Manual. Tourbillon. 40mm across in sandblasted titanium. Integrated bracelet. At 1.85mm thin, it’s thinner than a Swiss five-franc coin. Meet the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, officially the world’s thinnest tourbillon, vanquishing Piaget’s 2024 Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon, which measured in at 2mm. It was by the skin of its nose — 0.15mm to be exact — but Bvlgari successfully wrestled back the crown as king of the ultra-thins with the Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, unveiled at this year’s Watches and Wonders.

Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, 2025 (©Revolution)

With that, the Italian powerhouse comes full circle. Bvlgari’s Octo Finissimo story began 11 years ago in 2014 with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual, featuring what was then the thinnest hand-wound flying tourbillon movement in the world, the Caliber BVL 268. It measured a wafer-thin 1.95mm and marked the start of Bvlgari’s incredible pursuit of thinness — a journey that saw not just one, but 10 record-shattering launches over the next 11 years.

2014: Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual featuring the thinnest hand-wound flying tourbillon movement in the world, BVL 268 caliber, only 1.95mm thick

Unless you have been living under the proverbial rock or a planet of the apes where time-telling stalled at sundials, you would have heard of the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater (2016), featuring the ultra-thin 3.12mm Caliber BVL 362, which brought a new lease of life to the classical complication in über- sexy matte Grade 5 titanium, challenging the supremacy of the Swiss maisons. There was also the Octo Finissimo Automatic (2017), then the slimmest ultra-thin self-winding watch on the market at just 5.15mm thick. Then it was back to tourbillon movements, this time an automatic iteration with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic (2018) featuring a new peripheral winding rotor that showcased the movement in its entirety and a new extreme slimness of 3.95mm.

Up next was the Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic (2019), which laid claim to being the thinnest ever mechanical chronograph in watchmaking history. The bigger feat, of course, was that this was developed entirely in-house. Powered by the whip-slim 3.3mm Caliber BVL 318, utilizing a modern horizontally coupled, column-wheel-controlled chronograph with peripheral winding and a second time zone function, it pushed the vanguard of modern watchmaking in terms of design and technical innovations. Above all, thin was unapologetically beautiful in this sleek monochromatic suit of sandblasted titanium.

2019: Octo Finissimo Chronograph GMT Automatic, the thinnest ever mechanical Chronograph in watchmaking history

The 3.30mm thin movement, Caliber BVL 318

At the time, Bvlgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin had declared that the watch represented “Bvlgari’s capability of blending edgy Italian design with ultimate Swiss engineering.” As year after year of record breakers show, his words continue to ring true.

Jean-Christophe Babin, Bvlgari CEO

But back to the Octo Finissimo journey.

Even at the height of the Covid pandemic that overwhelmed the world, there was no sign of slowing down at the house of Bvlgari. Babin forged the way ahead for the industry with various initiatives to combat the Covid scourge, including transitioning a factory from producing scents to sanitizers. Meanwhile, the house coolly dropped another record breaker in 2020 at the inaugural Geneva Watch Days, led by Bvlgari as a key partner and itself a landmark event for being the only major Swiss watch fair to take place in person (and digitally for international media) that year. Intimate events and small viewings took place all over the city of Geneva as the rest of the world looked on enviously across the ether via their computer screens.

Bvlgari inaugural with Geneva Watch Days 2020

At the plush Ritz-Carlton in Geneva, where Bvlgari took over entire floors to create a Covid-safe environment for its presentations, the spotlight shone on the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton Automatic, featuring Bvlgari’s record-breaking chronograph, now with a two- counter display, as well as a tourbillon at 6 o’clock. Its stunning skeletonized dial, meanwhile, showed off the inner workings of the 3.5mm-thin Caliber BVL 388, yet another industry first. This was swiftly followed in 2021 by the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar; to date, still the world’s most slender perpetual calendar watch at just 5.8mm.

2020: Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Chronograph Skeleton Automatic features Bvlgari’s record breaking chronograph, now in a two-counter display, as well as a tourbillon at six o’clock

The dial side and caseback side of Caliber BVL 388

2021: Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar is the world’s slimmest automatic watch with perpetual calendar function

Numero Uno

But there is thin, and then there is optics-defying, mind- boggling, sliver-slim ultra thin. In 2022, Bvlgari crossed into what was once an impossible realm and cemented its place at the forefront of high horology. The Octo Finissimo Ultra was an incredible 1.8mm thin, probably thinner than your Christofle crystals, your credit cards, et al. In one fell swoop, Bvlgari rewrote the rulebook for high-end watchmaking by rethinking the architecture of a watch, first and foremost by utilizing the caseback as a mainplate that held all 170 components of the BVL Caliber 180, to ensure a mesmerizing svelteness that quite literally wraps around the wrist.

2021: Octo Finissimo Ultra

With 1.8mm thickness means the dial and movement are practically on the same plane

It was a hugely pivotal moment — and the sky was now the limit. Bvlgari followed up with repeated salvos that cemented its position at the vanguard of high horology.
Last year saw not one but two watchmaking firsts: the Octo Finissimo Ultra in titanium, the thinnest mechanical watch at 1.7mm and a COSC-certified one, to boot. The platinum iteration of this watch, meanwhile, measured a respectably on-trend 1.8mm slim, and was crowned the world’s thinnest platinum watch.

2024: Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC, the thinnest mechanical watch at 1.7mm and a COSC-certified

That brings us back to this year’s Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon, the fourth in the Ultra series and the one to reclaim the throne.

The real agenda, however, goes well beyond the measure of a few microscopic millimeters.

2025: Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon features a compact barrel mounting system that allows the arbour to be inserted laterally into a groove on the base plate (©Revolution)

“From the very beginning, our ambition with the Octo Finissimo was to redefine what ultra-thin watchmaking could be. We didn’t simply want to create a thinner watch — we wanted to challenge conventions through innovation, making it the key to establishing Bvlgari as a serious force in Swiss watchmaking,” Babin explains. “Breaking records was never the goal in itself; rather, it was the natural outcome of pushing boundaries in design, engineering and wearability.

“Each record has been a stepping stone,” he adds. “Setting a record isn’t just about crossing barriers — it’s about redefining what’s possible in mechanical watchmaking. With each challenge, we’ve had to rethink not only traditional techniques but also how watches are designed and developed.”

In the larger scheme of things, the Octo Finissimos, their world records and attendant awards, culminating in the Ultras, were simply part of the journey, not the destination. Since 2000, when it purchased Gérald Genta, Daniel Roth and their Le Sentier Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie S.A. from Singapore’s The Hour Glass Group, and with them, their know-how in high complicated watchmaking, Bvlgari has been carefully charting its course in high horology. Subsequent partnerships with complications specialists such as Concepto further paved the way.

“Innovation has been the driving force that allowed us to impose our vision on the industry, and it remains the key to moving forward,” Babin acknowledges.
And indeed, innovation abounds in the house of Bvlgari. In the quest for ultra-thin watchmaking, the Bvlgari R&D team had to discard the shackles of tradition and convention and essentially rethink watchmaking. In the last 15 years, numerous patents were filed by Bvlgari. The 2022 Octo Finissimo Ultra, for instance, bears eight of them — including an integrated case middle and plate design; a bi-material caseback; a new method of mounting the crystal that ensures a precise, secure position without adding bulk; and a new barrel design that integrates the barrel directly into the mainplate and caseback without the usual drum, to minimize height and the number of components. The 2024 Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC, meanwhile, saw the rethink and redesign of the escapement and balance assembly to reduce height, maximize space and, by extension, performance.

The Octo Finissimo Ultra’s full titanium case dismantled into its component parts. Clockwise from left: bezel, case back which doubles up as the main plate, case-middle with lugs, bezel gasket

The Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC’s balance assembly with upper and lower bridges designed as a shock-absorption system

“For the past 11 years, our research has focused first and foremost on density — on how to use space as efficiently as possible. The thinness we achieve, along with unmatched advances in integrating components into the structure of the watch itself, stems from that broader ambition. It’s a holistic concept, one that defines the entire Octo Finissimo line and that we take to its extreme with the Octo Finissimo Ultra limited editions,” Babin explains. “While they break records, the Ultras also serve as idea labs — experiments whose innovations flow directly back into the Octo Finissimo collection.”

When Size Matters

From the realm of the ultra thin, Bvlgari logically and practically inevitably segued into the world of the ultra small — specifically that of feminine watches.
There is no getting around the fact that size matters in women’s watches. Most mechanical movements produced thus far are simply too big for women’s watches, which tend towards more demure dimensions and are often fitted with quartz movements. While gender-neutral models still hold cache for both camps, male and female, the move towards smaller case sizes in men’s watches, along with increasing attention on the female market — one that holds untapped potential and appetite for mechanical watches — could mean that small is desirable for the watch industry.

It was only a matter of time before the know-how gleaned from developing ultra thin movements at Le Sentier flowed down to creating ultra small ones better suited for 34mm cases rather than 40mm.

In 2022, just prior to the fanfare and spotlight on the record- breaking Octo Finissimo Ultra, Bvlgari quietly released the Piccolissimo Caliber BVL 100 during LVMH Watch Week in Geneva. Piccolissimo means “very, very small” in Italian, and true to its name, Bvlgari’s new manual winding movement was ultra small, measuring just 12mm in diameter and 2.50mm thick with 102 components, including twin barrels providing 30 hours of power reserve. Each barrel, meanwhile, is a whisper-slim 5mm in diameter and 1.47mm thick, bearing a spring that measures all of 170mm, unwound.

Small is beautiful when it comes to the Piccolissimo BVL100

It was probably the smallest mechanical movement on the market at the time of its launch, which saw it powering four of Bvlgari’s high jewelry Serpenti Misteriosi secret watches, niftily tucked away in the bejeweled head of the serpent. You would have to press the reptile’s tongue to open the head and reveal the watch, and voila! — now you see it, now you don’t.

The dainty Piccolissimo Caliber BVL 100 powers the watch tucked away in the head of the Serpenti Misteriosi

But the Piccolissimo was hardly Bvlgari’s first ultra small movement. Two years earlier, Bvlgari had already shared a glimpse of its capabilities in miniaturization applied to women’s watches with the bespoke Caliber BVL 150, a manual winding movement with hours, minutes and tourbillon functions. It was designed especially to fit the unusual teardrop shape of the Serpenti case in the glamorous high jewelry Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon.

2022: Serpenti Seduttori Tourbillon

Caliber BVL 150

“It was part of a natural evolution,” Babin explains. “The miniaturization and ultra slimness achieved through Octo Finissimo opened possibilities not only for men’s watches, but also for women’s [watches] where elegance is often prized.”

In a world where women’s watches are often relegated to quartz and an afterthought, this offers a tremendous proposition, especially at a time when the untapped potential of this market is coming to the fore. One key finding from Deloitte’s Swiss Watch Industry Insights 2024 spotlight on the female market, for instance, is that women are increasingly purchasing watches for themselves, but remain underrepresented and insufficiently targeted in the watch industry. Women are also driving demand for mechanical complications tailored to smaller wrists. In other words, more can and must be done to unlock the potential of the women’s watch market.

Bvlgari is now unparalleled in its expertise in miniaturization

For Bvlgari, 2022’s Piccolissimo and the Serpenti Misteriosi collection were merely the first steps in bringing the high horology of its men’s collection to its female lines. Earlier this year at LVMH Watch Week, Bvlgari unveiled its second made-for-women movement, the Lady Solotempo Caliber BVS 100, an in-house automatic caliber with a respectable 50- hour power reserve. Weighing in at a suitably skinny 5g and measuring just 19mm in diameter, the time-only movement is designed as a workhorse for daily wear models, currently powering seven within the Serpenti Seduttori line and two Serpenti Tubogas models.

Bvlgari’s in-house automatic caliber Lady Solotempo BVS 100

Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bvlgari’s Product Creation Executive Director who was a key player in the success of the Octo Finissimo project, adds, “Miniaturization has been our signature on the Octo Finissimo line since the very beginning. It was very important for us to also find something in the feminine universe that speaks to that.”

Bvlgari Watches’ Product Creation Executive Director, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani

“Addressing miniaturization in feminine watches allows us to create a true brand signature; it completes our offer and our way of thinking about watches. For 15 years we have been expressing our know-how on men’s watches, putting the same effort into women’s watches shows the maturity of Bvlgari watchmaking today.”

With Solotempo, Bvlgari is now one of the very few major brands offering an in-house, ultra miniaturized automatic movement for women. The ripple effects will be felt across the industry and amplified as Bvlgari has also announced that it will be sharing the caliber with other brands in the LVMH stable. Indeed, it may well signal a sea change where consumers can look forward to more variety in mechanical watches and designs for the female market.

As far as Bvlgari is concerned, however, that is simply par for the course. Babin explains. “For women’s watches, Bvlgari’s strength has always been to combine high jewelry artistry with watchmaking mastery, and we will continue to develop this dual expertise with innovative movements and daring designs.”

Bvlgari’s Metamorphosis

From high jewelry to haute horlogerie, complete with shattering world records to smithereens along the way, the past 13 years has been an incredible period of growth for Bvlgari. Babin describes it in just one word — transformation.

“Over the past decade, Bvlgari has evolved into a true global luxury powerhouse (jewelry, watches, accessories, perfumes, and now hotels and hospitality experience as well), expanding in scale and recognition while remaining deeply rooted in creativity,” he says. “This transformation is mirrored in our watch division, which has gained legitimacy and admiration not only through design, but also through high complications and world records.”

Today, Bvlgari tops the LVMH stable of luxury brands and outperforms many of its peers in momentum, a sure sign that the Octo Finissimo has hit a chord with watch lovers around the world. As for the legitimacy that Babin spoke of, it is very much evident in the string of industry accolades and awards garnered over the years, including the coveted Aiguille d’Or (Golden Hand) at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2021 for the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar, making it the first Italian brand and jewelry house to win the award.

Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bvlgari, winner of the “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix 2021 and Fabrizio Buonamassa, Creative director of Bvlgari

Another milestone in the Octo Finissimo story is the much- vaunted special editions with Japanese architects Tadao Ando and Kazuyo Sejima, along with the Sketch series featuring dials with trompe-l’œil illustrations of the movement by Stigliani, which sold out quickly. Using the watch’s distinctive sculptural case as canvas, each edition brought a new interpretation to the Octo Finissimo story, interweaving art, architecture and horology, and reiterating the Octo Finissimo’s status as a cultural icon of its time.

2021: Collaboration with Japanese architect Tadao Ando resulted in some of the most stunning limited edition watches in the Octo Finissimo collection

2022: Octo Finissimo Sejima

“The Octo Finissimo has come to symbolize a new era of watchmaking — one that unites radical thinness, architectural design and technical audacity,” Babin declares. “In just over a decade, it has transcended being a product to become a cultural reference, much like the great icons of watchmaking history.”

From a daring idea to a benchmark in contemporary watchmaking, reshaping the perception of ultra thin watches not just for traditional mechanical men’s watches, but also upping the ante and switching up the game for women’s watches, Bvlgari has blazed a trail. Babin agrees, “For me personally, it has been an extraordinary journey — one that embodies Bvlgari’s ability to merge Italian design with Swiss savoir faire in a way that resonates across cultures and generations.”

Clearly, there are no plans to put the brakes on the brand’s phenomenal growth trajectory. “The Octo Finissimo family will continue to evolve, not only in terms of technical breakthroughs, but also through new expressions of design and materiality,” Babin promises.

What’s next? After all, there can be only one thing better than a perfect 10 — turning it up to 11, of course. He replies, “Whether or not there is another record, what matters most is to keep surprising and delighting collectors with unexpected timepieces that remain unmistakably Octo, while continuing to push the boundaries of watchmaking.”

Tech Specs: Octo Finissimo Automatic Yellow Gold

Reference:104190
Movement: Self-winding Caliber BVL 138; 60-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes and small seconds
Case: 40mm × 6.4mm; sandblasted 18K yellow gold, with sapphire crystal caseback; water resistant to 100m Dial Sandblasted yellow gold; applied black Arabic numerals and indexes
Strap: Sandblasted 18K yellow gold bracelet with integrated folding clasp
Price: SGD 68,600 including taxes

Tech Specs: Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon

Reference: 104313
Movement: Manual winding Caliber BVF 900; 42-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes and tourbillon
Case/Dial: 40mm × 1.85mm; sandblasted titanium; tungsten carbide mainplate
Strap: Sandblasted titanium bracelet with integrated folding clasp
Price: On application
Availability: Limited edition of 20 pieces

Tech Specs: Octo Finissimo 8-Days

Reference: 104121
Movement: Manual winding Caliber BVL 199SK; 192-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes and small seconds
Case: 40mm × 5.95mm; black DLC-coated titanium; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Skeletonized with “BVLGARI eight days” logo; rose-gold-plated indexes and Arabic numeral “12”
Strap: Black rubber with black DLC-coated t itanium pin buckle
Price: SGD 36,300 including taxes

Tech Specs: Serpenti Tubogas Automatic

Reference: 103905
Movement: Self-winding Caliber BVS 100 Lady Solotempo; 50-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes
Case: 35mm; 18K rose gold curved, and bezel set with 40 round brilliant-cut diamonds; water resistant to 30m
Dial: White opaline with sunray guilloché motif; rose-gold-plated hands and indexes
Strap: Twirl 18K rose gold bracelet
Price: SGD 74,800 including taxes

Tech Specs: Serpenti Seduttori Automatic

Reference: 103899
Movement: Self-winding Caliber BVS 100 Lady Solotempo; 50-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes and seconds
Case: 34mm; 18K rose gold, and bezel set with 36 round brilliant-cut diamonds; water resistant to 30m
Dial: White opaline; rose-gold-plated hands and indexes
Strap: 18K rose gold supple bracelet with folding buckle
Price: SGD 52,700 including taxes