Bulgari Gerald Genta Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic Review

ED209 · 2011-11-30T23:30:36Z

In-depth review of the Bulgari Gerald Genta Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic, covering its design, jumping hour, ceramic durability, and on-wrist comfort.

ED209

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Ed Woo's "On-The-Wrist" review of the Bulgari Gerald Genta Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic offers an in-depth look at this award-winning timepiece. His personal experience, from travel to daily wear, provides valuable insights into its design, functionality, and comfort, making a 10-year-old review highly relevant for new readers.

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Bulgari Gerald Genta Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic Watch
An "On-The-Wrist" Review
By Ed Woo - 'ED-209'

The Bulgari Gerald Genta Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic debuted at the Baselworld 2010 World Watch and Jewelry Show and quickly earned accolades by winning the 2010 Watch of the Year Prize awarded by the Swiss watch magazine Montres Passion. My first exposure to this watch occurred in the last quarter of 2010 while visiting the Bulgari Boutique at City Center in Las Vegas. I was impressed with the overall aesthetics of the watch and admired the integration of the angular rubberized strap. When the opportunity came to select my first Bulgari watch for review, the Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic was a clear choice for me.

I received the watch just one day before a vacation to Hawaii so I thought that it would be a good travel companion. The first test was made during the 5 hour directly flight into Honolulu and luckily the check-in process was uneventful. The watch was placed on my carry-on bag in an Oakley travel case and made it through fine. Setting the watch 3 hours behind was easy to do by simply pulling out the crown to the first position and setting the jumping hour.

The Bulgari Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic performed well with casual outings at the beach. Even with abrasive sand the ceramic bezel was still in perfect condition with no signs of scratches or marks.

The sportiness of the watch complimented the casual dress code in Hawaii. Even in an upscale restaurant I was able to coordinate my brightly colored Hawaiian Aloha shirt with the Bulgari watch. We had a long conversation with the master chef at a new Kaiseki restaurant in the Ala Moana area just west of Waikiki and he mentioned that most of his diners took pics of food (which I naturally did as well) but this was the first time he has ever seen anyone take a picture of a watch. The chef said that also have never seen this before but really like the strong lines and angles of the Bulgari watch.

A week later after I returned from my vacation I had more time to really examine the watch and look at the details and overall design of the Bulgari Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic. So let's start with an overview of the watch. Here's a video rotating at various angles including the caseback and the clasp.

Next, let's take a look at the dial. The Gerald Genta Collection is well known for the jumping hour and retrograde display and the Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic showcases this complication legibly on the dial. The jumping hour is framed with a polished silver colored window at the 12 o’clock position with the retrograde minutes on the upper half of the dial. I was impressed to see that a closeup of this window shows evenly bright polishing around this area.

Here's a closeup of the hour window:

The minute hand sweeps across a 210 degree arc with a scale that has 10 minute graduations and finer seconds on the inner scale. The large 10 minute markers are easy to read in broad daylight but nothing on the dial is luminous. I wish at least the markers or the jumping hour would have had lume so that it would be easier to read in dim lighting.

If you look closely you can see these individual seconds markings through the skeletonized minute hand.

To enhance readability the ceramic bezel itself has 6 polished steel studs that are integrated and line up to each of the 10 minute graduations.

The bezel is made of a ceramic material and provides a visually striking contrast with the alternating polished and matte stainless steel case. You can see the attention to detail that the Bulgari watch designers have made with the thin flange or lip around the bezel. The mixture of a round bezel with a matching octagon shaped flange adds a complete and harmonious design element to the overall watch. When I had the photo session with the watch on Waikiki beach the bezel did pick up a few tiny pebbles of sand wedged in between the flange but it was easily brushed off.

The inner bezel is octagon shaped and matte polished which is a fitting design element that compliments the angles of the watch. It frames the dial and makes it look like the outer case angles continues into the dial itself.

The BVLGARI logo is printed slightly above center in small font that doesn’t distract from the overall dial and neither does the Gerald Genta logo in the 6 o’clock position below the retrograde date.

One of the things I found interesting during the review was the actual movement of the retrograde minutes and the jumping hour. To the naked eye it seemed almost instantaneous during the transition of the hour. Bulgari made a wise decision to use the skeletonized minutes hand because if you watch really carefully in the the video below you can see through the hand and watch the minute track. Once it positions perfectly in the middle and frames the 60 minute marker the movement flicks the retrograde minute hand back over to beginning of minute scale and starts over.
Another point that I tested was how the retrograde date works in relation to the retrograde minutes and jumping hour. I reset the watch to 11:59pm. I wanted to see if everything was synchronized to reset over to the next day exactly at 12:00am. I took a longer video which was nearly 6 minutes and found that the jumping hour and minute hand switch over precisely at 12:00am. However the retrograde date started slowing transitioning from the 20th to the 21st of the month. It took approx. 8 minutes past midnight for the date to switch over. The video is under 2 minutes long, but you can skip to the 00:43 sec timeframe to see the jump to 12:00am midnight.
I don’t have any real concerns about this, it was just an observation that I thought would be interesting to find out.

Regards,
ED-209
This message has been edited by ED209 on 2011-12-01 23:11:47 This message has been edited by ED209 on 2011-12-08 20:35:09

Key Points from the Discussion

The Bulgari Gerald Genta Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic, a Baselworld 2010 debut, won the 2010 Watch of the Year Prize from Montres Passion, highlighting its significant design and technical appeal.
The watch features a jumping hour and retrograde display, characteristic of the Gerald Genta Collection, presented legibly on the dial.
The ceramic bezel proved highly durable during travel, showing no scratches or marks even after exposure to abrasive sand, underscoring its practical robustness.
The studded crown with an onyx cabochon, a common design element in Gerald Genta's Octo and Gefica collections, is praised for its ease of winding and time-setting.
The butterfly deployant clasp, connected to the rubberized strap, is preferred by the reviewer for its comfort, ease of use, and minimal wear on the strap compared to a traditional tang buckle.
The contrast between the black ceramic bezel and the steel case is a key aesthetic feature, making the case more interesting and visually appealing.

The Discussion

ED209

Nov 30, 2011

One of the intriguing details on the Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic is the deployant buckle. The rubberized strap is connected to a solid stainless steel butterfly deployant clasp. I actually prefer a deployant over a standard tang buckle as I find it easier to remove and put on, it doesn’t wear out the strap as much, and it feels more comfortable on my small wrist. The buckle itself has alternating polished and matte finish with the signature BVLGARI logo lightly engraved. Most deployants have eit

ED209

Dec 1, 2011

Thanks for reading the post on the Bulgari watch. Regards, ED-209

patrick_y

Dec 1, 2011

Lots of design features that you pointed out in this watch that I overlooked when I first viewed the watch. Very interesting and well thought out design. Thanks!

ED209

Dec 1, 2011

Hi Patrick, Thanks for reading the review! I'm preparing part 3 and will have it up tomorrow evening. Regards, ED-209

ED209

Dec 4, 2011

The Bulgari Gerald Genta Octo and Gefica collections both share a common design element which is the studded crown. For the Octo Bi-Retro Steel Ceramic the watch is fitted with a polished stainless steel studded crown with an onyx cabochon. This crown was easy to wind and also pull out for time setting. The movement is a GG caliber 7722 self winding movement with jumping hours, retrograde minutes and date display, beating at 28800 vph with a 45 hour power reserve. The movement is finished in wha

ED209

Dec 4, 2011

Hi DRMW, I know you're a fan of the GG Octo Retro watches and wanted to get your thoughts on this watch. What do you think of this new version versus the original? I personally like this new version better than the old because the dial looks better with the silver colored window and dial accents. I didn't care for the original where it had the white dial and the black octogon shaped ring near the center. Regards, ED-209

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