Owner’s Review: a Collector’s Perspective on the Bulgari Octo Finissimo

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Automatic first debuted at Baselworld 2017, and I remember every journalist I ran into, telling me to go check out the Bulgari booth. I met with Pascal Brandt (then marketing manager), and a genuine watch geek I had known for some time. He showed me Octo Finissimo Automatic in titanium, and it was a “Wow” moment. I felt like I was holding a future classic in my hands, comparable to someone holding the Royal Oak for the first time in Basel in 1972 (and yes, there is a Genta connection).

I had a couple of initial thoughts when I first experienced the Octo – I knew Bulgari had already made two of the slimmest complication Octo Finissimo’s in 2015 and 2016, but I chalked that to a fashion brand making a high complication for their wealthiest clients. But this was different, Bulgari managed to pull off the slimmest automatic watch that is lightweight, yet durable, with a micro-rotor movement for about $12,000. The second thought was that this is something special and, for me, a must own piece.

Before I get into the ownership aspect of the Octo, I will give a brief history on how Bulgari got elevated to a serious watchmaking brand. The story of Bulgari’s transformation from a luxury fashion brand to a high-end watchmaker began in the year 2000. The watch industry was struggling after the late 1990’s financial crisis. In July 2000, Bulgari paid 37.6 million Swiss francs to acquire Gerald Genta SA, Daniel Roth SA, as well as Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie SA, which owns the manufacturing facilities of the two brands. However, it took Bulgari ten years to fully integrate Genta and Roth brands, and in 2010 watches were sold under singular Bulgari brand name. Then shortly thereafter, in 2011, LVMH group acquired Bulgari. Backed by new management, Bulgari received the resources and strategy to compete against industry giants Richemont, Swatch, and other independent haute horology brands.

A side note, LVMH has now transformed Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth into separate high-horology brands with the help of watchmaking specialists from Louis Vuitton’s La Fabrique du Temps.

My wife and I were celebrating our tenth anniversary in 2018 and decided to gift each other a watch. We visited a Bulgari AD in Amsterdam on our way to Prague, and my wife selected her favorite variant of the Bulgari Serpenti, and I was thrilled to get the Octo Finissimo Automatic in titanium.

Photo of the author on his first day of Octo ownership

I will breakdown my purchasing decision and wearing experience of the Octo in three categories – design, wearability, and movement. And for transparency, I will provide the pros and cons in each category after owning the watch for seven years.

Design

In 2007, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani became the head of Bulgari’s watch design. He studied industrial design and designed cars, furniture, and other consumer products. After the LVMH acquisition of Bulgari, the brand had all the right conditions to develop its own flagship watch series, and it did so with the help of Fabrizio. While there is some resemblance of Genta design, it is an evolution of Genta design with a modern Italian flair.

Even though Fabrizio took the inspiration from classical octagonal plans of historical treasures like the Basilica of San Vitale and the dome above the tomb of St. Peter, the use of modern material like sandblasted titanium places this watch squarely in the contemporary category. The Octo’s distinctive features, including a geometric bezel, squared-off case, angular lugs, and the seamless integration of the bracelet into the case, further emphasize its contemporary design.

Each time I have met Fabrizio, I have come away more impressed with his talent and his passion for design. He can effortlessly draw detailed sketches of any Octo or Serpenti in a matter of a couple of minutes, even on a bar napkin. What Gerald Genta did for AP, Fabrizio has done the same for Bulgari – he has designed an iconic watch that will forever define Bulgari watchmaking.

Design is always subjective, and I hear strong opinions from other watch enthusiasts on their likes and dislikes of the Octo design. However, I personally feel a strong emotional connection with the design of my Octo. It has a noticeable geometric design, and it is flat and wide, yet it is low key with a subdued tone and minimalist dial. It is loud and quiet at the same time.

When I wear the Octo in restaurants or even taking the kids to the playground, I will sometimes have the experience of a stranger approaching me to ask about the watch on my wrist. I can easily state that this is my only watch anyone ever comments on in this way (in the past, my Devon Tread watch received a lot of attention and was a conversation starter as well). Even though I consider this version of the Octo as lowkey, the strong design combined with thinness garners attention. I also don’t see Octos in the wild that often. Only recently, I attended a casual get together with the collectors from Berlin Watch Circle, and three of us had the Octo on the table.

Wearability

I had to debate in my head whether to place wearability ahead of design, but after thinking it through, wearability is only possible due to the design of Octo. Even though I have several pros and cons after wearing the watch long term, this is by far my first choice of “go-to” watch from the watch box. If I am in a hurry or can’t decide on a watch, the Octo is my default choice (my second choice is the Sartory Billard SB04 meteorite dial Flieger).

The muted grey tone of the Octo goes with any type and color of clothing. It is a time only automatic watch, so a simple change of time is all that is needed when picking it up after it has stopped. It is a highly legible watch with oversized 12 and 6 numerals, large markers, and large skeletonized Dauphine hands. It does not have any lume on the dial, but that does not bother me. The oversized time display and contrast of black against the matte grey makes it easy to read.

The Octo is 40mm wide and 5.15mm thin, making it very flat and wide. I have a 6.75-inch wrist, and at first, I struggled with how I would pull off wearing this watch. However, my wrist is flat on top, so I am lucky that it sits well without any overhang. A friend in Austin with a larger, rounded wrist tried it on, and it looked all wrong. He immediately took it off and said, “Nah dude, this is not for me.” The Octo is definitely a watch that should be tried on before picking it up. As a comparison, I have tried the AP Royal Oak 15400 so many times, desperately hoping it would fit, always resenting the fact it wore very big on my wrist.

I get a lot of questions on the fragility of this watch. While it is slim and weighs next to nothing, it is very robust. I have accidently dropped it, hit it against the door, but never had an issue with it. In fact, the AP Royal Oak “Jumbo” is more fragile and even scratches more easily than the Octo. At watch meet ups, I get asked if this is new in my collection, and they are surprised when I tell them I have been wearing it (in rotation) since 2018. I don’t pamper my Octo, but I also don’t take it to chop wood in the forest every weekend.

The Octo to this day remains as my only watch with a bracelet. I dislike bracelets and if any watch comes with a bracelet, that’s the first thing to go. But this bracelet is thin, and I like the friction fit system of the clasp. The watch is so lightweight that when my wrist expands, it does not feel tight to me. It almost wears like a slim jewelry bracelet rather than a typical titanium watch bracelet. It would be nice to have micro adjustment, but I can’t imagine how it could be possible with this bracelet and clasp.

Bulgari labels the Octo as a sports watch just like AP and Patek with the Royal Oak and Nautilus, respectively, but to me the titanium version is not a sports watch. The steel version has a 100m water-resistance rating, but this one is rated to 30m. I would call the Octo an everyday luxury watch with an integrated bracelet. I have not worn the watch to the pool or the beach, but I have had no issues in rain or snow. In fact, I like wearing the Octo in Prague’s cooler weather since the titanium case and bracelet stay warm on my skin.

The final point on wearability I would like to mention is that when others have tried my watch, they said that this watch is a no go for them because it lacks weight and you forget you are wearing a watch. This was actually a big selling point for me. I prefer lightweight and slim watches. I wore a Sinn U1 for over a decade, and there is a reason I gave it to my son; it required a pre-workout just to wear that watch. As I age, I prefer titanium watches on rubber or leather straps. If the Sinn T50 had the same “Lego” dial as the U1, I would be the first one to get on the Autobahn to Frankfurt.

Movement

The Octo was my first watch with a micro-rotor movement. The BVL 138 movement fascinated me in 2017, and that feeling has not changed. Bulgari at the time broke a world record with the thinnest automatic watch. The movement is ultra-thin measuring 2.23mm thick and fairly wide with a 36.6mm diameter. Independent watchmaker Peter Speake commented that the BVL 138 is technically well thought out and innovative. He has deconstructed the movement in his previous project and website, “The Naked Watchmaker.”

Since my Octo is an early model, it has the first iteration of the movement that is noticeably better finished and more elegant than the second iteration. For example, the first version has 36 jewels compared to 32 in the second, and the gold engravings have been removed in the second version, which represents possible cost cutting on the part of Bulgari and their parent company.

However, Bulgari has made significant technical improvements in the V2, including improved winding efficiency by approximately 40%, and a new escapement and balance wheel. It is well established that micro-rotor movements have inherent problems with sufficiently winding the movement. Renaud Tixier addresses this problem in his new watch by reconstructing the micro-rotor and the way energy is harnessed.

Perhaps I got lucky that I have not experienced any issues with accuracy on my Octo and I usually leave it in the box for a couple of days before picking it up again with the watch running accurately. I have heard of others having issues with the Octo, either not retaining enough power reserve, or problems with winding the micro rotor. This most likely led to the previously mentioned update of the movement; however, I still don’t understand why Bulgari cut cost by reducing finishing on their flagship luxury watch, as the price of the watch has gone up to $16,100.

My overall opinion of Octo Finissimo Automatic remains positive, and I am glad to have this watch in my collection. Even though it is very early to throw around phrases such as ‘future icon,” I believe only time will tell. It may not be elevated to the level of the Royal Oak or Nautilus, but I think it will certainly have a vaunted place in the recent history of contemporary watchmaking. And I also predict that Fabrizio Buonamassa will be recognized as one the best watch designers of his generation. Bulgari

Search This Blog

Mini faster