The Italian jewellery company, Bulgari, has set a new record for creating the world's thinnest mechanical watch.

Their Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc measures just 1.7 millimeters in thickness, beating the previous record holder, Richard Mille's RM UP-01 Ferrari, by a mere 0.05 millimeters—about the width of a human hair.

This achievement marks Bulgari's ninth world record for producing exceptionally thin watches, putting them in competition with other top watchmakers like Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet, and Piaget.

Take a look at it here:

The Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc builds upon Bulgari's previous record-holder, the Octo Finissimo Ultra, which held the title for four months in 2022 before Ferrari's collaboration with Richard Mille.

Bulgari's watchmaking division director, Antoine Pin, describes the Octo Finissimo as a platform for innovation and design, presenting unique challenges to Bulgari's research and development team.

The watch's movement comprises 170 components directly attached to the case, eliminating the need for a separate mainplate.

To compensate for this change, the case back is made of tungsten carbide, a durable metal alloy, while the front case and strap are crafted from sandblasted titanium.

The watch strap and front case are made of sandblasted titanium. Picture: Bulgari

The thinness of the Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc was achieved by optimizing the sapphire crystal front through meticulous engineering efforts, resulting in the thinnest watch ever to receive the chronometer mark from Switzerland's independent Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), indicating exceptional accuracy.

Only twenty of the Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc watches will be produced, each featuring a QR code on the back for access to an online product manual tailored to the specific watch.

The release marks Bulgari's ninth record for watch thinness. Picture: Bulgari

Each watch comes with a case equipped with automatic setting and winding functions at the push of a button.

Recent innovations in watch design include Frank Gehry's transparent Louis Vuitton timepiece and Formafantasma's Rado watch, designed with a sense of secrecy in mind.

It retails for $27,500.00 (R522,740.00) excluding taxes, which may be a little out of reach for the average South African watch collector.

IOL Lifestyle

Sarene.Kloren@IOL.co.za

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