Bvlgari, who first participated in Watches and Wonders Geneva (WWG) last year, did not participate in WWG 2022 this year. Even though all the members of the same LVMH group participated in this expo as they did last year. There may be internal circumstances, but a large fish the size of a Bulgari would not have made such a choice without a great reason. Not surprisingly, one step ahead of WWG 2022, the Octo Finissimo Ultra, the world’s thinnest watch, took the spotlight first.
Bvlgari’s challenge towards thin watches has been going on since 2014. The start of the campaign was the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, equipped with the world’s thinnest manual tourbillon caliber at the time, the BVL 268 (1.95 mm thick). Since then, Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater (2016), Octo Finissimo Automatic (2017), Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic (2018), Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic (2019), Octo Finissi Mo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton Automatic (2020), Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar (2021), and Octo Finissimo Ultra, which this year became the world’s thinnest watch with a thickness of 1.8 mm, all of which are ultra ultra in their respective fields. – You broke the scene record. The Octo Finissimo Ultra, which has conquered the last high ground this year, is very meaningful to replica Bvlgari in many ways. Because it celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Bulgari Octo Collection as the final piece of the puzzle in the ultra-thin Octo Finissimo series.
Before the Octo Finissimo Ultra, the title of ‘World’s Thinnest Watch’ was held by the Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept, which debuted in 2018 and succeeded in commercialization in 2020. The thickness of this model is 2mm. This is thanks to the flat and thin arrangement of the barrel, gear train and balance using the caseback as the main plate without a separate movement. Even the time dial is collinear with it. In other words, the movement is the case, and the case is the movement. Octo Finissimo Ultra followed the same logic. There would not have been a viable alternative in the usual way of approaching the two separately.
The difference between the Altiplano Ultimate Concept and Octo Finissimo Ultra is in the way they display the time. While the former is a general structure in which the hour and minute hands share a single axis, the latter is designed in the form of a regulator that displays the hours and minutes separately through different sub-dials. This method, which is rare in ultra-thin, is intended to minimize the length of the vertical axis. In general, since two needles need to be installed on one shaft, the vertical axis is inevitably long, but in the case of a regulator, the shaft can be made relatively short because one needle is installed on each of the two vertical axes. Ultimately, it is possible to reduce the thickness of the movement and the case by that much. It is also refreshing to indicate the seconds by displaying a scale on the surface of the 4th wheel that rotates once per minute without a separate second hand. The 4th wheel itself also serves as a small second.
Another secret to Octo Finissimo Ultra’s retake of the ultra-thin throne lies in its crown. In the case of a traditional crown, it is inevitable to use parts such as a winding stem that rotates vertically to match its rotation. On the other hand, the Octo Finissimo Ultra omits the crown and is designed so that all parts rotate horizontally. Since there are no parts to be placed vertically, the thickness could be reduced that much. Time setting and winding mechanism have also been separated. The slightly protruding teeth at the 3 o’clock and 8 o’clock positions are responsible for each. When you turn the wheel at the 8 o’clock position, the large barrel at the 10-11 o’clock position rotates little by little to produce power. Uniquely, the surface of the ratchet wheel on the barrel is engraved with a QR code that opens into the digital world. By following the code, you will find a variety of online content related to the model, including watch structure and production process, developer interviews, and videos of artists working on the theme of Octo Finissimo. The code is also related to the blockchain. It is said that the ownership of the watch is verified and, at the same time, the ownership of the related video is guaranteed through NFT.
Octo Finissimo’s signature octagonal case has been trimmed to a minimum and concisely to reduce the thickness. The surface has been polished to a matte finish by sand blasting, the standard of Octo Finissimo. The size is 40m in diameter. The bezel and middle case are made of titanium as in the previous product, but the case back, which also serves as the main plate of the movement, is made of stronger tungsten carbide for durability. Tungsten carbide is known to be a very hard material (about twice that of stainless steel). That is why it is often used as a tool for cutting metal. It is also difficult to process. In the case of Octo Finissimo Ultra, it is said that laser processing was used. Based on this material and with the thinnest possible parts, the movement is the manual in-house caliber BVL 180. It is said that it was completed in collaboration with Concepto, the original movement manufacturer of La Chaux de Fong. With a frequency of 28,800 vph per hour and a power reserve of 50 hours, it is quite high for such an ultra-thin movement. Again, thanks to the large barrel, which accounts for a large part of the movement. The balance made in modular form is designed as a pre-sprung type that omits the regulator and attaches a thin weight to the surface for thin and ultra-thin. The sapphire crystal that covers the dial and movement is only 0.3 mm thick. The distance between the hands and the sapphire crystal is only 0.1mm. At the 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions on the dial, silicone bumpers are installed just in case. The case waterproof specification is 10m. Although a gasket was installed under the bezel, it seems that it is a part that has to be given up to some extent in order to achieve an extremely thin thickness.
The design of the titanium bracelet that naturally flows from the case is not much different from the previous one, but it is said that the thickness has been reduced by half to fit the extremely thin case. The surface finish was sandblasted the same as the case.
Octo Finissimo Ultra has a lot to say about the structure without the crown and the regulator design with a larger barrel than the dial, as this year’s talking piece, but it is said that the ultra-thin history was rewritten by going beyond the limits within the framework of a mechanical watch. It is as clear as the facts. The price is 400,000 euros. Limited to 10 pieces worldwide.