In my 2020 story chronicling the extraordinary history of the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo, I referenced the First Impressionist Exhibition held in 1874 to demonstrate that, sometimes, it takes a while for the world to completely process and understand something that is truly visionary. I used the example that upon viewing Monet’s now-iconic Impression, Sunrise, the humorist, critic and clearly something of a moron, Louis Leroy, scathingly and derisively wrote, “Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.” History, of course, being the greatest judge, holds Monet in awed reverence while Leroy’s name has faded into an anonymity that is most analogous to the “unfinished wallpaper” he once so unwittingly compared Monet’s painting to.
While it might have taken the world a few years to fully comprehend the extraordinary visionary magnitude of the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo, we can be assured that we are now in an era where this watch has become universally lauded as a modern icon. Indeed, I have consistently taken the position that it is the single most important new watch design in the last decade and the most powerful sports chic integrated bracelet watch of the new millennium. Why? Because of the fearlessness with which the Octo Finissimo defined an all-new design aesthetic, which focused on the incredible dynamic tension between a bold, muscular presence on the wrist counterpointed by what was an unbelievably lithe, svelte and ultra thin profile.
I feel that people sometimes misunderstand Bvlgari’s focus on setting new records for thinness each time they create a new complication. On one hand, this is clearly to demonstrate their true watchmaking credibility. On the other hand, the real reason is that thinness is vital to the design language of the Octo Finissimo because it is at the heart of this dynamic tension between aggressive styling and supreme elegance. Fabrizio Buonamassa, Bvlgari’s design director, explains, “The objective of thinness was not arrived at in isolation. After all, there are many brands that have been associated with ultra thin watches, especially in the 20th century. The objective was to enhance this dynamic tension, this unique proposition between having a watch that was, when viewed straight
