After 12 years with 10 world records and more than 90 awards, the Octo Finissimo is one of the strongest designs of the new millennium. It would be no exaggeration to say that it is becoming an icon. The new, extremely wearable size of 37 millimeters will surely propel this.
“Octo Finissimo really changed the perception of the brand,” said Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Product Creation Executive Director at Bvlgari Horlogerie, about the collection that has become the signature of the brand.
The 37-millimeter enrichment of the Octo Finissimo collection was introduced at Watches and Wonders 2026 – with the explicit aim of reaching a larger audience with smaller wrists.
“The 37-millimeter Octo Finissimo is a big chapter for us, and an important challenge. Perhaps the biggest challenge we ever had. After 12 years of great success, we want to recreate the hype with a brand-new movement and four models in a new size,” he continued of the collection that also has an equally brand-new integrated bracelet with a two-push-button buckle.
Gold and Titanium
The collection introduced in gold and titanium, is also ready to go for future developments. For instance: as the dial is now 0.8 millimeters rather than 0.4, this will also allow for features like stone dials, diamond pavé, or snow setting.
Not only does the new BVF 100 movement allow for a new size and increased power reserve, but it also serves as playground for new designs. “We have changed the finishing. We still use Côtes de Genève, but now the stripes are radial, using the balance wheel as a starting point, said Mr. Buonamassa Stigliani about the movement whose micro rotor is made of platinum. “This watch has three years of development, one year for the bracelet, one for the movement, one for the case,” he continued of the watch, which was actually ready one yar ago. But the production was not yet set up, which is why Bvlgari decided to wait, since an increasing number of collectors expect watches to be accessible at the launch date. They don’t want to wait for months or years. “Watches will be available the day after the opening of Watches and Wonders,” Mr. Buonamassa Stigliani confirmed.
The new 37-millimeter Octo Finissimo comes in four versions. Three of them are time-only, and comes in yellow gold, sandblasted titanium, and polished titanium. The fourth is a minute repeater (also in sandblasted titanium), which utilizes the existing movement BVL 362. In the near future the brand plans to also introduce bi-metal versions,” maybe” with gold and titanium. One reason for going for trending bi-metal is the stratospheric price of gold.
Aiming For Every Wrist
With the 37-millimeter Bvlgari is aiming for every wrist. At the beginning of the year Mr. Buonamassa Stigliani returned from a world tour during which he’d presented prototypes to enthusiastic audiences. “The reaction always the same: ‘Now I can wear it easy. I love the watch but the 40 millimeters doesn’t fit my wrist, it is too big. But now it is perfect on the wrist.’ Wow!,” he said.
Will Octo Finissimo become an icon like some models we know from Patek Philippe, Rolex, Audemars Pigeuet and others? According to Mr. Buonamassa Stigliani, Octo Finissimo it is too early to say, but it has potential since it is not just a product. “It is a whole eco system with communication, with new record-breaking movements in different categories almost every year,” he said of the watch which has the ingredients of heritage watchmaking, continuous design evolution, and material development. “The Octo Finissimo is always saying something different, something new. I can’t say yet if it will become an icon. But for sure, we have a lot of things pointing in that direction. But I am never satisfied 100 percent. I am always looking for perfection; I am always on the next project.”
