Bulgari

bernard cheong
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What is incredible about being BULGARI...

The tactile quality of any jewelry or sculpture is absolutely essential to both fully enjoying it and fully understanding it. Hence..Bulgari is a MUST touch, more than a MUST SEE.

I never fully appreciated, and I cannot yet fully understand ..but I do know..that Bulgari has mastered the touch, the tactile feel of a GREAT work. You must have had this feeling before..the watch looks great but feels..???. The Bulgari's do not have any question marks left for any prospective admirer...Rolex and Patek also have mastered that..anyway...my first impressions were good. And my lasting last impressions were much better than great!

Having had some lessons, imparted to me..and I learn too slowly for my 50 years...so forgive me when I am opinionated...I find it still difficult to learn new "tricks"....Max Busser, then head of HWRT, and some humble visits to Chopard's great workshops...many days spent with Vianney Halter and Junod..have allowed me a little insight into the perceptions of dimensions, volumes, tastes with respect to history, and so on..

I know the rule is vital for conservation, but when I’m in a museum it seems like such a terrible denial to not be allowed to touch the sculptures.

I will take away the barrier of my words to allow you an insight into the world of Bulgari....I did have a chance to visit Rome earlier with my family in 2008..with the sole purpose of understanding Roman perspectives of sculptures..this visit had no sponsorship from Bulgari and had no financial dealings whatsoever...but I did request a visit to their design studios...for my children as well.

Nevertheless..2008 Basel ...allowed me to relearn humility...Bulgari is an incredible force of creative energy..

Here are some pictures..over 30 in smaller sizes...

A geniune force of horology, Bulgari is NOT a wanna be, but already a powerful insider within the halls of watchmaking.

With Calibro 303...a chronograph we see...

 Part 1

Juust look at the Assioma's case structure!

Again, looking at the incredible Calibro 303!!!

Part 2

Using the company's own words...but justifiably restrained..

The new Diagono does to many levels, reintroduce a more muscular and very significant dimension to the heft and weight..of the watch...making it very sculptured in aesthetic.

The bezel is VERY flat..in fact..completely flat..mirror polished.

The bracelet alone..if optioned for..requires 90 different manual operations to cut.

The dials..all of them have a cut in and multi level approach that is not employed in other watches..at least not in this perspective of using very thin layers...each cut with a very sharp edge....it plays with "luminosity" by reflections..a trick that only experienced jewelry makers are well versed with.

Bulgari likes to use a simple screwed on caseback..and aesthetically, it is 100% correct for a watch with these dimensions and perspectives..again..to feel the watch with the fingers..is relevant here.

Part 3 (end)

It takes a lot to make me want to even "look" at classical restranied watches. For example in 2006, I was totally smitten by the Chopard LUC Fleurier in RG, and in 2004 by FP Journe's RG DS Tourbillon in black MOP...both of which are in my collection, and I still wear regularly.

This year, along with Cartier (later) Bulgari had now my FULL ATTENTION.

Massive quatities of gold ( sometimes steel) used and certified gold content with each watch, with actual gold weightage. It's just nice to know these things when gold is becoming so darn costly!

Anyway..

The Calibro 303 is worth more than its weight in gold..

The case alone has 75 parts. Dial has 3 levels of finish and 3 levels of materials..a base with Satinee Soliel finish for that luminosity. EVERY index is cut, faceted, polished..by hand. Seriously. And the finish can be seen..impeccable.

The movement 303 parts. And just for fun..the watch takes 3,520 hours to make/assemble/finish...from the cut parts to the last screw into the caseback (I may be off by one or 2 steps). Just the baseplate of the movt takes 250 manual procedures to finish and cut.

For technology, the column wheel has a vertically mounted pinion..with a seamless start and stop..seamless as I activated the pusher. No judder..no jump..very Datograph like..even to the resetting leap.

There are too many things for words here...but look for the Calibro 303 and for the 3 timezone Diagono Pro Aria.

Like an earlier post...I feel that watch companies with a rich tradition of jewelry have much more to offer from today's climate of high tech, that can be catching up with each new development by sheer CAD...last year's high tech watch, will be out dated just as fast as a computer...but old monied values in craftsmanship, tastes, blends, aesthetics..these may be the next frontier.

It will be time for the big jewelry houses to flex their muscles..and Bulgari has only just begun.