High and exclusive Bvlgari

Bvlgari thinnest tourbillon Watches

Jean-Christophe Babin – CEO of haute horlogerie and haute joaillerie marque Bvlgari – talks to “Day & Night” magazine on how the brand is able to create world records in watchmaking and maintain its exclusivity by constant innovation…

Can you tell us how it feels when Bvlgari is breaking so many records in haute horlogerie, such as creating the world’s thinnest automatic tourbillon with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic?

When I see those four watches, it is not about breaking records but rather creating a family that fulfils the conditions of masculine elegance. It is contemporary, very distinctive, legitimate ­– I mean the octagonal shape that comes from our Roman architecture – and it is thin. It is not just thin, it is octagonal, and thin, and integrated; it is the combination of these three dimensions – the integration of materials in each of the models, be they titanium, carbon, steel, or gold, together with the thinnest, together with the geometrical concept – which eventually provides the ultimate contemporary elegance, which makes the whole family extraordinarily distinctive and desirable. Within that family, yes we have created records, but for me, that is the icing on the cake. The main goal of the Octo is not to create records but to stand for the quintessential masculine elegance and, now more than ever, I am looking to include a chronograph, which is not powered by Finissimo. I find that the collection has more consistency than found in any masculine collection.

You are talking about materials now?

Yes, the materials are used for their qualities, but also for the aesthetics – for lacquering or painting dials, we try to extract colours that are becoming the rage from the metals, alloys, and fibres.

How do you get that particular shade of steel and pink gold – a very unique tinge – that Bvlgari watches have?

Because Octo has a contemporary geometric look, we wanted the metal treatment itself to be very modern. With the sand-blasting and palladium treatments, we have managed to get new shades in gold and steel. Also our steel is so light in weight that it seems more like aluminium rather than steel. Similar is the case with gold; most people do not readily relate to gold, which is good because there is value in understatement. With these processes, we have managed to create new light on those materials while building a lot of consistency with the geometry of the piece.

If you imagine what this piece would look with polish and a classical brush, it would be average; but with the sand-blasting effect, we ended up delivering two new colours from metals, which in watchmaking is very rare. Most of the watches nowadays are brushed or polished, whereas these colours are pretty unique and exclusive to Bvlgari.

Why did you choose to use carbon for the new Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon?

We had it already in titanium; it took us two years to craft the first edition. We thought we should capitalise on the Octo shape, size and dimensions, but deliver it with a different look. So we were looking for a material that would have good acoustics; ideally an unexpected material, as we wanted it to be unique. We tried several alloys, including carbon fibre. Eventually, we concluded that the acoustics of carbon fibre would produce a clear crystalline sound.

Did your love for cars have any influence over your decision to use carbon for the new Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater?

With titanium, we ventured into a direction that combines a certain aesthetic with lightness, and we wanted to intensify the lightness aspect. The aesthetic of carbon appeals to me because it is unique; when you layer it, it is like a tree and each watch is different. Additionally, it is lighter than titanium and you can see this in the acoustics. This is due to its structure; as it is very compact, it resonates very nicely. We felt that it would be interesting to bring in the lightweight aspect; the watch weighs only 47 grams, and it adds to the beauty and emotion of wearing it. The delight of wearing it is a three-dimensional sensory experience – it is beautiful to look at; very light on the wrist and nice to touch; and very musical to hear – where the carbon plays an active role in the resonance and the weight. The colour black is dressy; we already have some black on the Finissimo with the DLC treatment and titanium. This is more homogenous compared to that family; it is like a living tree, because of the very specific texture of the carbon.

How proud are you of the new Lvcea watch that has a skeleton movement?

We wanted to achieve two things: we wanted to expand the Lvcea collection by adding new colours to it and going beyond the dial, essentially removing it and displaying what is inside the watch. We also wanted it to be playful and trendy, and play with the logo. Our logo has been quite important for Bvlgari’s success; in this watch, the logo is not only a decoration but is an essential structure of the movement, and we have played with the movement. This is the first version – plain and diamond-set; but we could have different colours, etc. This is an architecture that can go beyond its first execution, which we are providing with the original Octo, with a traditional dial, which is still a Bvlgari but takes you straight into the heart of the watch with the letters of the logo.

Do you think that Bvlgari’s relatively short history (of around 100 years) is an advantage in watchmaking as you do not have so many traditions as constraints?

Years ago, we were free to pick and choose which designs would be our icons of tomorrow because our history in haute horlogerie is pretty recent. For the past few years, we have been focusing so much on the Serpenti, Lvcea, and the Octo that with the passing of the years, we have been restraining ourselves in the field of creativity. When we started investing so much on these collections, you accrue a liability to your clients, which is to make sure that the models they paid so much for will last long; not only in terms of superlative quality but also in terms of a style that will never wear out and that the style evolves each year.

Once your products become iconic, you are losing a bit of freedom that a total newcomer enjoys. A newcomer can, out of the blue, come up with new styles some of which may work and some not. Once you are successful, people have expectations of the Octo, Serpenti and it is your duty to keep those legends growing; to make sure that people who bought your watch four years ago will still be happy ten years down. We have self-restricted our freedom; very happily in fact because once you are successful – and those collections are successful – then nothing prevents you from being creative.  I have seen no other brand play with its logo, to express it in a skeleton, to set it with jewellery, etc. The idea of setting the second Lvcea collection on Tubogas is also significant; as with Tubogas, we are entrenching Lvcea deeply into Bvlgari because Tubogas is Bvlgari and Bvlgari is Tubogas.

We are also pairing Tubogas with Serpenti, thus creating an overall positive impact on the Tubogas concept. In Baselworld 2018, we have recapped seven decades of Tubogas because Tubogas has been in our ladies’ watches through the 50s, 60s, and 70s – on square, rectangular, and octagonal watches. So this bracelet has been the essence of Bvlgari ladies’ watches; Serpenti in 2010 has been the latest evolution of Tubogas and this year, we are using it with the Lvcea.

Your thoughts on how Bvlgari had double-digit growth in 2017 despite it being a tough year for the industry?

The market doesn’t really influence our performance because we do not base our plans on whether the market will grow or not. In watches and jewellery, the markets are pretty fragmented and there is always room to grow if you are innovative enough. Even if the market is stable in a particular year, for some brands it will be negative, flat for some while for others, it would be growing. Our policy at Bvlgari is innovation regardless of market environment or context, and therefore, we invested a lot in innovation last year and we had a lot of success with the Serpenti Twist. Last year, we were very successful with the Octo Finissimo Automatic watch, which has performed much beyond our expectations; we are still supplying that in some countries even though we have doubled our capacity. Eventually, doubling our capacity is also not enough. So yes, our innovation was very much welcomed last year and given our novelties this year, we are very positive.

How does it feel when you are travelling and you see a woman with a Bvlgari product, such as a watch or a bag?

I actually do not see many women with Bvlgari products, which is actually good for the brand. We are talking in tens of thousands if we are talking about watches; this means that we can keep expanding without becoming too visible. This sense of exclusivity is important for clients, and comparing the volumes we have been selling with the market size and competitors’ productions, we still have quite a bit to grow without seeing a Bvlgari on every wrist. But that is all good because it is nice to be an exclusive brand.