Over 50 Carats of Diamonds Went Into Making This Watch

Originally published by Stephen Pulvirent on Hodinkee.

I think of myself as someone whose taste skews toward the low-key, less-is-more side of things. Think Kjaerholm and Rams, not Versace and Marino. But sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants, and boy does my heart want this completely insane, diamond-covered Bulgari Octo. Officially called the Octo L’Originale Blue Full Baguette Diamonds, this is quite possibly the most maximalist watch I have ever had the pleasure of putting on my wrist, and it made quite the impression.

I mean, just look at this thing! The Octo L'Originale is a 44mm diameter watch made of white gold, though you can barely tell, considering how little of the metal you can actually see. The foundation for this watch is Bulgari's most basic Octo model (it's not a Finissimo) and it looks every bit the part. Despite all of the stones, the case's architecture is still extremely clear and crisp. I spoke with Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, the head of design at Bulgari watches, and he said that instead of making major alterations to the case shape and its distinctive facets, they opted to shape the stones to the case. He also said that it wasn't easy, especially given the challenges of using only baguette diamonds. As you get closer and closer to the center of the dial, you need smaller and smaller baguettes, and finding stones that were small enough with the right geometry was tough. The only round-cut stone is the one set into the crown.