This year, Bvlgari celebrates a quarter century as a watchmaker. In honour of the occasion, Man About Town captures the Octo Finissimo, the Roman House’s principal timepiece.

Bvlgari has been making watches for 25 years. But when you’ve got the Octo Finissimo as your flagship watch, milestones are familiar territory.

To truly understand this watch’s achievements, you need to go back to its origins. In 2012, Bvlgari’s Creative Director of Watches Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, along with the Maison’s design team, got to work on creating a defining watch for the brand, and not just in the context of its history, but that of 21st-century watch design as a whole. Enter the Octo.

It started by looking at the luxury sports watches created by legendary watchmaker Gérald Genta (the designer’s namesake brand was purchased by Bvlgari in 2000). The Octo draws on quintessential Genta-isms, like integrated bracelets, octagonal dials and exposed screws. But this isn’t a watch that copies. It sets the tone.

In 2014, Bvlgari introduced the ultra-thin Octo Finissimo line, with the Tourbillon Manual Wind, starting as it meant to go on, breaking the record for the world’s thinnest tourbillon. In 2017 came the Finissimo Automatic, which, at 5.15mm thick, briefly held the record for the world’s thinnest automatic. And to really flex its muscles, Bvlgari developed the thinnest perpetual calendar in 2021 with the Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar. In 2025, it set yet another standard for the thinnest tourbillon, with the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon – the perfect toast to a quarter century of breaking boundaries.

Beyond smashing records with its proportions, the Octo Finissimo perfectly balances engineering with design. An artfully crafted, recessed deployant bracelet lies flat on the wrist, meaning the case sits free from distraction. This purity makes the watch a fitting canvas for creativity. Over the years, Bvlgari has invited artists to interpret the timepiece’s case. Highlights include a 2018 Octo Finissimo “Hiroshi Senju”, designed by the Japanese painter, 2022’s 10th anniversary “Sketch” edition, celebrating 10 years of the initial Octo design from 2012; and 2025’s collaboration with Korean painter, sculptor and poet Lee Ufan, which saw a weathered titanium case and bracelet contrast with a black, pool-like dial.

How do you build an icon? You interpret storied watchmaking in your own way. And you land on the Bvlgari Octo Finissimo.

Photography by Fraser Chatham