Would the Bulgari Octo Chiming watches have been banned in medieval Rome?
Buffy AcaciaBulgari has broken many a record on its way to legitimising its positioning as a luxury watchmaker, but that doesn’t mean it’s had to play by the rules of tradition. Both stylistically and thematically, Bulgari has more or less ignored stuffy preconceptions of watchmaking, while respecting the craft of tradition in its engineering and execution. Nothing has summed up that attitude better than the release of these three new Octo chiming watches, which utilise some of the most well-respected complications in a way which challenges established norms of sophistication.
Not every watchmaker, or watch enthusiast for that matter, is musically minded. For most, the appreciation of a minute repeater lies in its technical prowess, the history behind the complication, or the pretty sounds it emits. Well, with the aid of Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti, Bulgari has made quite an unconventional twist on that last point. Rather than the delicate, consonant melodies we’re used to hearing from minute repeaters, these watches revolve around the infamous tritone. Such is the mythology behind this interval, which is a pair of notes three whole steps apart, that a popular misconception was spread saying it was banned by the Catholic Church in the middle ages.
Upon hearing the tritone, you can understand why it earned the nickname “devil’s interval”. The ratio between the frequencies is complicated, which our brains interpret as dissonant, and that creates tension within music. If you look beyond the satanic panic, you’ll find it in all kinds of classical, romantic, and baroque music throughout history, but it’s that tension that creates a chance for release. After all, music would be boring if it only used pure tones that sounded pretty. The same can now be said for Bulgari’s Octo chiming watches, which create an intriguing atmosphere all thanks to the tritone. The Bulgari Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon is supposedly Bulgari’s most complicated watch ever created, with the sonnerie au passage automatically sounding the hours and quarters as time elapses, and repeating the hours, quarters, and minutes on demand thanks to a total of four gongs and hammers.
The Bulgari Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon is only slightly simpler than the Grande Sonnerie, using three gongs for its hours, quarters, and minutes repetition. Although there are plenty of minute repeating watches that display their gongs and hammers from openworked dials, these Octo Roma models have a distinctly modern feel. The dials have been drilled and milled with holes and slots radiating from the centre, almost akin to a speaker grille. Of course the gently-rotating tourbillons are eye-catchers too, and the Grande Sonnerie and Carillon are powerhouses on the wrist thanks to their respective 45mm titanium and 44mm rose gold cases.
The Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon may be the most “traditional” minute repeater from a movement standpoint because of its two gongs and hammers – aesthetically, however, it’s a different beast entirely. The 40mm case is only 6.85mm thick, and it’s built up from thin plies of carbonate that create a rugged, horizontal striation. The dial looks like a forgotten concrete relic of a deserted city, slowly crumbling into the void. If the tritone represents auditory tension, then the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon is its physical embodiment.
Bulgari Octo chiming watches pricing and availability
The availability of the Bulgari Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon, the Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon, and the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon are yet to be confirmed. Price: CHF 219,000 (Octo Finissimo, ~US$260,600), CHF 326,000 (Octo Roma Carillon, ~US$387,900), CHF 859,000 (Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie, ~US$1,022,000)
| Brand | Bulgari |
| Model | Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon |
| Case Dimensions | 45mm (D) x 11.85mm (T) (Grande Sonnerie) 44mm (D) x 12.60mm (T) (Carillon) 40mm (D) x 6.85 (T) (Octo Finissimo) |
| Case Material | Titanium (Grande Sonnerie) 18k rose gold (Carillon) Carbon ply and sandblasted titanium (Octo Finissimo) |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres (Grande Sonnerie, Carillon) 10 metres (Octo Finissimo) |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Black openworked (Grande Sonnerie, Carillon) Textured carbon (Octo Finissimo) |
| Strap | Black alligator leather strap (Grande Sonnerie, Carillon) Full carbon bracelet (Octo Finissimo) |
| Movement | BVL800, in-house, manual winding (Grande Sonnerie) BVL428, in-house, manual winding (Carillon) BVL362, in-house, manual winding (Octo Finissimo) |
| Power Reserve | 72 hours (Grande Sonnerie) 75 hours (Carillon) 42 hours (Octo Finissimo) |
| Functions | Grande and petite sonnerie, four-hammer chime, minute repeater, hours, minutes, tourbillon (Grande Sonnerie) Minute repeater, three-hammer carillon, tourbillon, power reserve indicator, hours, minutes (Carillon) Hours, minutes, small seconds, minute repeater (Octo Finissimo) |
| Availability | TBC |
| Price | CHF 219,000 (Octo Finissimo) CHF 326,000 (Carillon) CHF 859,000 (Grande Sonnerie) |