Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo has done it yet again with the new Ultra COSC, the thinnest mechanical watch ever produced and also the thinnest COSC-certified chronometer. At just 1.70mm thick, it surpasses even the Octo Finissimo Ultra from 2022, which measured an already astounding 1.80mm. Developed in collaboration with Concepto, a mechanical movement manufacturer, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC seems to defy logic itself—thinness and robustness in a watch feel as if they ought to be mutually exclusive—and yet it is resistant to water, shock and magnetic influence.
“This marks the ninth occasion our engineers, watchmakers, and designers have defied the laws of physics to offer complex timepieces of unparalleled slimness,” says Antoine Pin, director of Bvlgari’s watchmaking division. “These accomplishments go deeper than the watchmaking prowess they represent: they define our DNA. Bvlgari stands to innovate, to keep pushing the boundaries, and to master the art of the extraordinary–and to always surprise.”
The 20-piece limited edition is fitted with the BVL180 manufacture manual-winding mechanical ultra-thin movement within its 40mm case, with 50 hours of power reserve, and features sandblasted surfaces across its bezel, lugs, middle case and bracelet. The QR code that caused a stir when it appeared two years ago on the Octo Finissimo Ultra’s ratchet has now been replaced by a miniaturised Datamatrix on the back, but still serves the same purpose of tracing and recording the timepiece’s history. Bulgari has also unveiled a platinum 20-piece limited-edition version of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC.
Bulgari’s Serpenti collection receives a refresh too, and one that would delight any admirer of architecture: Tadao Ando, renowned for designs that celebrate simplicity, minimalism and even nothingness, lends his vision to a collaboration that is his first for the Serpenti collection. The four limited-edition interpretations of the Serpenti Tubogas express the serpent’s evolution through summer (yellow gold case, with a green aventurine dial, and a green aventurine cabochon on the crown), autumn (rose gold case, tiger’s eye dial, and pink rubellite cabochon), winter (steel case, with a white mother-of-pearl dial and cabochon), and spring (steel case, pink mother-of-pearl dial, and pink rubellite cabochon). All quartz-powered, the 35mm watches feature diamond-set bezels, single-tour bracelets, and casebacks personalised with Ando’s signature.