Bulgari is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its legendary Bvlgari Bvlgari collection with four birthday models in two sizes and with two different movements. Each model is limited to 150 pieces and features a unique marble dial.
In 1975, Gianni Bulgari, the grandson of Bulgari founder Sotirio Bulgari and now 90 years old, sought to present his Geneva boutique’s top customers with an extraordinary Christmas gift. This gift – a watch – also marked the inception of a line that would come to define the brand’s aesthetic for many: Bvlgari Bvlgari. Today, this iconic collection is being honored with four new models, featuring two sizes, various drive types, and timeless stone dials.
Interestingly, 1975 was also the year when then-CEO Gianni Bulgari was abducted and released a month later after a ransom of two million dollars was paid. Years later, in 1987, he sold his stake in the company to his two brothers.
While this experience hopefully left few lasting marks, the Christmas gift had an undeniably positive impact. It marked a pivotal step for the company toward establishing itself as a ‘genuine watch manufacturer,’ a journey that culminated in 1982 with the founding of the subsidiary Bulgari Time S.A. Today, this subsidiary boasts production facilities in Neuchâtel, Le Sentier, and La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Bvlgari Bvlgari watches have always proudly showcased their connection to the Roman brand. This is most evident in the engraving on their distinctive bezel, which evokes the appearance of a Roman coin. The brand name, repeated twice, serves as the sole and self-sufficient message – a tradition that dates back to 1934. It was then that the distinctive typography, featuring a Roman ‘v’ in place of a ‘u’, was introduced to mark the renovation of the flagship boutique on Via dei Condotti in Rome. Today, this unmistakable design is instantly recognized by luxury buyers worldwide, no matter which word is rendered in its unique style.
Side fact number 2: The two spellings, Bulgari and Bvlgari, reflect the Greek heritage of silversmith Sotirios Voulgaris. Alongside his business partner Konstantinos Kremos, he initially opened a jewelry shop in Naples that proved unsuccessful before eventually establishing the Old Curiosity Shop in Rome. Following disagreements, Voulgaris chose in 1884 to sell his creations independently under the name Bvlgari, the Italianized version of his surname, which was originally spelled Βούλγαρης in Greek.
In the Roman alphabet, the letter ‘U’ has the shape of a ‘V’. The brand has embraced this shape for its logos and product name. Technically, however, it remains a ‘U’ and is pronounced accordingly.
The transformation of the luxurious giveaway from 1975, a battery-powered digital watch at the time, into a serious timepiece is likely owed, above all, to Gérald Genta, who passed away far too soon in 2011 at the age of 80.
He is widely considered one of the greatest watch designers of the 20th century. In 2000, Bulgari acquired his eponymous brand, along with its team and intellectual property, partly to further expand its own watchmaking expertise.
Side fact number 3: Despite acquiring Gérald Genta’s brand in 2000, the LVMH-owned Bulgari did not obtain rights to his most iconic designs. These include the Nautilus by Patek Philippe, the Pasha de Cartier by Cartier, the Royal Oak by Audemars Piguet, the Constellation by Omega, the Overseas by Vacheron Constantin, and the Ingenieur by IWC. However, about two years ago, the LVMH group – of which Bulgari has been a part since 2011 – revived the Gérald Genta brand itself.
Returning to the Roman brand Bulgari, its inseparable history with the legendary watch designer didn’t begin with the millennium. It dates back to 1977, with the debut of the original design for what is now known as the Bvlgari Bvlgari watch, designed by Gérald Genta.
The Gérald Genta Heritage website proudly states: ‘The design of the iconic Bvlgari Bvlgari watch has its roots in ancient Roman coins. Gérald Genta transformed this concept into a timepiece that became a hallmark of Bulgari and even influenced the style of other brands. The purity and simplicity of this model led to great success. The impact of Bvlgari Bvlgari, originally Bvlgari Roma, was substantial.’
The website is operated by Genta’s widow, Evelyne Genta. Together with her husband, she managed and developed the Gérald Genta watch brand. While he was responsible for design and product innovations, she oversaw finance, marketing, and sales, as well as two factories with 250 employees in Switzerland.
The Bvlgari Bvlgari from 1977, incidentally, was not formally announced, yet this did nothing to hinder the success of the timepiece. In fact, the opposite might be true. Through word of mouth – the social media of the time – news of the novelty spread quickly, drawing more and more customers to the boutique on Via dei Condotti.
The rest is a story of success, with numerous versions, celebrated this year with a very special material.
Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Product Creation Executive Director at Bulgari, explains the significance of the collection for the company: ‘The Bvlgari Bvlgari watch is both simple and powerful – always in tune with the zeitgeist. Its pure design perfectly embodies our DNA, without any superfluous embellishments. Today, the brand revisits the spirit of the original creation, subtly refined with modern technology.’
It’s worth noting that we’re talking about the building material of ancient high society here. Marble was an expensive and sought-after material in Roman times. Its rarity, the complex extraction process, and high transportation costs made it a valuable building material, primarily used for prestigious buildings and high-quality art objects.
In other words, it is the perfect material for a birthday celebration. To mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the Bvlgari Roma, Bulgari is offering its customers a selection of four elegant reinterpretations, each limited to 150 pieces and featuring dials made from metamorphic stone. The brand has long used this material, primarily in jewellery making.
They chose green ‘Verde Alpi’ marble combined with yellow gold for the watches, as well as deep blue ‘Blu Incanto’ and ice-blue ‘Azzurro Infinito’ marble for the models with rose gold cases. As marble is a natural material with unique grains, every dial is one of a kind.
Half of the four anniversary models of the Bvlgari Bvlgari draw their precision from a vibrating quartz movement, while the other half rely on the oscillating balance wheel of the automatic Solotempo BVL 191 calibre. When it was introduced in 2013, it was said to play a central role in Bulgari’s ticking future. The brand has kept its word and continues to favour this precise and reliable movement to this day.
For example, this applies to the 2024 Bvlgari Bvlgari quartet, which matches this year’s models both in diameter options – 26 and 38 millimetres – and in case materials, yellow and rose gold. The key difference in the anniversary edition is the exclusive marble dials, each one unique.
Knowing our readers’ preferences, the focus here – also from an illustrative standpoint – is on the two versions in the versatile 38-millimetre size, which house the aforementioned in-house movement and protect it up to a pressure of 5 bar.
The automatic Solotempo BVL 191, featuring a ceramic ball bearing, operates at 4 Hertz and offers a 42-hour power reserve. Bulgari describes it as a movement of ‘complex simplicity’. Hence the name Solotempo – the Italian term for ‘only the time’ – for this calibre, dedicated to the precision of hours, minutes, seconds, and date. However, the date function is not utilised in the anniversary Bvlgari Bvlgari, allowing the unique beauty of each stone dial to shine fully. The Solotempo BVL 191, complete with Geneva stripes and a gold Bulgari logo on the rotor, can be admired through the sapphire crystal caseback.
The anniversary models of the Bvlgari Bvlgari are paired with a colour-coordinated alligator leather strap and a matching buckle in yellow or rose gold.
The automatic versions, measuring 38 millimetres in diameter and featuring green or blue dials, are priced at 18,000 euros each, while the smaller quartz models are priced at 13,500 euros each.
