Italian jewellery maker Bulgari is marking the 10th anniversary of its Octo collection with an extraordinary world record. Its latest watch, the Octo Finissimo Ultra, is the thinnest mechanical watch ever created— the eighth occasion on which the luxury brand has set a record for thinness.
Three years of research and development were required by numerous technical teams to create the degree of thinness of the Octo Finissimo Ultra, which, at 1.8mm is comparable to a 20 euro cent coin.
The Octo Finissimo Ultra plays on the perception of the visible and the invisible, appearing both as a three-dimensional and two-dimensional object. Looking down on the timepiece, the Octo Finissimo Ultra provides an immersive depth but, viewed from the side, the innovative timepiece is almost as thin as a sheet of paper.
“To achieve this degree of thinness, you not only have to review your way of thinking, but you must also draw upon a wide range of skills, play with multiple materials and adapt to a multitude of new constraints,” said Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bulgari’s product creation executive director. “In this sense, the Octo Finissimo Ultra is unquestionably the ultimate complication in this vast field of possibilities represented by ultra-miniaturisation.”
