How does the Octo look on a bracelet? OK. The bracelet looks a lot like something you’ve seen before, but you haven’t. Bulgari borrows influence from sources such as Audemars Piguet all the way to Seiko. The bracelet features a single-link design with polished inner sections. While it does taper, the bracelet starts out so thick that it looks a bit awkward at the top. Being a fan of unique looking watch bracelets, I find myself to be extremely forgiving in my review of the new bracelet. I think it is safe to say that many people will not like the design of this bracelet, preferring the strap option. While I admit the straps on the steel or 18k red gold Octo watches are lovely, I just can’t help but like that a bracelet is offered – especially because it was uniquely designed for the case.
On the steel bracelet the Octo appears larger, but the angularity of the design becomes much more apparent. At 41.5mm wide, this isn’t inherently a large case, but given that it is more or less square, it does wear large. I think the size really works for this type of design, and the bracelet helps give it a more integrated look as opposed to just a unique looking case sitting on your wrist attached to a simple tapered alligator strap. From a sizing perspective the good news is that because the links are relatively small, it should not be too difficult to get a comfortable fit when adding or removing them to size it to your wrist.
The steel case has both brushed and polished surfaces, but with mostly brushed surfaces there is something inherently industrial looking about it. I think Bulgari is trying to assert a masculinity to the design, and it does work. However, it might be interesting to see the Octo case with a bit more polish on it in the future. The surface of the applied hour numerals are brushed as well, which is good because that assists in legibility as light hits them. Speaking of legibility, the Bulgari Octo dial is a mixed bag. On the one hand you have a clean looking dial with large hour markers and reasonably sized hands. All of this is good for legibility. At the same time you have a glossy dial, needlessly skeletonized hands, and a dial completely composed of reflective surfaces. There is also a very noticeable lack of luminant.
I wholeheartedly agree that on a computer screen in some CAD program this dial is very elegant looking. Its simplicity mixes well with the complicated case but it also has some complimentary angularity – and it also provides a nice degree of Bulgari DNA. Having said that I feel that Bulgari could have easily filled those hands in with white-colored lume, and found somewhere to put lume on the hour markers. As it is, in some types of light, the hands and dial blur together, which would be less of an issue if there wasn’t as many reflective surfaces. It may be the case that I am being hard on this watch, but it deserves it. In my opinion the Octo is an iconic design and with Bulgari making a simple three-hander out of it, they should do everything possible to refine it to a degree where it becomes an instant classic.
Most of the details Bulgari gets right though. It is a cool looking watch and it has an abundance of personality that sort of rejects the generic look of the majority of round watches out there. There are so few luxury three-hand watches with such a distinct look these days. More good news is that inside the Octo is a Bulgari in-house made movement. It is the BLV 193 automatic, and it has 50 hours of power reserve. It also operates at 4Hz (28,000 bph) which is good. Movements should all aspire to operate at 4Hz or more. I am becoming less and less impressed with new movements that are coming out at 3Hz or less. I had a talk recently with a very esteemed watchmaker, and he basically told me that 4Hz is the modern rate movements should operate at, and it is lazy for many brands to offer new movements with less, trying to win over people with longer power reserves. So demand more Hertz people!
The BVL 193 is a pretty simple movement offering the time and date. You can view the movement through the sapphire crystal caseback window. It certainly has a slightly unique look to it, though it doesn’t have a high-level of luxury finishing. Instead, the movement appears a bit more industrial (as the case does) with a lot of angles and machine polished surfaces. It looks like a work-horse movement, and I hope that it is. I have very high-expectations for the Octo because I like the concept and I love the Genta DNA. I want it to be perfect enough to be a daily wear of serious aficionados. Bulgari is close, and when they are there they have a solid and unique design they can call their own for decades to come. Prices for the Bulgari Octo watch start at $8,600 and is $9,550 on the bracelet. us.bulgari.com
