OCTO Bulgari: new icon of the Italian brand

OCTO Bulgari. A name to remember because it is undoubtedly the new icon of the Italian jeweler-watchmaker. The mark also presented - with great fanfare - this brand new men's watch model (steel or pink gold) a few weeks ago in Rome. It is in the Italian capital that this timepiece look timeless and elegant, neither round nor square, sober and chic, has unveiled its charms... Details.

The Bulgari Octo is a watch... neither round nor square. But it looks as "harmonious and balanced of the two primitive forms symbiosis giving birth to the Octagon, symbol of the geometry of perfection. The Octagon, "figure graphic ancient universally rich symbols and meaning, is inseparable from the history of civilizations and cultures" recalls the mark in its release.

Across continents, from the West to the East, this composition of two primitive figures is rich of countless iconic values and multiple meanings. The concepts of balance, harmony, power, and eternity recur frequently - among others - associated with the shape with eight sides.

In the middle ages Europe, alchemists considered the combination of the square and the circle as an expression of perfection, as well as the expression of the relationship between heaven and Earth: the square, representation of human and the circle, the divine incarnation, established the link between the two representations...

The octagonal shape also left very many architectural traces of Europe to Asia. Italy (home of Bulgari) lists so many buildings of this type. In addition to the buildings of antiquity along Rome, the "eternal city", one of the most representative is Castel Del Monte in Puglia.

This construction of the 13th century, imposing architectural work of multiple symbols, embodies the synthesis of knowledge refined in mathematics and astronomy. It is also considered by some as a synonym of temple of knowledge place.

Far away, in Asia, many thousands of kilometres, the Octagon is the source of all the foundations of history, civilization and Chinese thought. Central figure of the Yi Jing, or "Book of changes", developed at the beginning of the first Millennium before the Christian era, the octagonal shape was intended to describe the States of the world and their evolutions.

Each of the eight faces is designed in a way to symbolize what happens in heaven and on Earth, representation of the incessant transformation of signs in the other. The I Ching is the result of a speculative and cosmogonic research developed, whose joints have permanently shaped the Chinese thought until today.

In fact, starting from an opposition/complementarity between the Yin and Yang principles (Sun and moon, male and female, active and passive, etc.) and subdividing this duality in a systematic way, the Yi Jing arrived at a series of 64 combinations and all possible transformations between them.

More late but still in the Middle Kingdom, circle and square reflect a symbolic relationship expressed according to the principles of architecture. Built in the 15th century, the indispensable Temple of heaven in Beijing is generally arranged to symbolize the relationship between heaven and Earth, between divinity and man, essence of Chinese cosmogony. It occupies a site containing the square shape with southern angles, while those in the North are rounded due to the ancient belief Chinese that the sky was round and the Earth square.

The digital translation of the graphic shape is also responsible for symbolic meaning. The number 8, Octo in its Latin form, has always conveyed a beam of powerful universal values at all times, in all civilizations. Horizontally, it is an infinite number of mathematicians, unchanging eternity, the eternal return or even the symbol of the entirety of the universe in China (Yi Jing), more widely prosperity and incarnation of power in Asian cultures.

'Architecture of Octo condenses these contents' says brand in its release. And add: "more than a watch, the subject transcends its pure function to acquire a wide dimension of aesthetic and emotional sense. "Simple formal appearance, it is complex in the values that it conveys: balance, perfection, immortality and eternity on the one hand, know-how and watchmaking mastery of the other.

The structure of the housing of the Octo, crisp and taut lines, "expresses strong character and unquestioned power. It also engages a complex manufacturing process for its constituent parts: build, sunglasses and screwed. The three items are the object of many successive operations until the final result before Assembly. Manufactured internally, the body of the Octo new comprises a total of 110 facets. All are meticulously finished hand, alternating polishing and endpoint brushed and satin.

This new creation Bulgari is enlivened by the caliber BVL 193, with indication of hours, minutes, seconds and date at 3 o'clock counter. This mechanical movement with automatic winding by unidirectional oscillating weight mounted on ball bearings is equipped with two barrels.

"They guarantee best performance isochronous in duration, synonymous with regularity on market and therefore accuracy" provides the brand in its release. Caliber BVL 193 11.5 lines - beats at 28,800 VPH (4 Hz) and offers 50 hours of power reserve. The finishes of the components of the movement are high-level: polished pins, drive wheels brushed.

The dial is also manufactured in-house, lacquered black and polished. Ten index and the 12 h and 6 h in Arabic numerals. This watch is available in steel and rose gold. And communicated it to conclude that the Octo "is positioned outside ordinary and usual to claim membership in the universe of the models of watches which are already known to be and standards already inscribed in the future". A tell him from us...