Industry News – First-Half 2018 Results of LVMH Watches and Jewelry Division On The Rise

Today, just after the closing of the Paris Stock Exchange, luxury powerhouse LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) announced its First-Half 2018 results. After showing strong results at the end of the year 2017, the group continues its progression, both in terms of sales and profitability. As for the Watches and Jewelry Division, the brands under portfolio follow the same trend, with a strong growth again for sales and profits.

7 years ago

Hands-on – The New, All-Black versions of the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Skeleton and L’Originale Chronograph

The Octo is a true compendium of Bvlgari’s sense of design. With its graphic shapes and pure lines, its style is powerful, modern yet elegant. Over the past few years, the Italian watchmaker turned one model into an entire men’s watch collection with striking launches including the unapologetically chic Finissimo Trilogy and its several world records – including the recently introduced thinnest automatic watch. The Octo line now welcomes two new models opting for the vigour and dynamism of black, the Octo Finissimo Skeleton Black Edition and the Octo L’Originale Chronograph Black Edition.

7 years ago

A Technical Perspective – The Mighty Return of Ultra-Thin Watches

Miniaturisation has always been one of the watchmaking industry’s main objectives. With the advent of complicated watches and the development of the wristwatch, this issue became critical. Fitting multiple functions into a single movement, which has to remain wearable, requires re-imagining space. This also led to the development of ultra-thin watches, guided initially by a desire for elegance, but also in the framework of constant improvement. Popular since the 1960s but slightly forgotten during the 2000s (with the trend for large timepieces), ultra-thin watches recently made a strong comeback – a trend that has sparked open warfare between Piaget and Bvlgari – amongst others.

7 years ago

Buying Guide – 5 Mechanical Marvels from Baselworld 2018

On the contrary of most of the other buying guides we’ve published, the present one is more of a “wish list” or a “dream list” rather than a proper guide – or consider it a guide for those who already have everything they need and more. Nothing here is rational, it’s all about passion, ingenuity, creativity and impressive mechanics. From the thinnest automatic watch ever created to a signing automaton or an atomic sympathique clock, here the 5 most impressive mechanical creations we’ve seen at Baselworld 2018.

7 years ago

Women’s Watch Wednesday – Bvlgari Diva Finissima Minute Repeater – Another Striking Thinness World Record

Bvlgari is on a roll setting record after horological record in the ultra-thin category. Who can forget the succession of impressive victories obtained by the 2014 Octo Finissmo Tourbillon, the 2016 Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater, the 2017 Octo Finissimo Automatic and this year’s Octo Finisimmo Automatic Tourbillon? Just when you thought that the brand might be running out of steam in the ultra-lean complication department, Bvlgari pulls another rabbit out of the hat with its beautiful chiming masterpiece for women: the Diva Finissima Minute Repeater. As the world slimmest women’s minute repeater watch, the Diva Finissima incarnates Bvlgari’s passion for Swiss mechanical pyrotechnics and its irresistible Italian design flair.

8 years ago

Video – The Baselworld 2018 Bvlgari Octo Watches (incl. the new World Record) Fully Explained

After successively launching the thinnest tourbillon watch (the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon), the thinnest minute repeater watch (the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater) and, at that time, the thinnest automatic watch (the Octo Finissimo Automatic), we thought that the Bvlgari Watches team was about to slow things down a bit, just to let us breathe. Wrong! For Baselworld 2018, we had to be stunned, again… Here are the Baselworld 2018 Bvlgari Octo Watches, fully explained by Guido Terreni (Managing Director of Bvlgari Watches), including the new world record watch and the superb Sandblasted Trilogy.

8 years ago

Buying Guide – 10 Of The Best Tourbillon Watches From Baselworld 2018

The Tourbillon is often presented as the king of complications. Originally invented to combat the negative effect of earth attraction (a.k.a gravity), it remains today an inevitable feature for all high-end brands – as a demonstration of watchmakers’ capabilities to manufacture such small mechanisms. As for each edition of Baselworld, 2018 has brought its share of new Tourbillon watches. We have put together 10 highlights watches, all featuring such a regulating organ (and more).

8 years ago

Baselworld 2018 – Bvlgari Introduces the Octo Finissimo Automatic Sandblasted Trilogy (now in Steel or Gold, in addition to Titanium)

Exactly a year ago, Bvlgari stunned the watchmaking world by launching what was then the thinnest automatic watch on the market, the Octo Finissimo Automatic. The best things about this watch was that it had nothing to do with a shy, demure timepiece. Instead, Bvlgari came out with what we think is a true example of a luxury sports watch (see it face to face with the mother of them all, the RO). For Baselworld 2018, what was a single watch becomes a trilogy and a fully-fledged collection, with the introduction of the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Automatic Sandblasted in steel and 18k rose gold.

8 years ago

Baselworld 2018 – Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic – The New Thinnest Automatic Watch (and Tourbillon) at 3.95mm

Game on! The race between Bvlgari and Piaget to prove who can manufacture the thinnest watch in the world continues. At Baselworld 2017, Bvlgari introduced the Octo Finissimo Automatic, a true luxury sports watch with a bold design and the thinnest automatic movement on the market. At the SIHH 2018, Piaget trumpeted not one, but two world records: the thinnest mechanical watch ever and the thinnest automatic watch. Baselworld 2018 has opened its doors and Bvlgari sets two new records in a single watch: the world’s thinnest tourbillon watch and the world’s thinnest automatic watch. Meet the new Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic – and yes, it is paper thin, at 3.95mm thick.

8 years ago