Bvlgari is a household name. For decades, it has been a luxury, fashion and jewellery icon. More recently, it has also carved out a new, intriguing niche for itself. Walk into a room of watch connoisseurs, and there is a very good chance that, at some point, they would be talking about Bvlgari—judging it in the same league as the traditional Swiss powerhouses of horology.
This has been the case for only the past decade or so, when Bvlgari become highly respected for its watchmaking. It was in 2014 that the Octo Finissimo put the brand on the map—specifically, the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Manual, the thinnest-ever tourbillon watch at the time, and a powerful statement of technical capability. The Octo Finissimo went on to win numerous world records for ultra-thin watches, and today remains Bvlgari’s flagship of technical watchmaking. Other accomplishments include the development of the ultra-small Piccolissimo movement, as well as several Grand Prix D’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) awards for both technical as well as jewellery watches.
It takes a concerted effort to construct in-house manufacture capability and, for Bvlgari, it began at the turn of the century—most notably through its acquisition of the Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth manufactures in 2000s. Both were renowned independent watchmakers, and would have brought with them considerable movement and design expertise.
But Bvlgari’s relationship with horology goes back a lot further—not in terms of watch making, as such, but certainly in watch design. As a storied jeweller founded in 1884, there is no question that Bvlgari is responsible for more than a few jewellery watches. The first example of a Bvlgari watch dates back to 1918; others would follow throughout the 20th century, with the iconic Serpenti collection as the most notable, worn by such luminaries as Elizabeth Taylor. Although the styling and jewellery of these pieces would have been Bvlgari’s own, the actual timekeeping components would not have been—like many maisons at the time (and still), these would have come from specialist suppliers and these, inevitably, would be Swiss.
The modern era of Bvlgari watchmaking—the one that includes the men’s and women’s wristwatch collections as we think of them today—had a rather unusual start. In 1975, Bvlgari created a 100-piece run of watches that were not even destined for sale—they were meant as gifts for the maison’s more important clients. This was the very first Bvlgari Roma, a 30mm gold watch that was equipped with one of the hottest technologies of the time: a digital LCD display. The reception was extraordinary and prompted the brand to develop its first wristwatch collection, one that became an icon unto itself: the Bvlgari Bvlgari, inspired by ancient Roman coins and with its now-famous self-demonstrating double-signature bezel. The success of this and other collections led to the founding of Bvlgari Time, the brand’s watchmaking division, in 1982.
It is headquartered in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and remains today the brand’s horological nerve centre. It is an unmistakable sight in the lakeside town—an eight-storey converted industrial building painted head-to-toe in a pastel yellow-orange that is as close to Bvlgari’s signature saffron colour as Switzerland’s strict building regulations will allow. Here is where most of Bvlgari’s watches undergo final assembly—where movement, case, dial and hands are brought together—along with quality control and after-sales service. On an upper floor, with an especially fine view of Lake Neuchâtel, is the design department, headed by Product Creation Executive Director Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, with its offices shrouded in frosted glass to ward away prying eyes. Once, Bvlgari watches were designed in Rome, but maintaining that would have been impractical with the brand’s more recent focus on proper watchmaking. Similarly, Neuchâtel has its own gemmology department, because of the differences in requirements between high jewellery and jewellery watches. Oddly enough, the perfumes division is also headquartered in this building—an apparent holdover from 1990s management decisions.
About an hour’s drive away is the village of Le Sentier. Here is where Bvlgari Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie is located, in the heart of a town with a rich history of watchmaking. Down the road is the manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre—as a historically prolific watch manufacture, it is extremely likely that it would have supplied a movement for a Bvlgari timepiece at some point. Now, though, Bvlgari is its own integrated manufacture—one with a perfume bar in the reception, no less, which might make it unique among watch manufactures.
Product conception and design originates in Neuchâtel; Le Sentier is then tasked with the research, development and prototyping of the movement. It is an encompassing technical process—starting from scratch with technical drawings, 3D computer modelling, and simulations—that can take years for the more complicated calibres. They are constructed here, too—baseplates and bridges are machined, while more delicate and complex pieces, such as tourbillon cages, are fashioned out of electroerosion. The parts are then finished in the traditional fashion—anglage, perlage, circular graining, striping, and the like. They are then assembled in different ateliers—a larger one for simple movements, and a smaller one dedicated to more complicated ones such as perpetual calendars, tourbillons and the ultra-small Picolissimo. Watchmakers typically work in groups of four, with three assembling their own movements and one dedicated to regulation. There is an additional atelier dedicated to chiming complications such as minute repeaters, or the Carillon Tourbillon and Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon executions in the Octo Roma collection.
The third part of the Bvlgari watch equation is in Saignelégier, about 45 minutes’ drive in the other direction from Neuchâtel. The Bvlgari Manufacture d’Habillage is where the brand’s watch cases and dials are produced. It is the final piece of the puzzle for a brand that has created a remarkably integrated production process in a relatively short amount of time—combining the Swiss expertise in precision manufacturing and traditional craftsmanship with the Italian flair that made Bvlgari famous in the first place. When talking about any of the things that watch connoisseurs usually do—distinctive design, finishing quality, technical complexity, manufacture capability, and highly complicated movements—then Bvlgari is very much in the conversation on its own in-house merits.
