The luxury house’s Octo Finissimo Ultra is just 1.8 mm.
In just one decade, the Octo collection has set seven world records. Through its technical prowess, unique shape, and inimitable modern design it has become recognizable silhouette in the world of watches.
This marriage of Swiss watchmaking and Italian elegance was first presented in Rome in July 2012 with the Octo L’Originale, and quickly progressed in the years after with the Octo Finissimo (2014) and Octo Roma (2017).
Ten years later, the collection is celebrated with another record at the Piazza della Rotonda, which for the first time holds an even of this calibre.
Apart from the gravitas of a decade-long heritage, the event also introduced another record made, the brand’s eighth: the introduction of the Octo Finissimo Ultra, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch.
Bulgari describes the slimness of this Octo Finissimo Ultra—which at 1.8 mm is barely thicker than a sheet of drawing paper—as an “extraordinary mechanical feat that heralds a new era of ultra-thinness.”
This anniversary celebration is made possible by a collaboration with the Direzione Musei Statali Città di Roma, and the Museo del Pantheon. It was also supported by the Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia, Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, and Parco Archeologico del Colosseo.
“This fabulous landmark that we are setting today with the Octo Finissimo Ultra is in fact—for me and all the teams—the fulfilment of a dream,” says Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin.
This dream fulfilment, says Babin, now guarantees that Bulgari will be forever acknowledged as having written some of the finest chapters in Swiss watchmaking. “And the fact that the Maison is Italian makes us particularly proud,” he says.
Godly site
The surface of the Pantheon façade which was virtually reimagined into the masterly stage-setting for a contemporary architectural production. It is enhanced by the screening of the majestic “Temple of Light_Ultra at Pantheon” by OUCHHH, a real-time generative artwork curated by Reasoned Art.
The temple of the gods of Ancient Rome was the scene of an iconic art installation which consisted of three moments, one of which in Live real time.
The beginning and the end of the show saw thousands of data from the history of Italian architecture and art that, through artificial intelligence algorithms, have been reworked and projected on the pronaos of the Pantheon.
In the intermediate section of the event, the orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia made its debut with a live performance.
On stage, the 8 + 8 Percussion Ensemble of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia—Alta Formazione led by Edoardo Giachino gave a breathtaking concert notably demonstrating exceptional percussion mastery.
The artwork, at this moment of the show, has been created in Live, using data extracted from the brain waves of the conductor monitored through an EEG Headset device.
Eight is great
“The mastery of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia magnifies the majesty of the Octo Watch,” says Antoine Pin, Bulgari Watches managing director. “The rhythm of the music fused with the digital AI artwork by Oouch artists creates the perfect scenery to express 10 years of a record-breaking journey.”
Thanks to a QR code engraved on the ratchet wheel of the watch, the first 10 owners of the Octo Finissimo Ultra will receive an exclusive NFT artwork that guarantees the authenticity and uniqueness of the watch by means of blockchain technology.
The artwork conceptualizes the narrative of his decades-long experience in the Octo world and the creative path that led to the birth of Octo Finissimo Ultra.
The two authentication certificates will be linked: one for the artwork and the other for the watch, which will encompass the whole via Bvlgari Singvlarity tech. This represents the merging of real and virtual worlds, of past and future.
Defying the laws of physics through its mechanics, the watch becomes a global ecosystem that extends into a non-physical world.
For more on the Octo Finissimo Ultra, click here.
