Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic Carbon

• Limited Edition: 50 pieces
• Case: carbon
• Size: 42mm
• Movement: automatic-winding manufacture caliber BVL 288
• Function: flying tourbillon
• Power Reserve: approximately 52 hours
• Water Resistance: 30m
• Dial: openworked
• Caseback: solid
• Strap/Bracelet: carbon
• Factory Warranty: three years

Octo Finissimo sets for the fourth time a world record, a perfect blend of technical sophistication and aesthetic refinement.

Bulgari presents a new breakthrough on the front of extreme slenderness. At just 3.95mm thick, Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic claims a new watch industry record for the fourth time. The new automatic movement equipped with a tourbillon follows the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon in 2014, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater in 2016 and 2017’s Octo Finissimo Automatic: this new landmark eloquently expresses Bulgari’s mastery of the watchmaking art – duly acknowledged at 2017’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève which rewarded both the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Skeleton and the Octo Finissimo Automatic.

In the case of this new Tourbillon Automatic model, the maison had to find technical solutions in the overall construction in order to achieve this degree of slenderness combining exceptional expertise with respect for a certain aesthetic and a model that has achieved icon status. Working on the basis of the Finissimo Tourbillon movement launched in 2014, this new development – Caliber BVL 288 – handles automatic winding via an innovative and attractive peripheral oscillating weight positioned on the back of the movement. It is made of white gold and aluminum, two metals whose contrasting density enables the circular weight to oscillate in a particularly regular manner. The movement also incorporates a flying tourbillon equipped with a ball-bearing system contributing to the reduced thickness.

Measuring just 1.95mm thick and endowed with a 52-hour power reserve, Caliber BVL 288 Finissimo is housed in a carbon case revealing the entirely openworked skeleton movement displaying all its internal organs. Octo Finissimo Automatic Tourbillon also indicates the hours, minutes and small seconds. An opening on the back of the watch, depicting the stylized motif adorning the entrance of the boutique on the Via Condotti in Rome, provides a chance to admire both the tourbillon and the oscillating weight in action.

This is clearly a case of the watchmaking art serving innovation and style, as Bulgari has been vividly demonstrating since 2014 with the successive Octo Finissimo launches. The development and production of an ultra-thin watch is a very distinctive undertaking. It in no way represents a mere miniaturization of an existing model, particularly with the benchmark Octo Finissimo.

Its complex, finely structured case draws its strength and beauty from design. Ridges and angles create light effects and perspectives that are unique on the watchmaking scene. Octo Finissimo gives free rein to its modern character by proving it has its finger firmly on the pulse of the most contemporary Italian design trends. In both these respects, Octo can now be regarded as the watch that turns its back on re-editions or vintage themes, given its shape and its case that are firmly entrenched in the 21st century.

While powerfully expressed through audacity, this modernity stems from the beauty of the watchmaking art. The slimness of a watch is based on an ability to rethink, redesign and remodel volumes. It is a global approach relating to all elements of the watch, meaning the case and bracelet as well as each movement component.