Since I started writing about watches, I would say that I have learned to accept that the smaller, feminine timepieces are mostly powered by a quartz movement. If I really like the design of a timepiece, I’m willing to look past it. I reassure myself that quartz movements are very practical with their timing precision and long battery life, and when I am flying out the door for some fancy-schmancy event (pre-Covid, of course), I can pick up my delicate dress watch and the time is correct! But as a watch lover and an admirer of fine craftsmanship, there is no denying that the news that a watch has a quartz movement is always a bit of a disappointment (although I try not to let it show!).
A Movement So Small
It seems that I have not been alone in my general acceptance, but slight despondency, about quartz watches because Bulgari has also been thinking about the question. So much so, that they have spent the last three years working on a movement so small that it is no larger than the size of a fingernail.
“We are very well known for the Finissimo,” shares Fabrizio Buonamassa, Product Creation Executive Director at Bulgari Horlogerie SA. “I said to myself, it is not right that we have movements like this in the men’s collections and nothing for women. We are watchmakers after all, so we need to address this imbalance.”
And address the imbalance Bulgari did, with this new movement called the Piccolissimo, which means “very small” in Italian. Its technical name is the Calibre BVL100 and it measures a mere 12.30 mm by 2.50 mm, weighs just 1.3 grams, and comprises 102 miniature components. The barrel alone is 5 mm x 1.47 mm and it holds a spring that is 170 mm long. It also has a white gold balance wheel that was chosen to create the greatest inertia.
Ultra-Thin to Ultra-Small
Bulgari has been the master of ultra-thin movements for several years now and you would think that all this savoir-faire had come in very handy when making a micro-movement, but apparently not. “Ultra-thin and ultra-small are two completely different things,” notes Buonamassa. “With a small movement, we have a whole host of different challenges than with a thin movement, it is extremely difficult to do, that’s why there aren’t any movements of this size on the market.”
Serpenti Misteriosi High Jewellery Secret Watches
For LVMH Watch Week, Bulgari is unveiling this new Piccolissimo movement in four new Serpenti Misteriosi High Jewellery Secret Watches. The movement is encased in a capsule that clips into the watch and can be easily fitted by a jeweller rather than a watchmaker, meaning that the whole production of these exceptional pieces can take place in the brand’s workshops in Italy.
Bulgari has also profited from the arrival of this new movement to redesign the Serpenti’s head and body, giving it a new more dynamic form. Each of the four pieces is completely different from the next, employing diamonds and hard stones of different cuts and sizes; various colours of lacquer; and finely crafted yellow and white gold in the most creative forms.
Serpenti Seduttori and Serpenti Tubogas
Other new LVMH Watch Week editions include the Serpenti Seduttori with a new bracelet that is composed of a hexagonal motif that was first used in the early Serpenti watches. And the Serpenti Tubogas, which now comes in a new single-tour version in a bimetallic combination of yellow gold and steel, or in yellow gold with diamonds on the side of the reptile’s head.
Octo Roma Emerald Grande Sonnerie
The brand’s Octo Roma Grand Sonnerie now brings together the world of sound with precious gemstones. Its four-gong mechanism, which represents the pinnacle of the watchmaker’s art, is now dressed with a dial and case adorned with baguette-cut emeralds and diamonds that enhance the emotion of this grande sonnerie.
Octo Roma Blue Carillon Tourbillon
Continuing the melody, a new version of Bulgari’s Octo Roma Blue Carillon Tourbillon joins the LVMH Watch Week celebrations with a highly graphic skeletonized movement with blue bridges and a platinum case with a blued titanium caseback. The collection combines two of the most traditional complications – a tourbillon and a striking mechanism – in a resolutely modern Bulgari way.
Lvcea Intarsio
Last, but by no means least, Bulgari is presenting two new Lvcea Intarsio models that are designed to translate, retransmit, and enhance the characteristic and distinctive Roman sky in its pink and blue pearlescence. This is achieved with marquetry of mother-of-pearl for the pink version and marquetry of aventurine for the midnight blue version. These complex and refined handcrafted constructions capture all the variations of light in the skies above the Eternal City.
We will be going into more details about each of these novelties over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more.
