BVLGARI @ Octo Bi-Retro Brazil Limited Edition

BVLGARI pays tribute to Brazil by dressing its Octo Bi-Retro watch bearing the attributes of the flag of a country that is revolutionary in several respects. The colourful, technical and daring new Bulgari Octo Bi-Retro Brazil watch appears in a 50-piece limited edition clad in blue, yellow and green. Created by the master artisans of the Manufacture Bulgari, at the heart of the Swiss Jura, the dial of the Octo Bi-Retro Brazil is meticulously hand-crafted in three different colours using the precious champlevé technique, a delicate and complex exercise. This respect for traditional Haute Horlogerie skills does not preclude fanciful and modern touches, since the motif chosen to evoke Brazil is a resolutely contemporary interpretation of the colours of the flag adopted by the Brazilian Federal Republic on November 19^th 1889. Green, the traditional colour of the House of Braganza, the former Brazilian royal family, symbolises hope and nature. It is a direct reference to the Amazon Forest, one of the world’s major treasures. Synonymous with the many riches of Brazil, yellow evokes gold, the emblematic colour of the Habsburg dynasty, as well as the natural resources of a country capable of drawing upon its roots, its history and its native soil to nurture its growth and its development. Finally, blue is a tribute to the stunning sky over Rio de Janeiro, one of the world’s most festive cities where much of the 2014 World Cup will take place and which was the nation’s capital from 1763 to 1960 – the year when the modern city of Brasilia designed by the visionary Oscar Niemeyer was built. The singular nature and sophistication of the Octo watch by Bulgari enable it to assert its original lines stemming from a clever blend of Haute Horlogerie and architecture. Its 43 mm case, interpreted in this instance in steel with ceramic and rhodium inserts, and fitted with a rubber strap secured by a steel folding clasp, is a constant source of surprises with its 110 facets. The octagon shape is directly inspired by the octagonal motif of the roof on the Roman Basilica of Axentius and also recalls the ingenious works of Leonardo da Vinci, or the boldness of the modernist movement of which Oscar Niemeyer was one of the major representatives. Driven by a movement developed and produced by the Manufacture Bulgari mechanical self-winding Calibre GG7722 with a 45-hour power reserve – the Octo Bi-Retro is a sporty timepiece designed for intense living. Featuring jumping hours as well as retrograde minutes and date, this exceptional model is issued in a 50-piece worldwide limited edition. Its display enables swift and efficient reading. The hour is immediately visible thanks to the jumping hour technique, which reveals it through a 12 o’clock aperture. To provide an accurate display of the minutes and seconds, the dial is laid out like an ingenious instrument panel: sweeping across a broad 210° sector, a retrograde hand indicates the minutes with the help of markings on the bezel serving to read off intermediate minutes in ten-minute segments. The equally retrograde date display appears on a 180° sector at the bottom of the dial. All the informations are displayed in snapshot in a very original mode.