For the longest time I thought it was Bvlgari instead of Bulgari, but that’s besides the point as they have just released their new aluminium GMT watch. While there is a bit of a love-hate relationship in the watch community for Bulgari, the efforts they have made in their watches definitely deserves a lot more respect as they are gaining more and more attention for their timepieces.
The first thing that a person would notice is the bezel with the Bulgari branding, which is the often the spark of the debate on whether someone likes this watch or not. I love the rubberized bezel look as it contrasts really well with the titanium crown as well as the case and caseback, however I am not a fan of the giant branding around the entirety of the bezel. There is a red and blue 24-hour ring which is a fixed inner bezel, I would much rather have this as the outer bezel instead of the branding but that is just me. Other than that, every other design element on the dial is in line with most of the GMT watches that are available on the market. It is also water resistant to 100m making it a very durable watch especially combined with that 42 hour power reserve.
While the movement of the watch is the B192 automatic GMT movement, which is Bulgari’s own automatic movement, most of the technical details are not unveiled to the public. It has a power reserve of 42 hours at a 28,800 bph beat rate. There are some flaws to this watch including the date window which not only cuts into the 24 hour ring and also is mismatched in terms of the colour and its surroundings and the lack of frame makes it seem rather out of place. Finally my worst gripe would be “S.Swiss” and “Made.S” on the dial, and no matter how much I have searched I cannot find a single answer as to why they have done it this way or what it signifies and just looks like a typo.
I can see there is definitely a crowd for this watch and that fans of Bulgari would purchase this watch given the chance. However, from Bulgari my favourite watch is from their Octo Finissimo range, while this watch is interesting and it is great to see the constant innovation hopefully, they move away from the obnoxious branding and go for a more subtle look on their watches. The watch is currently available to be purchased through authorised sellers and their online store at a price of $3,500.
The Watchlist 