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Nicholas Wittcoff

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The Watches

Bulgari Launches Miniature Movement for Serpenti

Highlighting its LVMH Watch Week, Bulgari unveils BVL100, a new miniature mechanical movement, which Bulgari places inside the head of new snake-shaped Serpenti bracelet watches.

One of four new Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi High Jewelry models with Bulgari’s new small mechanical movement.

Bulgari dubs the new movement Piccolissimo (Italian for “very small”), and it is indeed one of the smallest mechanical calibers available, measuring a wispy 12.30 mm in diameter and 2.50 mm thick.

“We believe this is the smallest round caliber currently on the market, and it opens up a new world of possibilities for us in this collection and beyond,” notes Antoine Pin, managing director of Bulgari Watches.

The new Bulgari BVL100 movement. Set inside the Serpenti Misteriosi head, the movement can be switched for left or right hand wear.

Bulgari launches the new caliber inside four lacquered and gem-set Serpenti Misteriosi watches.

With this 2022 debut, Bulgari re-establishes a mechanical time display within the Serpenti collection. The watch and jewelry maker debuted Serpenti in the 1950s outfitted with manual-wind calibers but in recent years has equipped the line with quartz movements. With only a few very limited exceptions, the Serpenti lines have been powered by quartz calibers since the late 1980s.

In addition to the new mechanical caliber, the Serpenti Misteriosi offers a wholly new convertible option: Each watch is designed to be worn on either wrist.

Bulgari has cleverly devised an interchangeable movement housing for Serpenti Misteriosi that can be removed from within the snake’s head and turned in the other direction to be visible on the left or right arm.

The Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi offers a wholly new convertible option. Each watch is designed to be worn on either wrist.
The Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi offers a wholly new convertible option. Each watch is designed to be worn on either wrist.

The movement

Bulgari explains that it builds the new BVL100 caliber with 102 components that in total weigh a mere 1.3 grams. In order to power the hands, watchmakers fit a 170mm-long mainspring into a barrel that measures 5mm thick and 1.47 mm across. And to ensure the greatest inertia, Bulgari opted for a white gold balance wheel.

The wearer views the time on the new Serpenti models by pressing the snake’s tongue, revealing the diamond-set dial. A bidirectional crown on the caseback controls Winding and time setting.

Since 2014 Bulgari has introduced a series of record-breaking (and award-winning) ultra-thin watches within its Octo Finissimo collection. With its new Piccolissimo caliber, Bulgari now expects to extend its dominance of ultra-thin watchmaking to what have traditionally been ‘ladies’ sized models with small diameters and high gemstone counts.

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The Watches

Hublot Launches 40mm Big Bang Integral

Hublot this week offers new options to its customers in search of a slightly thinner, downsized Big Bang as the Geneva watchmaker launches a 40mm Time Only Big Bang Integral.

Hublot will debut the new 40mm collection in a choice of three metals: yellow gold, titanium or black ceramic. The black ceramic collection is a limited edition of 250 pieces while the yellow gold and titanium lines are unlimited.

Hublot’s new Time Only Big Bang Integral All Black.

You might recall that when the Integral debuted in early 2020 as a flyback chronograph only, it was the first bracelet collection within Big Bang. The integrated bracelet is a solid three-link design that broke Hublot’s long held focus on rubber, leather or fabric bracelets for its best-selling Big Bang Unico collections.

The new watch measures 9.25mm thick, far sleeker than the 13.45mm-thick Big Bang Integral chronograph models. Hublot continues to polish and satin-finish the bracelet links on the new non-chronograph collection to closely match the new satin-finished 40mm case. The new ‘Time Only’ models, which also display the date, retain the skeletonized dial treatment found on the chronograph models. As a result, the date wheel and the five-minute markers become more prominent.

Hublot matches the indexes, hands and date window finishes in yellow gold, titanium or All Black ceramic to match the case. Inside, Hublot fits its automatic caliber HUB1710, which is largely bared on the dial and also visible through the back of the watch.

Prices: $17,800 (titanium), $49,400 (yellow gold) and $19,900 (black ceramic).

Hublot this week also announced six new watches cased in yellow gold. Hublot says the yellow gold debuts “pay tribute to the brand’s preferred material.” We’ll show you more of this yellow gold expansion in future posts, where we’ll also show you more of Hublot’s 2022 debuts.

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Featured News

Kering Sells Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin to Management

 

Kering, the multi-national fashion house that owns Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and many other well-known clothing, leather and jewelry brands, has agreed to sell Swiss watchmakers Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin to their current management team.

The Kering press release is below. We’ll keep you informed as we hear additional details about the deal.

“Kering announces the signature of an agreement to sell its entire stake (100%) in Sowind Group SA, which owns the Swiss watch manufacturers Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin, to its current management.

With a long tradition in watchmaking, Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin have continuously evolved since their acquisition by Kering, while preserving their identity. Combining an innovative approach to design and technical know-how, they have revamped their product universe, launched new iconic models, and reorganized their distribution, with the opening of directly operated stores and stronger ties with the leading watch distributors.

The Group has supported the two Houses in their development, strengthened their positioning and ensured they have adequate resources to finance their growth. It has confidence in the management in place to successfully pursue the work undertaken.

This transaction is in line with Kering’s strategy, giving priority to the Houses with the potential to become sizable assets within the Group, and to which it can provide decisive support over time.

“The extensive work carried out by the Group in recent years at Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin has laid the foundations for sustainable growth. Kering has demonstrated its ability to secure the conditions for the long- term development of entities leaving the Group, in the interest of their employees, partners, customers and local communities,” declared Jean-François Palus, Kering’s Group Managing Director.

“On the sound foundations laid thanks to Kering’s support and investments, we have the right setup and resources to implement a plan capable of ensuring the long-term development of both brands” declared Patrick Pruniaux, CEO of Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin since 2018.

The financial impacts related to this disposal will be reported in the accounts closed on December 31, 2021. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the first half of 2022.”

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The Watches

New Zenith Defy Skyline Highlights 1/10-Second Display

Just days after revisiting its 1969 Defy by launching a limited edition revival Zenith Defy A3642, Zenith this week again references the sporty Defy collection with a new model called Defy Skyline.

The new Zenith Defy Skyline, also available in black or silver dial.

For the new Defy Skyline, Zenith starts with the original collection’s octagonal case and twelve-side faceted bezel. But then Zenith adds extra edginess with a larger case size (41mm) and a technical dial display close to Zenith’s heart: a constantly running 1/10-of-a-second indicator.   

Placed at the 9 o’clock position, the one-tenth-of-a-second hand makes steady jumps in fixed increments, rotating fully once every ten seconds. The display references Zenith’s trademark El Primero caliber, which beats at 5Hz (36,000 VpH) and directly powers the display’s seconds hand.

As the hand is connected directly to the escapement, Zenith refers to as a “natural” fraction-of-a-second indication. And to best utilize the 1/10-second display when setting the time, Zenith provides a stop-second mechanism built directly into the crown.

For the new Defy Skyline, Zenith developed the El Primero 3620, a new iteration of its El Primero 3600, which headlined the debut of the Zenith Chronomaster Sport last year. Zenith harnessed the El Primero 3600 to give that Chronomaster a rare 1/10-of-a-second timing scale linked to its central chronograph hand. For the Defy Skyline, the new caliber omits chronograph timing to simply power the unusual seconds display.

The new Zenith Defy Skyline is a fairly spare time-only watch (with date) interchangeable steel bracelet/rubber strap watch that offers contemporary styling with clear references to its Defy antecedents, especially with its embrace of that collection’s twelve-sided bezel.

Zenith is offering three debut star-patterned dials for the new collection in metallic blue, black or silver with (included) matching rubber straps. The color scheme carries into the movement itself as Zenith finishes the caliber in tones of grey and silver, with elements in blued metal.

Price $8,400

 

Specifications: Zenith Defy Skyline

Movement: El Primero 3620, automatic, silicon escape wheel and lever, frequency of 36,000 VpH (5 Hz) and power reserve of approx. 60 hours, special oscillating weight with satin finishings.

Functions : Hours and minutes in the center, 1/10th of a second counter at 9 o’clock. Date.

Case: 41mm steel, screwed-in crown, water resistance to 100 meters.

Dial: Black-toned, blue-toned or silver-toned sunburst star-pattern.

Hour markers and hands are rhodium-plated, faceted and coated with SuperLuminova.

Bracelet: Stainless steel bracelet folding clasp. Comes with a matching rubber strap with starry sky pattern and folding clasp.

Price $8,400.

 

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The Watches

Frederique Constant Expands Perpetual Calendar Options

Frederique Constant adds a new blue-grey dial to its Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture collection, adding a stylish air to the Geneva manufacturer’s classical perpetual calendar dial layout.

A new blue-grey dial graces the Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture.

The new deep blue-grey dial almost guarantees perfect legibility to the perpetual calendar’s myriad displays. These include: days and the phases of the moon, date, month and leap year – all in addition to the time of day.

Frederique Constant has carefully considered its chromatic choices with this fourth dial option within the nicely priced Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture collection.

Thus, we see an eye-pleasing contrast of white typography and mirror-polished and luminescent hour-markers and hands. At the center of the dial Frederique Constant places the Highlife collection’s signature guilloché Earth motif.

Here we have a nicely integrated three-link bracelet, alternating polished and satin-finished surfaces. If you’d prefer a strap, Frederique Constant has you covered: the entire Highlife collection offers bracelet-to-strap interchangeability.

The Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture comes with a navy blue textured and stitched rubber extra strap that can be changed as desired without the need for tools.

The back of the watch allows a clear view of the automatic Manufacture FC-775 caliber, which Frederique Constant has embellished with circular graining and Côtes de Genève decoration.

Price: $9,950. Available in June.

Specifications: Frederique Constant Highlife Perpetual Calendar Manufacture

(Ref. FC-775BL4NH6B)

Displays: Hours, minutes, moonphase, date, day, month, leap year.

Movement: Automatic FC-775 in-house caliber, perpetual calendar, Perlage & circular Côtes de Genève decorations, 38-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph.

Case: 41mm by 12.65mm brushed and polished stainless steel three-part, convex sapphire crystal with anti-glare coating on both sides, see-through caseback, water-resistant to 50 meters.

Dial: Blue grey, globe decoration, silver color applied indexes filled with white luminous treatment, hand-polished silver color hour and minute hands filled with white luminous treatment, date counter at 3 o’clock with silver color hand, moonphase at 6 o’clock, day counter at 9 o’clock with silver color hand,
month and (leap) year counter at 12 o’clock with silver color hands.

Bracelet: Three-link brushed and polished stainless steel bracelet, includes an additional navy blue rubber strap.

Price: $9,950.

 

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