The Low-Down
The Bulgari Aluminum, launched in August of 2020, finds its roots in a 1998 timepiece, which within the realms of watchmaking introduced for the first time, the combination of an aluminum case on a rubber strap. So desirable was the watch and its success that Bulgari once decded to even dress up a Boeing 747 with said watch as part of a publicity campaign.
In that timeframe the watch is said to have been the choice of the jet set, who appreciated the unusual materials on a luxury wristwatch, with the added advantage of the lightness of aluminum and the comfort of rubber straps. Hence why, the decision to dress an Alitalia 747 with livery pertaining to the watch.
Fast forward to late 2020, while the world was just garnering the confidence to emerge from months in isolation and a reality unlike any in recent memory. In the same reserved confidence, a small consortium of watch brands decided they would hold a physical watch fair, in a time when most had thought trade fairs to be classified extinct. Perhaps the idea to re-introduce the Bulgari Aluminum then was to remind us of our desire to travel, in the mindset of the jet set, who were apparently the watch’s biggest admirers.
The initial Bulgari Aluminum launched in 2020 included a time and date as well as a chronograph variation. Both of which had 40mm cases — of course — in aluminum, titanium casebacks, fitted on rubber bracelets with aluminum links and aluminum ardillon buckle. As 2021 unfolded, our realities clearly had different intentions with how soon we would be able to travel again. But the hour is at hand when it does seem like we can consider leaving our home countries in search of a new horizons.
It is with this in mind that the Bulgari press release pertaining to their newest addition to the Aluminum collection reads, “Travelling… Crossing time zones, getting away from it all. For a year and a half, this reality has also been on lockdown, but not for long now. The end of summer signals a return to travel, thereby perfectly coinciding with the September launch of the Bulgari Aluminum GMT!”
IMHO
The Bulgari Aluminum GMT is an apt addition to the watch family given this jet set mindset that the Aluminum is meant to project. Rendered with a blue dial and rubber rubber bezel, the watch features a 24-hour scale divided into red, for the daylight hours and blue for the night hours. Local time and date is, of course, indicated using the primary hour and minute hands along with the date window. Home time is indicated using the red-arrow tipped GMT hand against the 24-hour scale. All indications are said to be set using the crown.
The 40mm Aluminum GMT is powered by the B192 automatic caliber, which enables its functions and accounts for 42 hours of power reserve. And just in case your first travel destination — after a year and a half’s lack of travel — allows you to jump directly into your favorite body of water, as soon as your disembarked from your flight, the Bulgari Aluminum GMT is water-resistant to an impressive 100 meters.
Tech Specs
Movement: Mechanical movement with automatic winding, B192 calibre; hours, minutes, seconds and date; 24-hour hand for the second time zone; 42-hour power reserve
Case& Dial: 40mm aluminum case with titanium caseback and crown, blue rubber bezel; water-resistant to 100m; blue dial with SLN (Super-LumiNova®) hour-markers and hands; blue and red inner dial
Strap: Blue rubber strap with aluminum links, aluminum pin buckle
Price: USD 3,500
More information: bulgari.com
