The ultimate skinny legend, the launch of the new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra marks the eighth time the Italian luxury house has broken the world record for the thinnest mechanical watch ever made. With the Finissimo collection first unveiled in 2014, Bulgari has continually broken and set records in the realm of ultra-thin watchmaking since the collection’s inception, making and breaking seven world records over an eight-year period, with the thinnest tourbillon, minute repeater, self-winding watch, self-winding tourbillon, self-winding chronograph, tourbillon chronograph, and perpetual calendar.
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However, until now the title for the world’s thinnest watch (ever) was held by the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept watch; launched in 2018, the watch measures just 2mm in width and archives its thin frame by utilising the case itself as the main plate, essentially making the watch itself the movement and eliminating the necessity for a separate movement.
Measuring just 1.8mm in width, the new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra smashes the record formerly held by Piaget. For context, the width is akin to a 20 euro cent coin, achieving ultimate thinness without sacrificing the signature aesthetic of the collection. Available in a limited run of just ten examples, each Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra taps into the metaverse, with an engraved QR code on the mainspring providing owners access to their own Bulgari NFT.
‘The challenge of this eighth record was the most difficult to overcome since we had to break the rules not only in terms of movement design but also of the case, the caseback, the bracelet and the folding clasp,’ said Fabrizio Bonamassa Stigliani, product creation executive director at Bulgari. ‘To achieve this degree of thinness, you not only have to review your way of thinking, but you must also draw upon a wide range of skills, play with multiple materials and adapt to a multitude of new constraints. In this sense, the Octo Finissimo Ultra is unquestionably the ultimate complication in this vast field of possibilities represented by ultra-miniaturisation.’
Like the other timepieces in the Finissimo collection, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra is [rimarily crafted from titanium, with the exception of the caseback which is executed in tungsten carbide. The material variation is due to the caseback – much like the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept – forming the main plate of the movement. The dual-purpose caseback features what Bulgari has termed an ‘escapement bridge’, which protects the main moving parts of the movement with a flexible bridge that supports and insulates it.
With its case measuring at 40mm, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra is almost like a 2D watch artwork, providing wearers with the appearance of a classic timepiece, albeit with an unparalleled lightweight feel. The mainspring housing – which features the QR code engraved on it – plays host to a spring that boasts a 60 hour power reserve. Meanwhile, the traditional watch crown is eschewed in lieu of two thin horizontal wheel-like crowns on either side of the watch, one at 8 o’clock for winding the watch and the other at 3 o’clock to set the time. Despite the unconventional nature of these crowns, the watch is still water resistant to 100m.
Limited to 10 examples worldwide, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra is priced at €400,000 (approx. $584,000AUD).
Words by AR Staff