Bulgari wowed the watch community last year with the release of its first Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon, a limited-edition masterpiece that incorporated a skeletonized caliber, with an avant-garde chiming mechanism and a tourbillon, inside a case made of black DLC-coated titanium. This year, the haute horlogerie timepiece makes its debut in a new iteration with a platinum case, titanium caseband, and a striking (pardon the pun) blue dial.
The Octo Roma Blue Carillon Tourbillon combines two essentially classic complications in a highly graphic skeletonized movement with blue bridges. The platinum case is encircled by a blued titanium band, designed to amplify the sound rendition and clarity of the striking watch. The Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon movement with three hammers, hand-wound Caliber BVL428, measures 35 mm in diameter, 8.35 mm thick and comprises a total of 432 components. Manufactured entirely manufactured in-house, it notably includes gongs that are attached directly to the body of the case for the most efficient sound transmission; the use of titanium for the case middle is designed to ensure the clearest possible sound diffusion. The back is also hollowed out and redesigned with a titanium grid that protects this resonant area and enables outward transmission of the sound.
The melodic sequence of this chime with three hammers striking three tones plays the note C for the hours, the notes E, D, and C for the quarters, and the note E for the minutes. The mechanism is activated by a pusher on the left side of the case, which measures 44 mm in diameter and 12.83 mm thick. The movement is equipped with one barrel, ensuring the power reserve of at least 75 hours for the movement at full charge, meanwhile the functioning of the sound mechanism is ensured by a spring which is contained in a barrel-shaped container drilled directly into the bridge.
Available in a 30-piece limited edition, priced at $317,000 each, the watch has a transparent sapphire crystal caseback, is water-resistant to three atmospheres (or 30 meters), and comes with a blue alligator leather strap secured by a platinum triple-blade folding clasp.