This Wednesday Hodinkee and Bulgari hosted a celebration of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater at the firm's 57th Street boutique. It wasn't just a celebration though – the Finissimo Minute Repeater was shown at this year's Baselworld and generated a lot of interest from enthusiasts and excitement in the watch press but of course, unless you were at the fair and had an appointment you didn't get to see it in person. This was the very first time it was possible to see the repeater in person in North America and over 100 guests turned out to be part of the event, and to hear an in-person presentation on repeaters, and the art and science behind Bulgari's Finissimo Minute Repeater, from Daniel Paltridge, Bulgari's North American President, and Guido Terreni, Managing Director for Bulgari Watches, as well as HODINKEE Managing Editor Jack Forster.
The Octo Finissimo Minute repeater's movement is only 3.12 mm thick and the watch overall, in its titanium case, is 6.85 mm thick. As we mentioned in our earlier coverage of extra thin and ultra thin watches, at this level ultra thin watchmaking is as much about casemaking expertise as it is about watchmaking expertise. This is even more true for minute repeaters, in which the case and movement interact both mechanically and sonically.
An important part of the sonic experience is dictated by the use of titanium – not just for the case, but also for the dial, which becomes part of the resonating chamber for the gongs. The dial indices are actually narrow slits that allow sound to propagate more easily toward the crystal of the watch.
Guests were also able to see (many for the first time) other remarkable Bulgari timepieces, including the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon (currently the thinnest tourbillon in the world) as well as catch up with design icons like the Serpenti timepieces. Also in North America for the first time: the Serpenti Incantati Tourbillon (above left).
Thank you to all our friends who joined us for the evening – a great chance for us all to go hands-on with some of the most interesting examples of ultra thin watchmaking in the world and, of course, to see some real icons of watch design as well!
For more on Bulgari watches, click here.
To see our photo report on Nicola Bulgari's collection of vintage American automobiles, click here.
Photos: Will Holloway
No comments:
Post a Comment