Ode to Octagon
< Bulgari >
Mitrajit Bhattacharya reflects on the Roman influences and its eternal values as witnessed in Bulgari’s new Octo
The Bulgari Octo represents everything about Rome that I fell in love with,” said Michael Burke, Bulgari CEO unveiling its newest timepiece in Rome amidst much fanfare at a press conference in the precincts of the city’s historical building, Complesso Monumentale Santo Spirito in Sassio. “Rome is a city of opposites, of history and modernity. The project of Octo was a quest for beauty that would capture the DNA of Bulgari.”
The new Octo is a harmonious blend of octagon and circle – two ever-important architectural designs in Rome-reflecting influences and its eternal values. The eightsided Octo by Bulgari is based on a design by the legendary Gérald Genta. The late Gérald Genta who died in 2011, gave the world many extraordinary timepieces, under his own name and worked on designs for top luxury watch-makers that included IWC, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet and the Bulgari family.
The roots of the new Bulgari Octo, with its cleverly overlaid square, round and octagonal shapes, are borrowed from Genta’s designs of the 1980s. In the early summer of 2000, the Bulgari Group acquired the Gérald Genta watch brand and the associated designs.
The Octo line of watches then underwent a very thorough design review, but what remained was the striking appearance that integrates three compelling shapes: the octagon that stands for balance, harmony and strength; the square that represents static balance, the four sides of equal length representing the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. And finally the circle that signals the endless cycle of coming and going.
The octagon, an ancient graphic figure universally recognised as symbol of wealth and its meaning is inseparably bound up with the history of civilisations and cultures. Stretching across continents from East to West, this composition of two basic figures conveys countless emblematic values and multiple meanings. Concepts such as balance, harmony, power and eternity are frequently associated with the eight-sided shape. In Medieval Europe, alchemists considered the combination of the square and the circle as the very expression of perfection, as well as of the relationship between Earth and Heaven; the square representing humankind and the circle embodying divinity established the link between the two representations.
The numerical translation of the graphic shape is also filled with symbolic meanings. The number 8, Octo in its Latin translation, has always conveyed a broad spectrum of powerful universal values in all eras and in all civilisations. It correspondsto the infinity of mathematicians, immutable eternity, symbolising the totality of the universe in China (Yi Jing), and more broadly prosperity and the embodiment of power in Asian cultures.
The architecture of Octo is a concentrated blend of this emblematic content. More than a watch the object transcends its pure function to acquire a broad dimension brimming with aesthetic and emotional significance. Its apparent formal simplicity carries a substantial complexity by conveying a wealth of values: equilibrium, perfection, immortality and eternity on one hand, expertise and horological mastery on the other.
This new pure and powerful creation from Bulgari perfectly mirrors the brand’s masculine watchmaking values, imbued with charisma, personality and graphic stylistic sophistication. This contemporary aesthetic. ensemble is combined with an understated and classic reading of time offering the traditional usual functions. The shape of the Octo breaks the conventional codes of this type of watch and radically renews them by asserting its distinct horological nature through perfectly refined proportions, creating a harmonious balance.
The structure of this exceptional case with its clear-cut, taut lines, expresses strength of character and undeniable power. Its subtle treatment calls for a complex production process for its constitutive parts: the case middle, bezel and screw-down back. The three elements undergo numerous successive operations in order to achieve the final result prior to assembly. The in-house manufactured case of the new Octo comprises a total of 110 facets. All are meticulously hand-finished with alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces, in harmony with the overall degree of execution characterising this new model of which the interior is guided by excellence.
