How thin is Bulgari's Octo watch? Finissimo Ultra specs explored as it sets record 

Bulgari launched an Octo watch to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the design, setting a new world record for the thinnest watch ever made. With the launch of the latest model, the Octi Finissimo Ultra, Bulgari is also staging a performance with the AI component and making an entry into the metaverse.

The iconic timepiece will be launched in only 10 untis, establishing it as a limited edition with a retail price of 400,000 euros each. With the release of the timepiece, it makes it the label's 8th world record. The watch features an engraved QR code on the frame's ratchet wheel and will be sold with an individual exclusive NFT artwork by the brand.

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Details about the Bulgari's Octi Finissimo Ultra timepiece

Octo Finissimo Watch (Image via @bulgari/ Instagram)

Bulgari is known for setting world records throughout the past decade, and with this newest one, it is achieving something that shatters all the other records.

The newest Octo Finissimo Ultra timepiece is the thinnest mechanical watch to ever be created in the world. The thickness of the watch measures just 1.8mm, with the entire case being fitted into it.

Beating the previous record held by Piaget Ultra-thin Watches, which held its record with a 2mm high Aliplano, the Octo Finissimo Ultra Watch took three years of hard work in the making process.

Jean-Christophe Babin, chief executive officer of the label, talked about this achievement in an interview with WWD,

“This is an apparently impossible dream come true and a revolution. Nobody believed we could go thinner in watch making. However, with a thinness of only 1.80 millimeters — less than a 2 Swiss franc coin — and not for the movement alone, but for the watch as a whole, from the caseback to the top of the sapphire crystal — the Octo Finissimo Ultra is setting a record as the thinnest mechanical watch in the world.”

The timepiece measures 40mm diameter in the octagonal case and features a monochrome colorway. The case is made of sandblasted titanium and fitted in between the bezel and lugs. To add to the creativity, the watch boasts and integrates titanium bracelets, which is a new technology. Aditionally, a special folding clasp was developed according to the thinness of the watch.

The QR code engraved upon the watch will feature an individual NFT artwork, and give the owner exclusive access to the digital universe, which will feature making, 3D tours of the movement, interviews, and an exploration of the invisible/visible concept.

The invisible/visible concept is the illusion presented on the watch. With the change in perception, the watch seems to be both 3D and 2D. While looking from the front dial, the watch reveals depth, whereas looking from the side, the watch appears to be 2D as it becomes as thin as a sheet.

Babin made a comment about the NFT artwork associated with the watch in an interview with WWD saying,

“This is a new kind of art, that is evolving. We believe that we stand for beauty and that a beauty lover will seek this experience. (The watch) cannot be as emotional as staying in one of our hotels, so we are adding value and emotion to the watch itself, creating a new experiential dimension, unique for each customer. We are combining beauty with superlative watch making."

The timepiece required the experts of the label to push all conventional boundaries to achieve the aforementioned record. The movement specialist, Concepto, was also in collaboration with the Bulgari experts, Valle de Joux, and Neuchatel watch plant teams.

The Octo line from Bulgari has received more than 60 international awards, including the Best in Show award in 2021, Aiguille d’Or of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve, making it the first Italian company to ever attain this prestige.