Bvlgari Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon: Masterpiece Of Sound

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Bvlgari Haute Horlogerie is once again the spotlight, proudly presenting its new Masterpiece of Sound, the Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon. Designed to raise the level of sensorial expression through sound, the timepiece features a three-hammer chime combined with a tourbillon regulator: an artful Italian interpretation of Swiss watchmaking expertise that comes to life in its innovative materials and audacious design. A perfect fusion of artistry and technique, in which precision is the framework that underpins exquisite, transcendent beauty.

Shifting the paradigm of modern-day horlogerie, Bvlgari has established itself as the Master of the Estetica della Meccanica, balancing superior savoir-faire and the innovative aesthetics of ultra-thin watches to create groundbreaking timepieces. This expression of the unique fusion between cutting-edge design and the technical expertise of Swiss watchmaking is an exercise of the highest complexity which can be seen in Bvlgari’s mastery of highly complicated watches, including the whole typology of chiming timepieces: 2, 3 and 4 hammers, from the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater to the Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie. Thanks to its unrivalled expertise in this field, now the brand explores a new facet of its Estetica della Meccanica inspiration, creating another Sinfonia della Meccanica with the Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon.

The Bvlgari Sinfonia

Expressing the intangible emotion of music with the tiniest complex mechanics is something that could only exist in the world of watchmaking. Creating the perfect, ethereal, chills-inducing chime is a complicated art, one that Bvlgari has devoted itself to, creating a masterful three-hammer chiming watch that using ultra-complex mechanisms and the innovation of a metal grid on the movement that helps to propagate sound throughout the case body.

A Sinfonia is an orchestral interlude in a large-scale vocal work in which the maestro coordinates all the instruments. It is a triumph of precision and technique, a movement that produces an experience of resounding beauty. In creating the Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon, the Bvlgari master watchmaker is the maestro, choosing, finishing and assembling hundreds of micro parts to create the perfect chime. Like the orchestra conductor, he uses the strictest parameters to create something transcendent and captivating. It is an undertaking of utmost skill: Bvlgari chiming watches can require up to 1200 components in the case of the 4 hammers Grande Sonnerie — a true Sinfonia della Meccanica.

Parallel Passions

Music is woven into the very fabric of Italy; evoking culture and history, the country’s most famous works resonate with passions passed down over centuries. Similarly, Swiss watchmaking is a story of devotion; that single-minded pursuit of excellence that deepens over generations.

Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and, to this day, Italian opera continues to dominate the genre. Works by native Italian composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, are among the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world.

While opera was taking root in Italy, Swiss watchmaking was developing in Geneva in the second half of the 16^th century. From Geneva, techniques and innovations spread over the Jura Mountains to other regions. The Swiss watch industry continued to flourish during the 19th century and, by the middle of the century, the Swiss became the world’s most important watch manufacturers.

For five centuries, each art form has been a source of wonder, enchantment and inordinate beauty. And now, with the launch of the Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon, the two come together in harmony to create a true masterpiece.

Purity and complexity

Completely manufactured in-house, the brand new manually-wound Calibre BVL428 is 8.35mm thick, and comprises a total of 432 components.

Meeting strict criteria across a number of parameters, the construction of Calibre BVL428 has prioritized sound first and foremost. The power and clarity of the sound is a key point of quality in all striking watches, and the generous proportions of the case are designed to maximize sound propagation, allowing for increased torque of the three-hammer construction and more sound power production. In particular, the middle case is designed to maximize sound and allow it to be broadcast as much as possible. It features hollowings within the design to reduce the amount of metal between inside and outside, and three openings that correspond to the three chimes, to allow sound to exit from the chamber. Chimes are fixed directly on to the case body for most effective transmission of sound and the case is crafted in titanium to ensure the clearest possible diffusion of sound. The back is also hollowed and revamped with a meticulously crafted titanium grid that protect this resonance zone and allow sound to be transmitted to the outside.

The gongs of the watch were created by hand, in multiple stages. They are folded and formed by hand before being annealed, or hardened, at a temperature of 900 degrees, then cleaned before ironing in the oven at 500 degrees, an operation which will give the metal its crystalline resonance. Like certain components of the striking mechanism, they are lengthened with a file, so as to refine the chords of the ringing. The melodic sequence of this Carillon with three hammers sounding three tones plays the note C for the hours, the mid-re-C notes in sequence for the quarters, and the mid note for the minutes.

The movement is equipped with one classical barrel ensuring the power reserve of at least 75 hours for the movement at full charge, meanwhile the functioning of the sound mechanism is ensured by a spring which is contained in a barrel-shaped container drilled directly in the bridge.

The architecture of Calibre BVL428, the cut-out of the bridges and the positioning of the various components were intended to be original, contemporary and contrasting in order to reveal the beauty of the mechanism. The hammers, gongs, Tourbillon cage and perforated surfaces are crafted in alternating polished steels, while the finely-wrought mainplate and bridges have been treated with PVD. The high-tech carbon-based vacuum deposition is elegant in a modern deep black. This construction is protected by a titanium case fitted with the Carillon activation push-button on its left side.

Available in an ultra-limited edition of 15, each exemplar is engraved, individually, with a number from 1 to 15 on the crown to indicate its singularity within the edition. The watch features a transparent sapphire crystal case-back, water-resistant to 3 Atmospheres, and comes on a black alligator leather strap with a three-blade folding clasp treated with DLC Titanium.

With the new Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon, Bvlgari adds a new sense by which to appreciate watches: hearing. It’s an impeccable expression of the Maison’s Sinfonia della Meccanica inspiration, conceived to bring the mechanics to a higher sensorial level set to the music of an exceptional calibre.

Bvlgari Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon Technical Specifications

Movement

Mechanical manufacture calibre BVL428 with manual winding,
minute repeater,
3-hammer carillon,
tourbillon and a power reserve indicator;
75-hour power reserve,
21,600 VpH,
skeletonized movement with bridges in black DLC coated titanium (8,35mm thick).

Case and dial

44mm
black DLC coated titanium case with matte finish;
open-worked titanium middle-case, specially conceived to enhance sound performances;
white gold crown, set with a black ceramic insert;
white gold push button to activate the chime (case total thickness: 12,83mm).

Strap