Bulgari has just unveiled the world’s thinnest watch.
It’s called the Octo Finissimo Ultra Cosc, and it’s so thin it very nearly disappears when you look at it sideways.
It’s a massive engineering achievement, but claiming the record wasn’t easy.
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Different manufacturers regularly compete for different records.
With cars, it’s – often – all about speed and power.
With watches, one of the most coveted ‘titles’ is for the world’s thinnest watch.
For the best part of ten years, Bulgari and Piaget were the two main contenders, with the Octo Finissimo and Altiplano, respectively.
Then, a couple of years ago, Richard Mille entered the ring with a new record.
The first watch, derived from a collaboration between the Swiss brand and Ferrari (below), was 1.75 mm thick, making it 0.05 thinner than the Bulgari Octo Finissimo, which previously held the record.
Now, Bulgari set a new record… again.
The new watch is so thin it’s even difficult to compute just how thin it is.
At just 1.7 mm, it is thinner than the thinnest penny.
In order to develop the watch, Bulgari had to go back to the drawing board and presumably open every single book about engineering that’s ever been written, because this watch is quite clever and complicated.
The watch movement comprises 170 individual components, and not only does each one of those little bits have to be as thin as possible, but they also have to remain thin while working together.
For that reason, each component is fixed directly onto the back of the watch case, rather than onto a separate mainplate, which is what watchmakers generally do.
Also, Bulgari couldn’t add anything to protect the watch because it would’ve made the case thicker, which means said components also had to be pretty solid and resistant.
That’s why the case back is made of tungsten carbide, which is about 10 times harder than solid gold.
Richard Mille will no doubt want to reclaim the record at some point, but it won’t be easy.
After all, this record has been beaten many times, and nine times it was Bulgari that did it.
Production is limited to 20 units, and the watch is priced at €600,000 – around $637,000 at today’s rate.
