Born in 2013, I Giardini du Bulgari is collection of complicated watches revealing the most prestigious decorative craft techniques that the Maison has been promoting and perpetuating for more than 130 years. It draws its inspiration from the Naturalia jewellery collection, which has been celebrating the beauties of Nature since 1991 and its dials are produced using the techniques of champlevé, miniature painting, mother-of-pearl or stone marquetry and gemsetting.
The dial remains a complex speciality that often requires more than 20 different operations and dozens of components. The Bulgari dial creation workshops have 40 craftsmen who master more than a dozen specialisations. Bevellers, pivot makers, polishers, dial makers, dial printers, applique fitters, stamping specialists and hand-makers shape its architecture; while engravers, gemsetters, miniature painters and marquetry artists shape its story.
On a gold dial on which the thickness is calculated in relation to the decorations that are placed on it, the dial-maker adapts the desired motif to its 29.50 mm in diameter.
The technique of champlevé used by the Maison leaves a raised gold wire visible accentuating the delicacy of the motifs. The precious metal wires outline parrot, leaf and swan motifs as well as the branches of Il Giardino Tropicale or the corals of Il Giardino Marino.
Gem-setting is used for the bright stars in the sky of Il Giardino Notturno, the sparkling flowers in the tropical forest of Il Giardino Tropicale and the reflection of the sun in the glittering waters of Il Giardino Lariano. The snow setting behind the swan in Il Giardino Lariano is made of 309 diamonds in three different sizes. Il Giardino Tropicale offers a paved dial consisting of 226 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Miniature painting allows to create bright, deep or subtle colours and enables every nuance of the entire colour spectrum to be explored, resulting in a palette that is every bit as rich as that of nature itself.
Five colours bring life to the swan of Il Giardino Lariano and 15 colours to the parrot of Il Giardino Tropicale. It takes a week of miniature painting to complete the dials of I Giardini du Bulgari.
I Giardini di Bulgari watches come in the 37 mm gold case of the emblematic Bulgari Bulgari Lady collection. They feature a bezel engraved with the name of the Maison or set with around 2.9 carats of diamonds.
The mechanical self-wound tourbillon movement is a BVL 263 Manufacture calibre that is circular-grained and adorned with Côtes de Genève. It has a 64-hour power reserve and is water-resistant to 30 metres. The tourbillon cage features sapphire bridges. The Giardino Notturno is animated by the mechanical self-winding movement BVL 210, equipped with an astronomical moon phase.
Il Giardino Tropicale
Consisting of two distinct elements, the dial presents a background in pink mother-of-pearl set with 61 diamonds or paved with 226 snow-set diamonds. In the foreground, the decor of a tropical jungle using champlevé engraving is traced on gold. The painted parrot is trimmed with floral and plant motif. The dial consists of 15 different colours worked in subtle shading, infusing this garden with vibrant luxuriance.
Il Giardino Lariano
This romantic garden is reminiscent of the Como Lake region. Under a night blue sky made of glass with a constellation of 244 snow-set diamonds appears a painted white swan. Gliding across the blue-grey Tahitian mother-of-pearl waters, the swan crosses waves underscored with diamonds that billow above a tourbillon with transparent bridges.
Il Giardino Marino
This bright underwater garden is composed of coral, starfish and fish. The dial is blue lacquered and the gold is engraved using the champlevé technique. The fish and starfish are reproduced in turquoise, while the coral and mother-of-pearl are shaped and inlaid. Finely engraved using the champlevé technique, the coral motifs are set with 23 brilliant-cut diamonds.
Il Giardino Notturno
This complex dial, showing a garden under a night sky, is built on four levels and evoking the four elements. The fire is revealed through aventurine glass, dotted with copper inclusions, and studded with eight diamond stars; symbolizing the earth, the moonflowers are engraved using the champlevé technique, gemset, polished and rhodium-plated. White and Tahitian mother-of-pearl are inserts into the heart of engraved petals; the movement with its moon phase, symbolizing the air, consists of an aventurine disc adorned with two engraved and polished gold moons; the waves (water) are engraved in mother-of-pearl
