Bulgari wins the 2010 Watch of the Year Prize for the Octo Bi-Retro Steel/Ceramic 15.10.2010

The 2010 Watch of the Year Prize of the Swiss specialised watch magazine Montres Passion has been awarded to the Bulgari Octo Bi-Retro, Gérald Genta collection. This prestigious accolade distinguishes a resolutely contemporary and sporty model with an iconic octagonal case.

The clever combination of materials – featuring a bezel, a "studded" ceramic bezel, a crown set with an onyx cabochon and a natural rubber strap – boldly testifies to the fact that this is a rugged model designed to stand up to the trials of daily wear. Paradoxically, the Octo Bi-Retro Steel/Ceramic houses a sophisticated mechanism driving a window-type jumping-hour display, along with retrograde minutes and date shown by superimposed hands.

This mechanical self-winding proprietary Calibre GG7722 vividly embodies the innovative spirit inherent to the Manufacture Bulgari in Le Sentier: the jumping hours appearing through a broad window at 12 o'clock makes a fine match with the retrograde minutes displayed by a hand running over a 210° arc of a circle with a scale graduated into 10-minute zones. The "studs" on the bezel serve to read off the minutes in each of the zones. Meanwhile, the date is read off on a semi-circular segment at the foot of the dial.

This sophisticated "engine" is endowed with all the classic technical and aesthetic refined touches inherent to the field of haute horlogerie, including a dedicated "old gold" finish, circular-grained surfaces and polished screw heads. The movement can be admired through the sapphire crystal case-back secured by eight screws featuring five-sided heads.

The Watch of the Year Prize is based on a set of extremely stringent criteria ensuring the perfect neutrality and independence of the jury of professionals that awards it after a rigorous procedure that fully guarantees its credibility.

While the Watch of the Year Prize thus rewards a creation with a strong personality, it also sets the crowning touch to the work accomplished by Bulgari – which only last January announced the integration of the advanced know-how of its Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie Genta & Roth in Le Sentier within its powerful and prestigious Brand image, as signalled on the dials by the reference to the calibres developed there. This alliance of existing respective forces thus gains full recognition and justification through the awarding of this Prize.