With its new Aluminum GMT Amerigo Vespucci, Bulgari pays tribute to the Vespucci, a three-mast Italian navy training ship. The new watch, a limited edition of 1,000, is Bulgari’s second recent Aluminum Collection debut, arriving just weeks after the Aluminum Chronograph Ducati Special Edition.
As Bulgari’s sportiest design, the Bvlgari Aluminum series has long been one of the Italian-Swiss watchmaker and jeweler’s most successful collections, with its lightweight case and bold Bvlgari Bvlgari-branded black or blue rubber bezel.
Bulgari originally fit its Aluminum series with a mechatronic-quartz movement but updated the collection in 2020 with mechanical calibers. Here, Bulgari fits the new watch with its Caliber BVL 192, a GMT movement powering a dual-time display indicated by a yellow-tipped luminescent arrow hand.
The new watch’s dial displays both the Italian colors and the yellow hue found on the namesake ship. As the GMT hand rotates once in twenty-four hours, it indicates the hour within a chosen second time zone. Bulgari simplifies the timekeeping by marking the two twelve-hour zones in contrasting black and yellow to distinguish between day and night.
This 40mm aluminum watch is water-resistant to 100 meters and features a titanium caseback that is engraved with “Nave Scuola Amerigo Vespucci” and the motto: “Non chi cominicia ma quel che persevere” (Not he who begins, but he who perseveres).
As with all Bulgari aluminum watches, this latest model is fit with an articulated rubber strap. Price: $3,950, limited to 1000 pieces.
Specifications: Bulgari Aluminum GMT Amerigo Vespucci Special Edition
Movement: Automatic BVL Caliber 192 with GMT function (second time-zone indication) and 50-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph (4 Hz) frequency.
Case: 40mm aluminum, black DLC-coated titanium back, black rubber bezel, DLC-coated titanium crown,
Dial: Black bearing inscription, rhodium-plated hour-markers and hours and minutes hands filled with SuperLuminova, yellow rhodium-plated seconds hand, black and yellow 24- hour outer dial with an arrow-shaped GMT hand filled with SuperLuminova, date window at 3 o’clock. Water-resistant to 100 meters.
Strap: Rubber with aluminum links, aluminum pin buckle.
Price: $3,950 (1,000-piece limited edition)