Affluent Page Presents A Timely Partnership

The Bulgari Gérald Genta Octo Grand Sonnerie.

True connoisseurs of luxury timepieces learned earlier this year that Bulgari has consolidated its brand with that of two of its other name divisions, Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth.

Francesco Trapani, CEO of the Bulgari Group, declared: “I have decided to merge the cutting-edge skills of our Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth Manufacture in Le Sentier with the prestigious image of Bulgari. While preserving their technical and aesthetic qualities, the Daniel Roth and the Gérald Genta timepieces will from now on be fully integrated into the Bulgari collection. This alliance is sealed on the new watch creations, where the Bulgari Brand is featured along with the Gérald Genta and Daniel Roth logos.”

This not altogether surprising move by Bulgari is personified in their new and very limited-edition timepiece: The Bulgari Gérald Genta Octo Grand Sonnerie.

Immediately striking about this 18-karat white-gold ultra-luxurious ‘jewel of a timepiece’ are the four subdials on the face, which closely resemble the dashboard gauges of a foreign sports car. Two of the subdials contain the watch’s 48-hour power reserve indicators, as well as the sonnerie—its Westminster-style chime mechanism, while the remaining subdials house a retrograde hour dial and the minutes on a disc.

Apart from attractive and modern, these functioning subdials are easy to read. On the reverse side of the watch, a transparent case back displays the Octo Grand’s complex bi-directional, manually wound movement. The Bulgari name clearly takes top billing on the 44mm Octo Grand’s face, with a decidedly more demure Gérald Genta logo displayed in smaller letters toward the bottom of the dial. A particularly noteworthy Bulgari-style detail is the beaded 18-karat white-gold crown, set with a Falcon’s Eye cabochon and an 18-karat white-gold triple-blade clasp joined to a genuine alligator leather strap. About $773,000.00.