Bulgari

L. Joel
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Toronto GTG report: An evening with BVLGARI and Maserati

BVLGARI is deep rooted in fine jewellery since 1884 but has also been offering fine wristwatches ever since the BVLGARI BVLGARI watch was introduced in 1977. This watch manufacturing side of BVLGARI was showcased in front of 75 special clients recently in Toronto. The cocktail reception of October 25th also unveiled the Canadian premier of the Bulgari Octo Maserati Chronograph Special Edition. The partnerships of BVLGARI in association with a local jeweller and Maserati automotive dealer of Toronto produced a classy evening of fine cars, wine, great food and awesome timepieces. I like to thank BVLGARI USA and MASERATI of Toronto for being generous hosts. A credit note that all photographs below were taken by my friend John Ribeiro—a dedicated photographer and budding watch collector. Enjoy! 

The Maserati automotive dealership is located uptown in Yorkville, This area of Toronto is known for its top-end boutiques, premier hotels, and fantastic restaurants.

A beautiful blue Maserati GranCabrio. During the set up earlier in the day the car had to be moved to its current parked space. The exhaust purrs with a noted roar.

An interior photo of the Maserati convertible with tan leather. You can pick up one of these exotics starting at $150k.

The catering corner. A welcome reception that featured great food of Italian flavours and special reserve wines for the guests to savour.

Squash and tomato soup served hot.

Watch collectors drawn around watches — what could be more natural than this? In every watch box on the table there was something new and interesting for the guests to discover.

Nathalie from BVLGARI USA discussing the finer points of the timepieces on display with fellow watch enthusiast, Jordan.

Camran, me, Haseeb, Dan, and Dmitri looking over the novelties.

Stephen, Jordan, and Mike show their great delights in viewing the wonderful assembly of BVLGARI timepieces.

The 2012 BVLGARI Diagono chronograph with a ceramic bezel and 18k gold case. I've always liked the black dial, black rubber bezel version of this watch but the ceramic bezel truly brings a new dimension to the Diagono. This is a good offering as a dressy sports watch. At 42mm case size it fits well on any wrist. The water resistant rating of this case is 100metres making it perfect as a daily wear. A small detail perhaps but I love that the date wheel matches the colour of the black dial. I find this design element a great consideration that is very consistent with BVLGARI timepieces.

A Diagono X-Pro GMT that displays 3 time zones and a chronograph function to boot. The inner dial has markers for a separate time display and the rotating bezel works as another time zone display. The case combines stainless steel, titanium as well as DLC (diamond-like carbon) for the case sides. The automatic movement itself is Chronometer certified. This timepiece has a strong industrial design.

Daniel Roth Grande Lune with caliber DR 2300. The moonphase indicator is beautiful on this watch with its gold finish. Bulgari claims the moonphase mechanism is extremely accurate. If this timepiece was to run daily the moonphase requires only one correction in 125 years. Besides the magnificent dial layout of 'night & day" design motifs and colours, the treasure for me is through the sapphire casebook view of the manual winding movement.

The Daniel Roth Petite Seconde with the distinctively thin double ellipse case in precious 18k gold case. The cool factor is the clever display of the seconds-hands by using a 3-pointed hands indicator of various lengths to indicate 60-seconds. The longest of the 3-hand indicator point measures 0-20 seconds and this overlaps to 20-40 seconds; and once this complete the shortest of the 3-hand pointer rotates from 40 to 60 seconds and then repeats this cycle over again. I hope this description is clear as mud—if not then you simply have to see this watch in person. The manual winding movement is also a pleasure to wind up and behold.

The Papillon Chronograph is part of the Daniel Roth collection dressed handsomely with a high polished 18k rose gold case. This watch is roughly 43mm by 46mm case size and with the gold case the weight is hefty on the wrist. The dial work is busy with the clusters of display and functions but very pleasing and one to be admired. One of my favourites from the evening.

An interesting complication is this Daniel Roth Tourbillon 8-Day Power Reserve in 18k white gold. I did not get to spend much time playing with this watch during the evening. It was certainly one of the more popular timepiece on display as people wanted to see the inner workings of the tourbillon.

The Gerald Genta OCTO Bi-Retro with jumping hour display, retrograde minutes hands, and retrograde calendar display. The bezel is made of ceramic fitted on a stainless steel case. This timepiece has the automatic GG 7722 caliber with a power reserve of 45 hours. The case size is 43mm with double sapphire crystal front and display back.

Another flavour of the GG OCTO using precious metal. This Gerald Genta OCTO bi-retrograde is dressed up (upgraded?) with an 18k rose gold case and alligator straps. But regardless of which metal case to go with, this is a sporty watch overall.

Part of the Daniel Roth Endurer collection, here is the clever rugby-ball case used for the BVLGARI Endurer Chronosprint "All Blacks" Special Edition that pays tribute to the famous New Zealand men's national rugby team.

Nick, a local blogger, takes notes on the Endurer All Blacks.

The Endurer All Blacks dial close up. The watch case is stainless steel with DLC treatment finish. This is a large piece at 56mm but feels perfect due to its ergonomic case design. The 'Maori tattoo' design pattern on the dial works well alongside the large date window display.

The Gerald Genta Tourbillon Saphir with plenty of the WOW factor at first sight. This is a timepiece where BVLGARI hammers home the message that they are a serious watch manufacture. Going upscale with a technical tourbillon and stunning display of watchmaking magic that you can view from side, front and back. It's definitely a special timepiece, and limited to only 25 pieces worldwide. The GG caliber 8000 is exposed completely from pretty much all angles. The hour-markers are tubed pillars with SuperLuminova pigments that glow brightly in the dark. It takes only one flash off a camera speedlight to get these pigments glowing green.

From a mirror refection, a quick photo of the transparent case side and display back where one can admire the movement.

The recently released BVLGARI OCTO with the stainless steel case. A new icon for the brand and already much-discussed (for many good reasons) since its July debut in Rome, Italy. From its crown to the case shape and inner bezel this timepiece was praised by many during the event for its elegant dial, hands and hour markers. Less is indeed more in this instant. The date window did created discussion —some wanted to see a larger window, others felt this was a strong design consideration that creates a practical (date) complication without breaking away from the clean look of the dark black lacquered dial. Personally this watch has grown on me as the next timepiece to acquire. To add to the desire is the in-house caliber BVL 193 movement and its very wearable for all occasion case size of 41.5mm.

To make things more compelling for the undecided OCTO buyer is the option of having this spectacular OCTO in 18k rose gold version. The rose gold glows invitingly warm under the spotlight.

The evening had many super-stars in terms of wristwatches. The centerpiece is the BVLGARI Maserati Octo Quadri-Retro Special Edition. This sporty timepiece features several complications—a jumping hour with the hour displayed on the window at 12 o'clock. As well there is a retrograde display of the date, minutes, and chronograph counters (seconds, minutes and hours). What is interesting with the chronograph seconds-hand is, at reset, the hand is pointed at the 6 o'clock position so that it does not block the hour-display window. Clever! Beneath the dial is the Bulgari caliber GG 7800, a manufacture movement from the brand's Swiss workshop in Le Sentier.

A closer look at the BVLAGARI Maserati. The dark leather straps has ridges similar in design as the leather seats of a Maserati sports car. That includes the padded sections and perforation for air ventilation. The watch casebook is solid with a blue Maserati trident logo and Special Edition printed below the emblem.

BVLGARI gift bag handed out to each guest at the end of the night along with the take-home message that BVLGARI has been very busy creating timepieces of excellent quality and technically sound inside their Switzerland-based workshops.