“They’re not letting it go.” A few months back, Bulgari had this but little else to say regarding the battle for the world’s thinnest mechanical watch. The Italian brand has been on the front line of this epic watch industry struggle, and we now finally get to see what they meant. The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra is, once again, the world’s thinnest mechanical watch.

Bulgari held the title for a short time in 2022 with a 1.8mm engineering marvel until Richard Mille undercut them just a few months later with a watch measuring merely five hundredths of a millimeter slimmer at 1.75mm. Now, Bulgari inches (as it were) ahead by the same fraction of a millimeter with a new iteration that manages to shave off a full tenth of a millimeter from its earlier achievement to win by, again, 0.05mm. At 1.7mm thick, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra is the world’s thinnest mechanical watch overall. For reference, that’s thinner than a US quarter-dollar coin (1.75mm).

Though it’s a race that plays out over months and years and is photo-finish measured in microns, we watch enthusiasts are on the edges of our seats.

The thinnest automatic watch; the thinnest mechanical chronograph; the thinnest perpetual calendar… The Bulgari Octo Finissimo has been the vehicle for multiple world records for the slimmest this or that, including rather obscure and highly specific designations such as the thinnest hand-wound flying tourbillon movement. These are all remarkable and noteworthy achievements, but it’s the thinnest overall mechanical watch that’s the top prize.

In making an almost impossibly thin watch even thinner, the case was key. Bulgari notest that “the limits of movement slimness had already been reached with the Octo Finissimo Ultra.” It seems that tweaking, and in particular “optimizing the sapphire crystal” is what made the difference.

 

Just as in its first iteration, the movement’s mainplate also serves as the watch’s caseback—or, you might think of it in terms of the movement’s 170 components being mounted directly to the caseback. This component is made from the dense and hard material tungsten carbide in order to retain rigidity and structural integrity, which becomes a particularly critical factor when a watch gets this thin.

One of the most controversial elements of the original Ultra watch was the QR code laser engraved on its barrel—a prominent visual feature of the watch’s face. This time, the brand has opted to include a small, subtle data matrix on the caseback which can similarly be scanned with a smartphone to access images, videos and information about your watch. The barrel, on the other hand, is now laser engraved with a radial pattern and verbiage related to the watch’s limited run of only 20 examples.

Any other feature of this watch, essentially also makes it the thinnest example of a mechanical watch with that particular feature. As you might have guessed from the name, the Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC is chronometer-certified by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, making it also the thinnest COSC-certified watch (somewhat less contested but still notable title). It helps show, however, that making a watch crazily thin hasn’t compromised its accuracy or reliability.

Should you happen to be one of the 20 lucky people to pick one up, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC also comes with a special box. Bulgari has taken into consideration the inconvenience of needing to manually wind your watch: place the watch back in its box and set the time on a digital screen, and the watch will be automatically adjusted and wound. The brand has also released an updated platinum version of the Finissimo Ultra (sans COSC) with the same 1.8mm-thick case of the original and blue dials for the hours and minutes. It also features the data matrix on the back.

Movement: BVL 180; manually wound; 50-hour power reserve; COSC-certified
Functions: Hours, minutes
Case: 40mm x 1.7mm; titanium; water resistance undisclosed
Strap: Titanium bracelet
Availability: Limited to 20 examples
Price: TBC

Movement: BVL 180; manually wound: 50-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes
Case: 40mm x 1.8mm; platinum; water resistance undisclosed
Strap: Platinum bracelet
Availability: Limited to 20 examples
Price: TBC

Bulgari also introduces new versions of past record breakers. The manually wound Octo Finissimo Tourbillon watches claimed the title of thinnest flying tourbillon movement and inaugurated the entire Octo Finissimo line back in 2014. The brand now introduces two new variants featuring rose gold or black DLC-coated titanium cases measuring 40mm wide and only 4.85mm thick. Alongside it comes a new version of the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Automatic in a 42mm platinum case that measures 4.95mm thick.

Movement: BVL 268SK; manually wound; skeletonized; 52-hour power reserve; flying tourbillon
Functions: Hours, minutes
Case: 40mm x 4.85mm; black DLC titanium, rose gold; 30m water resistance
Strap: Black rubber; brown alligator
Availability: Limited
Price: TBC

Movement: BVL 268SK; automatic; skeletonized; 52-hour power reserve; flying tourbillon
Functions: Hours, minutes
Case: 42mm x 4.95mm; platinum; 30m water resistance
Strap: Blue alligator
Availability: Limited
Price: TBC

New versions of the Octo Roma aren’t going for any records of slimness, but they just might be gunning for the title of sleekest watches you’ve seen this week. The 40mm automatic model and the 42mm chronograph are both offered in steel with fully black DLC coatings. Each maintains familiar features of the line such as the brand’s in-house automatic and chronograph movements and the hobnail dial pattern which, along with contrasting white hands and indices, makes for a legible and visually compelling look.

Movement: BVL 191; automatic; 42-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Case: 41mm; 100m water resistance
Strap: Black rubber, black alligator
Availability: Not limited
Price: TBC

Movement: BVL 399; automatic; 42-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph
Case: 42mm; 100m water resistance
Strap: Black rubber, black alligator
Availability: Not limited
Price: TBC

And now, for something completely different. Bulgari teamed up with Japanese architect Tadao Ando on a collection of its famous Serpenti collection. Having teamed up in the past (2020 and 2021) on the Octo Finissimo line, this time they created four limited editions based on the seasons and featuring marquetry dials of aventurine, tiger’s eye and white or pink mother-of-pearl. The dials are lined by diamonds. Powered by quartz movements, each dial is paired to a specific material for its case and bracelet.

Movement: Quartz
Functions: Hours, minutes
Case: 35mm; two-tone steel and yellow gold (aventurine); rose gold (tiger’s eye); stainless steel (white mother-of-pearl); two-tone steel and rose gold (pink mother-of-pearl)
Strap: Integrated bracelet
Availability: Limited; also available in 20 box sets
Price: TBC