Over the past decade, Bulgari have demonstrated time and time again that they are a horological force to be reckoned with. This is very much the result of a long-term strategy bearing fruit – Bulgari having acquired the Gerald Genta brand in 1999 and Daniel Roth in 2000, before itself being acquired by the LVMH Group in 2011.
The Octo Finissimo family of watches has become the horological flagship of the brand in recent years, itself the canvas for Bulgari earning a multitude of world record ‘thinnest’ watches of a given type. In a relentless pursuit of ultra-thin watchmaking, the Octo Finissimo collection’s accolades include the thinnest tourbillon movement and watch in 2014 (subsequently broken again in 2018), thinnest minute repeater in 2016, and even the thinnest perpetual calendar in 2021.
However, there is plenty more to Bulgari than the multiple-world record breaking Octo Finissimo collection.
Bulgari's Daniel Roth Carillon Tourbillon Minute Repeater
Bulgari's Gerald Genta Arena Bi-Retrograde 50th Anniversary
Having acquired both the Gerald Genta and Daniel Roth brands, I enjoy seeing Bulgari respecting and celebrating their histories with releases which continue the brands’ respective lineages. For example, with the Gerald Genta brand, in 2019 Bulgari released a special limited edition Arena Bi-Retrograde to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the brand’s founding – seen above.
Who is Gerald Genta?
Gerald Genta was a hugely influential designer, who is especially well known for creating over 100,000 watch designs during his distinguished career. This includes iconic names such as the Universal Geneve SAS Polerouter in 1954, the Omega Constellation in 1959, the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak in 1972, the Patek Philippe Nautilus and IWC Schaffhausen’s Ingenieur in 1976, the contemporary launch of Cartier’s Pasha in 1985, and even Bulgari’s own Bvlgari Bvlgari.
Gerald Genta, photo – Wikipedia, Luxury Griffes S.A.
He founded his Gerald Genta watch brand in 1969, creating numerous innovative watch designs that were released through his brand specifically, where he became renowned for his different ideas, using different materials and shapes. He even created high-end complication pieces such as his Grande Sonnerie watches, famously featuring the same chimes as the famous Big Ben clock.
During the 1980s, Genta struck a deal which licenced him to use Disney characters exclusively in limited edition, precious metal watches, which featured leading characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse (Bulgari have also recently released a limited edition Mickey Mouse watch celebrating this part of the Genta brand’s history). This spawned other character watches into the 1990s, with favourites such as Popeye and Spiderman joining the Disney characters, with their arms used as the watch hands to indicate the hours and minutes!
One of the early retrograde minutes and jumping hours watches: Gerald Genta G.3634, photo – Phillips
It was also during this period that Gerald Genta was the first to combine a retrograde-minutes complication with a jumping-hours display on the same watch dial. To me, this design has gone on to become a hallmark of Genta’s work (notwithstanding the iconic watches mentioned earlier, of course), and served as the canvas for the 2019 50th anniversary limited edition in platinum seen above, but also the new Arena Bi-Retrograde Sport.
Gerald Genta Arena Bi-Retrograde Sport
Bulgari Gerald Genta Arena Bi-Retrograde Sport
Following on from the 50th anniversary Arena Bi-Retrograde, in 2020 Bulgari released a watch that especially caught my eye – the Gerald Genta Arena Bi-Retrograde Sport. I really love the design of this watch, and the colour palette of the grey tones and the pop of yellow is something I find especially appealing. Ultimately it was a long wait before I found one to experience it for myself, but it certainly didn’t disappoint!
Getting this watch on my wrist was one of those moments that put an instantaneous smile on my face, especially after the wait. The 43mm Arena case sat very comfortably on my 17cm (or 6.5 inch) circumference wrist. Sure, at 43mm and also 12mm thick (although it is 100m water resistant), it is quite a large size, but for me personally it is one I can happily wear without any issue.
One of the first things that unexpectedly caught my attention once I had it on was the detailing on the dial. You can see this if you look closely at the promotional photos, especially if you zoom in, but it wasn’t something that I can say I had really, properly, noticed until trying it on. A significant portion of the dial is finished with a grainy texture, a relief which adds a visual intrigue to the dial, and in some strange way it also adds to the aesthetic of this being a sports watch. To me this almost gives connotations of asphalt and motorsport, alongside the way in which the bi-retrograde display resembles the gauges and displays in a car dashboard.
This graining is complimented especially well by the darker, matte finishing of certain elements, and the slightly lighter colours which are vertically brushed.
Furthermore, the layout of the dial affords many an opportunity to introduce three-dimensional depth with various layers, and this is something else which I didn’t really have an expectation of before seeing the watch in person, and I think is another detail which is far better appreciated in person.
Essentially, the ‘lowest’ layers of the watch dial have a more pronounced finishing with the graining, and as the layers are built higher on the dial, the finishing becomes more subtle – in the mid-range of depth we find the vertical brushing, with a matte finish on the ‘highest’ layers (including the yellow numerals and skeletonised hands), which I think works brilliantly.
The exception to this is notably the jumping hours display, which is shown through an aperture in the dial near the 12 o’clock position, which features a stylised numeral to match the retrograde displays, framed in a design which blends perfectly into the overall design of the dial.
Inside the watch, the retrograde minutes, retrograde date and jumping hours display are all driven by the automatic BVL 300 bi-retro movement with a 42-hour power reserve. I really like the addition of the GG logo on the rotor, especially with its golden hues as this creates a commonality with the colour palette seen on the dial.
Whilst the 26.2mm movement itself looks quite small in the 43mm case, I guess you could argue this corresponds to the aesthetic on the front of the dial with the large bezel? Either way, with no seconds display on the dial, a cursory check through the sapphire caseback will give an indication as to whether the movement is running or if the watch needs winding.
The case itself is in brushed titanium with a coin-edge finish around the case-band running vertically, with an additional crown-guard protruding a little to protect the crown and its signature Gerald Genta design (you can see this prominently also on the G.3634 shown earlier in the article). The use of titanium makes the watch quite lightweight for its size, which is enhanced further still thanks to the watch being presented on a matte leather strap with titanium pin buckle.
In Summary
Firstly, a huge thank you to Alessandro at Bulgari in London for taking the time to show me the watch.
When all is said and done, I really, really loved it. The design language is distinctively Gerald Genta, and I enjoy the combination of the bi-retrograde display and jumping hours. Seeing the minutes hand jump back anti-clockwise from the 60 to the 00 in an instant, at the same time the hour jumps forwards, is never going to be something I wouldn’t enjoy watching – albeit you do need a little more luck to time seeing it given the lack of a running seconds display!
I think the cumulative effect of the layering and finishing of the dial is what surprised me the most and is certainly something that I would say needs to be seen in person to be able to be fully appreciated.
After seeing the recent releases from Bulgari under the Gerald Genta brand, I am really looking forward to seeing where they take it in future, with – I am sure – many great watches to come!
For anyone interested in learning more about Gerald Genta, hist story and work, please visit GeraldGenta-Heritage.com.
If you have any questions, please get in touch via our Contact page, or via our Instagram.
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- Spotlight: Bulgari Octo Finissimo by Tadao Ando
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