With the new Aluminum Chronograph Ducati Special Edition, Bulgari combines its sporty aluminum-cased chronograph design with Ducati’s racing-infused motorbike colors and typography. The watch’s conspicuous use of materials such as titanium (caseback, crown and pushers) and rubber (bezel) also match Ducati’s high-performance image in this colorful iteration of the original Bulgari Aluminum watch first seen in 1998.
Bulgari Aluminum Chronograph Ducati Special Edition.
In its premiere co-design with Ducati, Bulgari’s new 40mm, 1,000-piece limited edition features three dark subdials set within a dial colored with the same deep red hue used throughout historic Bologna-based factories. And more specific to Ducati, the dial’s 10, 11 and 12 o’clock numerals echo the same layout found on the dashboards of famed Italian motorbikes.
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 (and sometimes blue) rubber bezel.
Bulgari originally fit its Aluminum series with a mechatronic-quartz movement but updated the collection in 2020. Here, Bulgari fits the latest in the series with its automatic BVL 130 caliber.
Bulgari offers the watch with its own aluminum and rubber presentation box bearing the logos of both the Italian brands. Price: $5,000.
Specifications: Bulgari Aluminum Chronograph Ducati Special Edition
(1,000-piece limited edition)
Movement: Automatic Caliber BVL 130 with chronograph and date, 42-hour power reserve, 28,800 vph (4 Hz) frequency.
Case: 40mm aluminum, titanium caseback with DLC coating and engraved Ducati logo; rubber bezel, crown and pushers in DLC-coated titanium. Water-resistant to 100 meters.
Dial: Red Ducati-color, hour-markers and hours and minutes hands filled with SuperLuminova, three black counters with red hands; date window.
Bracelet: Rubber strap with aluminum links, aluminum pin buckle.
Porsche Design revisits its Chronograph 1 – 1972 Limited Edition from earlier this year with the new Chronograph 1 All Black Numbered edition, an all-black titanium version of the historic design, to be issued as an individually numbered limited edition of 1,000.
Porsche Design’s new Chronograph 1—1972 All Black Numbered Edition
Like the previous model, which sold out quickly in early 2022, the new 40.8mm matte black titanium edition also echoes the original 1972 model’s size and design.
For both watches Porsche Design references its Chronograph 1, long considered the first all-black watch. The company’s use of black PVD on steel (as well as employing the then-new Valjoux 7750 automatic movement) set an example emulated for decades afterwards by sports watchmakers across the globe. Early examples of the pioneering Porsche Design automatic chronograph are highly collectible.
This newest version differs from the earlier model not only due to its individual number, but also because it features a clear sapphire caseback. That’s where you’ll see the watch’s number and a clear view of the Porsche Design WERK 01.140 caliber with COSC certification and the Porsche Design Icon winding rotor.
From the back you’ll see the watch’s number and a clear view of the Porsche Design WERK 01.140 caliber with COSC certification and the Porsche Design Icon winding rotor.
The remaining specifications echo the earlier edition, notably the highly legible dial inspired by the dashboard in the Porsche 911. Its tachymeter and the day/date display use the current Porsche font while the minute hand revisits F. A. Porsche’s own tapered design.
Porsche Design will make the watch’s 40.8mm case and bracelet with the same high performance titanium it uses in nearly all Porsche Design timepieces today. And new SuperLuminova will enhance the watch’s visibility in the dark. All Porsche Design Timepieces are produced in-house at Porsche Design Timepieces AG, the brand’s own timepiece-manufacturing facility in Solothurn, Switzerland.
Each watch arrives on a black titanium detachable bracelet with minutely adjustable folding clasp.
Porsche Design’s new Chronograph 1—1972 All Black Numbered Edition is set for release later in 2022 but can now be pre-ordered on the Porsche Design site as well as in Porsche Design Stores and from selected watch retailers. Price: $10,500.
The new Porsche Design Chronograph 911 Sport Classic, available to Porsche owners.
New 911 Sport
Porsche Design has also launched a new retro-inspired model, the Chronograph 911 Sport Classic, to owners of the recently released Porsche 911 Sport Classic.
The watch features a two-tone titanium and black case while the dial, white hands, green digits, and scale markings are inspired by the automaker’s Heritage Design tachometer. The design of the 360-degree winding rotor is based on the wheel options available for the 911 Sport Classic. And for the first time, Porsche Design is offering a range of different dials for the timepiece. Price: 12,500 euros.
Bulgari celebrates the eighth anniversary of its ultra-thin, record-breaking Octo Finissimo collection by introducing another record-breaking watch, the Octo Finissimo Ultra, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch.
The new Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch.
Measuring 1.80mm thick and 40mm in diameter, the new watch is Bulgari’s eighth watch breaking a record for its thinness, bypassing Piaget’s Altiplano Ultimate Concept watch from 2018, which measures 2.0mm thick.
Bulgari’s’ impressive run of record-breaking Octo Finissimo watches began in 2014 with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual, and extended into last year’s Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar. (See below for full list of all the Octo Finissimo record-breaking watches).
Bulgari says it had to rethink its approach to achieving such thin cases and movements in order to ensure the new watch’s rigidity and functionality. Step one was to combine the movement with the case, which essentially makes the watch its own movement and places all its components onto one plane.
Thus, Bulgari uses the new watch’s case back as a main plate on which it builds all 170 components of the BVL Calibre 180. Bulgari achieved the required rigidity by making the case middle, case back/main plate, bezel and titanium lugs from a dense, hard and ultra-resistant combination of carbon and tungsten. Bulgari uses the same material to construct the bracelet, which is required to integrate perfectly into the case with the same thinness.
To resolve the thinness problem presented by the traditional winding crown, Bulgari devised two horizontal, knurled knobs for this watch. One knob (at the 8 o’clock position) is for winding and the other for setting (at the 3 o’clock position). Both can be handled when the watch is on the wrist.
Bulgari has filed eight patent applications for this watch. They relate to the watch glass assembly, barrel structure, oscillator module, differential display, modular structure, bracelet, bi-metal case middle-main plate/case back, as well as the Bulgari Singvlarity technology.
Unusually, Bulgari has engraved a QR code on the watch’s large barrel ratchet wheel. The code opens an online space dedicated to the watch that will feature interviews, making-of segments, a virtual 3D tour of the movement, and an exploration of the visible/invisible concept linked to the watch. Each of the ten owners of the Octo Finissimo Ultra will also receive an exclusive NFT artwork guaranteeing the authenticity of the watch and the link to its owner.
Price: 400,000 euros (about $440,000)
Eight Years of Bulgari Ultra Thin Records
Bulgari’s Octo Finissimo debuts since 2014 include watches that demonstrate and impressive range of timekeeping, acoustic and astronomical complications, in addition to their ultra-thin profile.
These watches (above) are, from left: Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual (2014, BVL Calibre 268, 1.95 mm), Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater (2016, BVL 362, 3.12 mm), Octo Finissimo Automatic (2017, BVL 138, 2. 23 mm), Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic (2018, BVL 288, 3.95 mm), Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic (2019, BVL 318, 3.30 mm), Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton Automatic (2020, BVL 388, 3.50 mm), Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar (2021, BVL 305, 2.75 mm). This year: Octo Finissimo Ultra (see above).
Movement: Mechanical ultra-thin Manufacture manual-winding movement – BVL Calibre 180 (1.50 mm thick). Winding and time-setting wheels in stainless steel; seconds display directly on the fourth wheel; ratchet wheel engraved with unique QR code that links to an exclusive NFT artwork. 50-hour power reserve; 28,800 VPH (4 Hz) frequency.
Case and dial: 40mm sandblasted titanium case and tungsten carbide plate with anthracite DLC treatment (1.80 mm thick); hours and minutes counters, black PVD-treated hands; water-resistant to 1 ATM (10 meters).
Bracelet: Ultra-thin titanium bracelet with integrated folding clasp.
Collectors frustrated by the very limited nature of last year’s MB&F M.A.D.1 now have a chance to score a new version of the very cool, affordably priced automatic watch with lateral time display and tricked-out upside-down Miyota movement.
MB&F is releasing the new M.A.D. 1 Red under the new M.A.D. Editions label.
MB&F’s new M.A.D. 1 Red looks very similar to the original blue-tinged M.A.D.1, which was available last year only to MB&F Friends and MB&F watch owners.
Like that first watch, the new model also displays time via two highly luminous rotating cylinders around its case. Just as eye-catching is the unidirectional titanium and tungsten triple-blade rotor spinning quickly atop the watch. MB&F makes all this happen by fitting and re-engineering the watch’s Miyota movement upside-down in the steel M.A.D. 1 Red case.
In addition to the new cherry red hue on this Red edition, MB&F has thinned the bezel and added a traditional winding crown (at 12 o’clock) to the watch. The crown on last year’s blue edition featured a folding protector that doubled as a winding aid.
MB&F is making these special editions under a new brand name, M.A.D. Editions, and has long-term plans for additional models. Collectors who have previously contacted MB&F about the earlier M.A.D. Edition watch, or who already own an MB&F watch (or are MB&F Friends) are first in line to purchase the new watch.
If you’re not among those categories, there’ still a path toward obtaining your own M.A.D 1 Red: MB&F is conducting a lottery for interested buyers.
“Once we have the confirmations of the priority orders, we’ll then take all the remaining M.A.D.1 Red pieces available, and allocate them thanks to a lottery, open to everyone,” explains MB&F founder Max Busser.
“If you’re interested in participating in the lottery, which is of course totally free of charge, please go to our eShop to obtain a lottery ticket – and relax, there’s no rush, you have the next two weeks to get a ticket. After two weeks we’ll then proceed with a random draw, and we’ll let you know whether the draw has been favorable to you – in which case you will be able to place your order.”
Given the price (CHF 2,900) and the pedigree of the new M.A.D.1 Red, expect very high demand.
Deliveries of the M.A.D.1 Red commence in April and continue throughout the rest of this year. While the first deliveries will go to collectors who wrote to MB&F previously, MB&F expects to start delivering watches to the lottery winners between September and December.
Greubel Forsey continues to expand its Convexe collection, a relatively new series of watches characterized by a convex bezel and crystal that showcases the multi-level, multi-dimensional nature of its complicated movements.
The new Greubel Forsey Double Balancier Convexe.
The newest addition, the Double Balancier Convexe, finds the watchmaker’s existing Double Balancier movement (in its latest 2016 iteration) presented in a convex titanium case with a dramatic curved layout displaying the caliber’s openworked gears, wheels and bridges.
Within the undulating bezel, which Greubel Forsey first presented in 2019, we see the watch’s gear train in all its multi-level, highly finished splendor just below a semicircular black-treated titanium bridge. The skeletal hour and minute hands are set atop the gilded, stacked gear train, rotating well above the small seconds display. The seconds remain quite visible despite the display’s location deep within the movement.
The small seconds hand (lower right) is polished and blued steel, as is the four-minute hand (set between the two balances) that shows the rotational speed of the spherical differential.
Flanking each corner are the watch’s namesake two balance wheels, each inclined at 30° and separated by a constant spherical differential that ‘calculates’ their average timing rate.
The watch also gets its name from the convex profile of its 43.5 mm titanium case and bezel. The contemporary polished and brushed bezel frames the movement with undulating lines that are higher on the sides and lower at the 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock positions.
Greubel Forsey explains that it constructs each hand for this watch (and for many watches in its collection) with individual geometry, finish and color. Thus, the hour hand and the minute hand are curved and filled with SuperLuminova to complement the hour indexes.
The small seconds hand is polished and blued steel, as is the four-minute hand (set between the two balances) that shows the rotational speed of the spherical differential. Finally, the power reserve hand is polished, open-worked and tipped with red.
The Convexe collection is meant to be this high-end maker’s contemporary ‘daily wear’ collection. You’ll see none of the Greubel Forsey foundational phrases engraved on the dial or bezel within this collection. And, with 100 meters of water resistance and fully integrated lugs, the watch fits snugly on the wrist for wearing comfort rain or shine.
Greubel Forsey offers the new Double Balancier Convexe on either a textured rubber strap or titanium bracelet. The manufacturer will make twenty-two per year between 2022 and 2024 for a total of sixty-six pieces overall.
Movement: Hand-wound movement with two patents and high-end, hand-applied finishes throughout. These include frosted, polished beveling and countersinks, black treatment, multi-level, open-worked center bridge, black treatment, polished beveling and countersinks. Also, flat black polished steel differential bridge, gold plate with engraved limitation number, circular-grained, polished beveling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks, escapement platform inclined at a 30° angle, open-worked steel balance wheel bridges. Displays: hours and minutes, small seconds, 4-minutes spherical constant differential rotation, power-reserve (of 72 hours). Frequency: 21,600 vibrations/hour.
Case: 43.5mm by 13.75mm titanium with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, Three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped bezel, hand-polished with hand-finished straight graining , raised engraving “Double Balancier” and “Greubel Forsey.” Water resistant to 100 meters.
Dial: Three-dimensional, variable geometry hour ring with engraved and lacquered minute circle, black treatment, power-reserve indicator, engraved and lacquered.
Strap: Non-animal material, rubber with texture in relief, titanium folding clasp, engraved GF logo. On demand: 3-row metal bracelet in titanium, folding clasp with integrated fine adjustment, engraved GF logo.
Eight Years of Bulgari Ultra Thin Records
