![]() ![]() The small seconds sub-dial with an anchor-shaped hand gives the dial a sense of serenity and vivid meticulousness at the same time.įeaturing the signature pinstripe guilloché pattern, the hand-engraved, black dial made out of steel is visually stunning yet highly legible due to its colour contrasts and roman numerals placed on a brushed chapter ring. Having a unique shape – not conforming to either a round, rectangular or octagonal shape – it measures 35 mm x 32 mm in diameter and 10mm in thickness, equally bold as comfortable to wear in a medium size. The double-ellipse case is made out of stainless steel and guarantees a true statement on the wrist. In 2000 Bulgari Group bought the company and the brand continued in the spirit of Daniel Roth, without him being involved as a watchmaker any longer. His manufacture had a limited production, but its creations are known to be inventive and detailed, including a tourbillon with an 8-day power reserve, the instantaneous perpetual calendar and the Westminster Grande Sonnerie Carillon (the only automatic four-gong chiming wristwatch in production in the nineties). The double-ellipse case and sharply executed pinstripe guilloché dials soon became part of his signature. Roth was one of the first independent watchmakers who started to work under his own name, giving rise to both a business model and a strong aesthetical code. In 1989 Daniel Roth established his own manufacture in the midst of the snowy Jura mountains. Seven years in Le Brassus, AP’s cradle, led him to double that period at Breguet where he restored the brand’s former horological majesty during the quartz crisis. Following in their footsteps he started his watchmaking journey at Audemars Piguet in the Vallée de Joux, after being technically schooled in Nice. This is horological eye-candy at its best.Daniel Roth was born to be a horological pioneer, with both his grandfather and great-grandfather working as watchmakers in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. The only production wristwatch movements to beat it in thinness that I'm aware of, were some of the movements used in the Vacheron Constantin 4261, which were reportedly 3.1mm thick. This is the thinnest repeater movement and thinnest repeating watch anyone's making right now, and unlike many other modern repeaters, this one is pure traditional watchmaking. As was so often the case with extremely thin watches of that era it simply proved too delicate to be produced however, the movement was re-engineered to make it more reliable (if slightly thicker) and when Bulgari acquired Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta, it also acquired the design and decided to put it into production. Its origins go back to 1981, when Gerald Genta produced a unique piece minute repeater that was only 2.72mm thick overall – that's movement and case, and it was a self-winding watch as well. The case and dial are both in titanium dimensions are 40mm x 6.85mm, and water resistance is 30 meters, which is 30 meters more than you'd get from a vintage repeater, certainly.Ĭaliber BVL 362 is an extremely traditional movement in every respect, and it has a very interesting history. Clean, simple lines that make a strong, unified design statement have always been Bulgari's stock in trade and the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater continues in that tradition. ![]() The case for the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater is extremely modern in appearance, although it also has some of the rectilinear, architectural feel characterizes much of Bulgari's design work over the years. It's these repeaters that the Bulgari Octo Finissimo minute repeater strives to emulate – but in a case that has all the benefits of modern engineering, and which offers both superior acoustic properties, and better rigidity and water resistance than was possible in the watches of yore. That said, however, there have certainly been repeaters in the past that were very thin, and though extremely delicate and requiring careful handling from their owners, they were irreproachably lovely in sound. A repeater is a watch, but it's also a musical instrument, and as we all know, the smaller the instrument, the more compromised sound is. Assembly is easier (and disassembly, which, when you're putting a repeater together, is a necessary part of the process as you trouble shoot and fine tune). All other things being equal, a thicker and wider movement can be made to work reliably more easily, as tolerances are more forgiving. The bigger the watch, the more mass and energy you have to strike bigger gongs, which resonate through a larger case, and move a greater mass of air. Size matters for a repeater, if sound matters. ![]()
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