The Bulgari Octo Maserati is the result of a pairing of iconic Italian brands. The famed Roman watch-and-jewelry house teamed up with the Modena-based maker of luxurious sports cars to produce a Swiss timepiece that should appeal to both diehard auto enthusiasts and aficionados of haute horlogerie.
Powered by a manufacture movement, Caliber GG7800, developed at Bulgari’s atelier in Le Sentier, Switzerland, the watch is a column-wheel chronograph that features a jumping hour function (visible in a window at 12 o’clock), along with four retrograde displays for the minutes, date, and chronograph hour and minute counters. The chronograph seconds hand is positioned at 6 o’clock, an unorthodox placement that Bulgari says will ensure that it never obscures the hour indicator.
The jump-hour and retrograde displays are hallmarks of the Gérald Genta Octo collection, which has now been incorporated into the product portfolio of Bulgari, Genta’s erstwhile parent company, as is the eight-sided case, here in steel and at a diameter of 45 mm. The chronograph start/stop and reset pushers are at 2 and 4 o’clock and integrated seamlessly into the caseband. Like any good auto-racing watch, the Octo Maserati also has a tachymeter scale on the bezel.
The distinctive Maserati design touches are relatively subtle and elegant. The dial evokes a Maserati radiator grille, with a piece created in-house using a champlevé technique in a multi-step process that requires carving out the cavities for the lacquer finishing, varnishing, rubbing down the surfaces, annealing the lacquer, and polishing. The watch is in the classic Maserati color scheme of blue and silver; the non-blue surfaces feature snailed and satin-brushed finishes. The calfskin strap is designed to echo the look and feel of a Maserati’s car seat upholstery. The sapphire caseback bears a Maserati Trident emblem.
The price for the Bulgari Octo Maserati Special Edition is $32,100. Bulgari has released a video for the watch, which you can see by clicking below.
Technical characteristics:
Movement: Bulgari Caliber GG7800, automatic, with integrated column-wheel chronograph; 45 jewels; frequency = 21,600 vph; 38-hour power reserve
Functions: Jumping hour, retrograde minutes and date, central chronograph seconds hand; retrograde chronograph hour and minute counters
Case and strap: 45-mm-diameter steel case, brushed steel bezel with tachymeter scale, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, sapphire exhibition caseback with Maserati Trident symbol, water-resistant to 100 meters; calfskin strap with steel triple-blade safety folding clasp
Dial and hands: Blue lacquered surfaces alternating with silver snailed and satin-brushed zones; 60-minute graduated chapter ring at 12 o’clock; date scale at 6 o’clock; chronograph hour and minute counters at 9 and 3 o’clock
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