Bulgari and Maserati Launch Two New Octo Special Editions (Live Photos from Frankfurt Motor Show)

The watches are distinguished from previous Bulgari Maserati timepieces by their unusual dial design, inspired by the rev counters on a Maserati dashboard and featuring a combination of retrograde minutes and jumping hours to indicate the time. While the colors, materials, and fonts used are evocative of Maserati style codes, the watches are also distinctly members of Bulgari’s flagship Octo collection, with the multifaceted, octagonally structured case, influenced by Italian architecture, which has become so strongly associated with this Swiss-made, Italian-rooted watch brand. Beneath the round hour display window at 3 o’clock, you’ll find the famed Maserati trident emblem, a historic reference to the statue of Neptune in Bologna, where the automotive company was founded in 1914. The topstitched leather straps are also a nod to the luxurious upholstery in a Maserati’s interior.

Inside the watch’s 41.5-mm Octo case, and powering the watch’s jumping hours/retrograde minutes timekeeping combo is Bulgari’s in-house caliber BVL 262, a self-winding 33-jewel movement with a 42-hour power reserve and a 28,800-vph frequency and bearing a host of haute horlogerie finishes, including côtes de Genève, chamfering, and beveled edges.

Two versions are available: the sportier GranSport edition, whose case is in black DLC-treated carbon, with a black dial highlighted by silver-toned and blue indicators, including numerals, hour indices and counters; and the more elegant GranLusso model, in an 18k rose-gold case and featuring the same black dial but here with all its indicators also in rose gold. The GranSport is mounted on a black perforated strap with blue topstitching, while the GranLusso comes on a brown perforated strap with white topstitching. Both are available only at Bulgari boutiques; prices are 10,900 Swiss francs (about $11,350) for the GranSport and 28,900 Swiss francs (about $30,100) for the GranLusso.