioning of the sound mechanism is ensured by a spring which is contained in a barrel-shaped container drilled directly in the bridge.
Available in an ultra-limited edition of 15, each exemplar is engraved, individually, with a number from 1 to 15 on the crown to indicate its singularity within the edition. The watch features a transparent sapphire crystal case-back, water-resistant to 3 Atmospheres, and comes on a black alligator leather strap with a three-blade folding clasp treated with DLC Titanium.
