While the watch collector community continues to laud steel models, many Swiss manufactures are endeavoring to increase the appeal of precious metal models. Take Bulgari, for example, which recently opted for lightweight aluminium with the release of two limited-edition models created in collaboration with the computer game Gran Turismo. Que bella Macchina!
Over the past two decades, Bulgari has carved its own path in the world of watchmaking, leading to its current reputation as an established manufacture held in high regard throughout the industry. With its Octo Finissimo models alone, Bulgari set a fitting eight world records – even if the Octo Finissimo Ultra presented in March 2022 only held the record for the thinnest wristwatch in the world for three months, as Richard Mille presented its RM UP-01 Ferrari, which was 0.05 mm thinner, in June 2022 (read our article here).
However, these are far from the most impressive feats out there: building an ultra-thin watch once is one thing, but doing so several times in a row is another story altogether. Thus, the eight records Italian brand Bulgari has set since 2014 are remarkable in every way. Among the record-holding watches are mainly those with complications: the thinnest perpetual calendar at 5.8 mm, the thinnest automatic chronograph at 6.9 mm, the thinnest tourbillon, which is also the thinnest automatic watch at 3.95 mm, and the thinnest minute repeater, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater at 6.85 mm. Exceptional.
In any case, the Italians are not shying away from their competitors: take the long-established Swiss manufactures such as Piaget, whose Altiplano concept has made ultra-thin watches a crucial part of the brand’s DNA since the 1960s.
Time and again, Bulgari has surprised the watchmaking world. A Greek immigrant named Sotirios Voulgaris, born in 1857 and deceased in 1932, founded the company in Rome in 1884. The young silversmith changed his birth name, Sotirios Voulgaris, to Sotirios Bulgari in Italy and opened his first jewellery shop of the same name in Rome in 1884. The company’s watchmaking history goes back a long way: ladies’ wristwatches were added to the range as early as the start of the 1920s. The first step towards manufacturing took place in 1982, when Bulgari Time was founded, focusing on the production of the legendary Bvlgari Roma and the Bulgari Bulgari watch designed by Gerald Genta – the very designer who is still responsible for the most coveted steel wristwatches in the world today.
In 2000, Bulgari took over the watch brands of its most famous designer, Gerald Genta, as well as those of Daniel Roth and their joint manufacture in Le Sentier. It is here that they now develop movements such as the automatic base movement calibre BVL 191. In the first decade of the new millennium, Bulgari went on a shopping spree: it acquired a majority stake in dial manufacture Cadrans Designs and bracelet manufacturer Prestige d’Or in 2005, in component manufacture Leschot in 2007, and in case manufacture Finger in 2008. In 2011, the LVMH Group acquired a majority stake in the company from the Bulgari family, which in turn sold its shares in the LVMH Group in 2012. While the Italian brand’s headquarters are in Rome, the watch production is now carried out by Bulgari Time S.A. with production sites in Neuchâtel, Le Sentier, and La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. Bulgari has thus advanced to become a genuine manufacture and possesses excellent design and production expertise today, embodied by the two new editions.
Shortly before the company’s 140th anniversary next year, Bulgari will launch two riveting chronographs as part of its aluminium collection. Aluminium? Yes, you read that right. Bulgari reintroduced an earlier successful model, the Bulgari Aluminium, back in 2020. The model was first launched shortly before the millennium, in 1998. There must have been quite a stir at the time when Bvlgari, one of the jewellery brands in the highest price segment and known for its rather solid gold watch collections, added a modern sports watch with a graphic design, rubber strap, and an aluminium case to its range. To this day, the bracelet made of metal and hard rubber links remains a stylistic feature of the Bulgari Aluminium. From time to time, there have been special models, such as the limited Capri collection with gradient dials. Still, there never was a chronograph with a tachymeter scale.
This time, the Roman brand is not only presenting a watch but also a matching vehicle. However, the car is not available for sale, remaining confined to the virtual space. After all, the two new Gran Turismo models are named as thus for a reason. They originate from a collaboration with the legendary computer game of the same name, which Polyphony Digital, a subsidiary of Sony Interactive, developed. The multi-award-winning game series, which came into being around the same time as the Bulgari Aluminium, was first launched in Japan in 1997. It is considered to be the best and most authentic driving simulator available. Since its 15thanniversary in 2013, numerous collaborations with famous sports car manufacturers – from Aston Martin to Bugatti and Ferrari – have been forged under the name Vision GT.
Thus, these collaborations have created a car cult around the game developed by its famous creator, Kazunori Yamauchi. He is also clearly delighted that the 10th anniversary of Vision Gran Turismo is celebrated with an extraordinary coup. The two designers responsible for this collaboration between Bulgari and Gran Turismo have also achieved a world first: the first and only hypercar from a watch brand that was specially developed for the digital Gran Turismo races, after TAG Heuer became the first watch brand to sign a deal with Gran Turismo and become the official timekeeper. Kazunori Yamauchi says, ‘The timing was perfect. We couldn’t have celebrated this anniversary any better than with such a stunning product as the Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition watches and the impressive Vision Gran Turismo car.’ He adds, ‘The close relationship between Mr Buonamassa, the Bulgari Design Director, and Mr Filippini, the former Pininfarina Design Director with whom we worked and who is also a member of our Explore studio, was a natural fit.’
The unusual collaboration between a watch designer and a car designer is no coincidence. Anyone who knows Bvlgari designer Fabrizio Buonamassa knows that he is a petrolhead, which may also be due to his creative past. Oftentimes, joint ventures between watch and car manufacturers can seem somewhat contrived but, in this case, Buonamassa brings a unique credibility to the table. Born in Naples, Buonamassa studied design in Rome. He worked as a car designer for the Fiat Group, then Ferrari and Maserati’s parent company, before joining Bulgari for good in 2001. He once told the luxury magazine Robb Report, ‘If I had to choose, I’d have to say that my heart beats a little faster for Italian classic cars than for Swiss watchmaking.’ Buonamassa’s father worked for the car hire company Hertz. He always brought him books about cars from around the world when Buonamssa was a boy. As a five-year-old, he copied the vehicles. He recalls‚ ‘That was my favourite thing to draw – cars.’
His counterpart Fabio Filippini, car designer, design strategy consultant, and founder of ACCAEFFE Creative Consulting, describes the result of this unique car-watch design project as follows: ‘I had the idea of playing with Bulgari’s DNA in a different way and designing a concept car that speaks the same language as the Bulgari Aluminium watch. The car design is based on geometric, purist, and angular shapes inspired by the designs of the legendary Italian Gran Turismo cars of the 1970s.’
Even if the car remains virtual, every Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition owner can still experience it. Of course, they will also receive a code that enables them to drive the Bulgari hypercar in the game with their Bulgari watch on their wrist.
There will be two versions of the watch: one variant is equipped with a yellow dial and black counters and the other has an anthracite-coloured dial with yellow indexes. The latter is limited to 1,200 pieces, while there are 500 pieces of the former model with the yellow dial, reminiscent of famous Ferrari dials on cars from the 1990s. For the first time, a Bulgari Aluminium features a tachymeter scale on its dial, as the rubber bezel is, of course, still dedicated to the famous double logo of the company with ‘Bulgari Bulgari’. This is reminiscent of the famous Bvlgari Roma, the first wristwatch to bear the company name on the dial in 1977 (and was originally a solid gold quartz watch for the top 100 Bulgari customers).
The bead-blasted matt aluminium cases are sealed with DLC-coated titanium casebacks that are water-resistant up to 100 metres. Customers will also find a laser engraving on them to mark the 10th anniversary of the Gran Turismo Vision GT series. The screw-down crown and pushers are also made of black DLC-coated titanium.
Both chronographs feature the B381 calibre. It is based on the Sellita SW300, modified and equipped with a Dupraz-Depraz chronograph module for Bulgari.
After the first 50 examples of the limited yellow version were sold online in advance (with a silhouette of the virtual vehicle and special packaging), the sporty timepieces are now available in Bulgari boutiques for 5,200 euros.
