Earlier this week, Bulgari unveiled the thinnest watch on the planet. Attendees at Watches and Wonders Geneva (till April 15), who have tried on the new Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC highlight its robust quality despite its 1.7 mm thickness. One popular reviewer likens it to a strand of spaghetti and others have been pulling coins or credit cards out of their pockets for comparison. It is a timely reminder of Jean-Christophe Babin’s favourite line: “Innovation never ends at Bulgari.”
The new Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC has 1.7 mm thickness (Source: Special arrangement)
Last month, when I met the Italian luxury group’s CEO in Mumbai, Babin was in the midst of several things, as usual. He had just flown in from Seoul, from the launch of Bulgari Studio, a new platform to encourage creative collaboration among artists. Bulgari had also updated the Octo Finissimo Automatic Sketch Dial in time for the brand’s 140th anniversary and the compliments were still pouring in. There was a spanking new Bulgari store to celebrate, located in Mumbai’s luxury mall, Jio World Plaza. And later that night, a ‘Roman Holi’ bash and high-jewellery showcase with global ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas at Antilia, the Ambani residence.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Aditi Rao Hydari and Ayushmann Khurrana at Bulgari Holi party at Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai (Source: Special arrangement)
Yet Babin found the time to dash off quick messages to his teams, his celebrity ambassadors and perhaps update his 195k Instagram followers. “Even if I go off for a two-week holiday, I am connected and tracking our sales online,” he said. “My wife (designer and architect Marzia Babin) is used to it. I don’t see a line dividing my professional and personal life, it is intertwined.” Excerpts from our interview:
Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin (Source: Special arrangement)
Thinness is highly regarded by collectors and watchmakers. Have you reached the zenith with these records?
You are pushing the limits and it is always stimulating internally because it can take you to new fields with other applications. Without Finissimo we could not have got to the Piccolissimo (the tiny watch movement seen in the Serpenti Misteriosi high jewellery watches). Instead of making it ultra thin, we made the diameter ultra small. The primary motivation is always to advance watchmaking technologies. If we go thinner or have a smaller diameter, it must be commercial and functional. We don’t want to just do a concept watch for the media that everyone calls extraordinary. That is not a watch but a technological showcase. We make 30 Ultras a year and it takes thousands of hours. The components are too small for the naked eye and everything has to fit together. It has to give time accurately with the power reserve of about 50 hours.
In an age when there are heated debates about retiring outdated gender norms, Bulgari has distinct watches for men and women.
As a jeweller, we are primarily a feminine brand with a legacy of women’s watches. If it were left to the classical Swiss watchmakers, you would have mostly masculine watches in small sizes for ladies. They will start with a men’s watch and then shrink it, add diamonds. But our Serpenti, Lucea and Diva’s Dream watches were born for women. The Octo Finissimo, meanwhile, doesn’t exist for ladies. Not yet.
You have addressed the ceremonial value of jewellery in India, with the ₹12 lakh Bulgari Kada for men launched earlier this year, and the Mangalsutra in 2021.
The mistake many Western luxury companies make, because many Indians speak fluent English and have studied abroad, is thinking [potential clients] are fully westernised. But Indian culture and traditions are deep-rooted. We pay attention to what Indians like that respect tradition and we bring in our expertise with jewellery. The store also has a unisex counter with the B.zero1 line. Soon we will have a full collection for men but we need this unisex ‘step’. We need to be agile and focus on the local clientele.
You have said that 2023 was the best year for Bulgari in India. How is this different from China?
While we are present only in Delhi and Mumbai for now, there are many possibilities. We also have a lot of Indian clients in Dubai, London, Paris and Rome. The Chinese are still interested in luxury but they are cautious and take longer to make up their mind. They tend to travel short distances, perhaps to Japan or Korea, where hospitality is much cheaper than in Europe or North America. Therefore it is no longer a global luxury market but a luxury market with different speeds.
Geneva Watch Days, the alternative watch fair you launched in 2020, will have over 50 brands this August. How do you stay ahead of it all as a CEO? Do you ever sleep?
It is a huge privilege for me to have the chance to jump from a new hotel project to Watches and Wonders to the opening of a new flagship in India to launching a new fragrance. I am in five different companies, all in one day! But I take holidays, and most of my weekends I am with my family. One of the reasons is that I am surrounded by the right people that are talented, determined, committed and accountable. I sleep the usual six hours (laughs). I am told the older you get, the less you sleep. You know why? Because you know you are going to die. I’m not being morbid but optimistic. You know you have to get the most out of your time.
Serpenti X Tadao Ando collection (Source: Special arrangement)
A Bulgari hotel for India?
You spent 18 months backpacking in India when you were young. Ideally, which city here works best for a Bulgari hotel?
We would love to have a Bulgari hotel here and if we had one it would be in Mumbai. Most of our projects are in trendy cities. But then we have to find a ‘wow’ location.
The Octo Finissimo Sketch (Source: Special arrangement)
“We spend a full week in Geneva but not at the expo. We decided a few years ago to go with our own hotel. We were not born as watchmakers even if we do make a lot of watches, and it is difficult to appreciate our watches without natural light. In the evening we want to receive our friends and partners as late as we can without being kicked out at 7 pm!”Jean-Christophe Babin
Bulgari lineup
In addition to the record-breaking Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC, other novelties at Watches and Wonders from Bulgari include the Octo Finissimo Sketch, with an illustrated dial from creative director Fabrizio Buonamassa. For Serpenti fans, the Serpenti X Tadao Ando collection features four seasonal watches with different dial materials, including white and pink mother of pearl, tiger eye and green aventurine.
QR codes and an art prize
Unlike the first Octo Finissimo Ultra, the Ultra Mark II has a unique QR code on its case back, with a link to what Bulgari is calling a Datamatrix. It is a product manual specific to the individual watch. “We are still doing NFTs as unique pieces of digital contemporary art,” said Babin. “When the actual pieces are in the vault, you can have an artistic interpretation of your necklace or watch on your high definition screen, a beautiful piece of modern art. It is connected and bound in the blockchain. You cannot sell one or the other, you have to sell both.” In continuation of this, Bulgari is launching the first art prize with the MAXXI Museum in Rome, which is a laboratory of modern art. They are calling it the world’s first ever digital art exhibition.
Octo Finissimo Ultra COSC in titanium ($529,000) and platinum ($546,000), limited to 20 pieces.
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