In celebration of 75 years of the Bulgari Serpenti, the Roman Maison has called upon its friend Tadao Ando to imagine a new collection of timepieces. This is the third collaboration with the Japanese architect, following two Octo Finissimo Special Editions in 2020 and 2021 that expressed the essence of time through the pure lines of a spiral.
75th Anniversary of the Serpenti Tubogas
This is the first time in 75 years that the Serpenti Tubogas has been entrusted to an outside artist and the result brings a fresh new take to this historic collection. Tadao Ando was inspired by the forests and the fleeting splendour of nature through the seasons. “I aim to integrate the various forces at play, to restore the unity of architecture with nature,” he notes.
Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Product Creation Executive Director at Bulgari Horlogerie, was delighted to work with Ando on this new project, explaining: “Aligning with Serpenti felt instinctive. In a metaphor for time and transformation, indeed for the renewal of nature itself: the serpent likewise sheds its skin and emerges anew, its colours transformed.”
Tadao Ando and The Seasons
Ando’s love for the seasons is a recurring theme in his work. His concrete architectural constructions seamlessly blend in with their natural environment. A perfect example is the Hyogo Prefectural Museum, which overlooks both the mountains and the sea and is built around natural light that interacts with his minimalist lines. In spring, the openings let the brightness of the sunlight into the interior spaces, while in summer the angle of the sun has been calculated to not enter the building, keeping the space cool during the hottest months of the year.
Colourful Marquetry
Each of the four new dials of the watch world’s most famous reptile are brought to life with a colourful marquetry of materials, mixing straight and raw lines. Green aventurine, orange tiger’s eye, along with pink and white mother-of-pearl represent the cycle of the seasons. Bulgari’s artisans have skilfully translated Ando’s vision onto each watch dial, meticulously selecting the most visually striking fragments of each material. Each piece is precisely traced out, cut, and assembled, creating a pattern that feels completely organic and in harmony with nature thanks to the simplicity of the design and the purity of the materials.
The four quartz editions are named after the seasons in Japanese – Natsu for summer, Aki for autumn, Fuyu for winter, and Haru for spring. Each edition will be released at the beginning of each season, starting this summer 2024 and ending in the spring 2025. The special limited editions come with one bracelet twirl and two rows of diamonds on either side of the serpent’s head. In addition to the different dials, each edition comes with a different case material. The summer edition comes in two-tone yellow gold and steel, the autumn edition is crafted from rose gold, the winter edition is in steel, and the spring edition features a mix of rose gold and steel.
All the watches include Tadao Ando’s signature and the phrase “Tadao Ando Limited Edition” engraved on the caseback and are delivered in a box specially crafted by Tadao Ando. There will also be 20 box sets featuring all four editions for watch lovers who want to stay “on season”, and we can’t say we blame them!
