It’s not every day that a car designer becomes a creator of watches. But that is exactly the trajectory that Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani’s career has followed. Because 20 years ago, he swapped looking at engines and chassis for a role at Roman firm Bulgari, where he is now product creation executive director.

This is significant because Bulgari could perhaps understandably be considered a watchmaker that specialises in pieces that are lighter on the horological aspect than the decorative. Because, of course, the Italian house has a considerable and well-earned reputation as a jeweller. However, Bulgari, founded in 1884, has actually been making watches since the late ’40s. And Buonamassa Stigliani’s engineering credentials mean that he lays just as much store by the mechanical excellence of Bulgari’s timepieces as their beauty.

This has been apparent over several years in the firm’s development of its Octo Finissimo watches – ultra-fine timepieces that see the highest standard of mechanical watchmaking fashioned into an elegant, super-thin design. Since the introduction of the first of these in 2014, the record-breaking Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, Bulgari has set another six records for thin watchmaking, taking us to 2021’s Octo Finissimo Perpetual Calendar. 

‘After our investment in developing the Finissimo watches, we decided to apply a similar obsession with miniature engineering to ladies’ watches,’ explains Buonamassa Stigliani. The result? The new Piccolissimo collection of timepieces, which feature one of the smallest mechanical movements available today.

Just released is the Bulgari Serpenti Misteriosi, featuring the Piccolissimo movement. The Serpenti was actually the first watch design Bulgari created back in the ’40s, so the fact that this piece of up-to-the-minute micro engineering should be applied to it has a pleasing symbolism, a renewal of a classic, just as the snake renews itself by shedding its skin.

The Serpenti is what is known as a secret watch. ‘Bulgari started making what are called “secret watches” some 80 years ago, in the late ’40s,’ explains the designer. Secret watches are those that hide the timekeeping function from view; in the Serpenti Misteriosi model, the watch dial is concealed in a snake’s head.

Bulgari well understands the appeal of this conceit. In 2017 it notably released two special one-off timepieces: the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Monete wristwatch, and the jewelled Monete Pendant watch, both of which masked their dials with an ancient Roman and Greek coin respectively.

‘Originally our secret watches had mechanical movements,’ says Buonamassa Stigliani, ‘and then in the ’80s we started to use quartz instead, as that was the accepted norm for jewelled ladies’ watches at the time. But three years ago, I decided I wanted to reintroduce a mechanical movement to the Serpenti, one of the most iconic watches in our collection. Because we had managed to innovate so successfully with the Finissimo technology, I set the challenge of creating a super-small movement that would work for the Serpenti.’

The result is a micro movement, the BVL 100 Piccolissimo. ‘It’s 12mm in size, 2.5mm thick, with a 30-hour power reserve and a 5mm barrel. It’s a brand-new movement for us, which we designed from scratch.’

Buonamassa Stigliani explains that if you look at the mechanical Serpenti watches in the archive they are more bulky. ‘The new watch is smaller, thinner, with a different shape of head that is almost flat; it’s incredible and requires an ultra-thin and very small movement. The old watches have a wide body, though the head is still small. I wanted to change the proportion of the body to the head, to make it more comfortable on the wrist.’

He also wanted to differentiate the new watch from its predecessors with a small detail. The older vintage pieces feature a decorative serpent’s tongue protruding from the mouth. In more recent times this had vanished from Serpenti designs, which also extend to necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings. ‘I reintroduced the tongue for the new watch but felt it must have a functional purpose.’ Today this is used to open the head/case.

The pleasure in this piece is, of course, the surprise of the reveal. ‘What you see when you wear the watch on the wrist is the external “skin”, the cover. What are you going to see when you open it? The answer: the watch – the faceted glass, the engravings by hand.’ As a former car designer, Buonamassa Stigliani uses an analogy from his old trade: ‘When you design a mechanical movement, it is like the engine of a car. And as a watchmaker you don’t want to cover it. In Italy we say that design is the arte applicata all’industria.’ In other words, functionality of design is as important as the aesthetics.

‘We are, of course, not the first to use serpents in watches or jewellery – many different cultures use the emblem and it has multiple meanings, such as rebirth, infinity and power. In fact, it has been synonymous with power for centuries – and certainly it is the case that powerful people wear our Serpenti jewellery and watches. But Bulgari has been instrumental in turning this symbol into a luxury item, just as we did with the Tubogas design from the late 1930s.’ Tubogas, if you don’t know it, takes its inspiration from the unlikely source of gas pipes. ‘Now, like the Tubogas, the Serpenti has become a signature of our brand.’ And the way Bulgari uses both these motifs is demonstrative of the skill the house has in the making of watches and jewellery.

Watches and jewellery. Though often talked of in the same breath, the reality is that most companies that make both are considered to have a specialism. There are watchmakers who do jewellery, and jewellers who do watches. And where there are jewelled watches from these firms, it is often the case that they are considered to express the specialism of the house. A jewelled watch is often regarded as either a piece of jewellery that incorporates a timepiece, or a watch that has been given a decorative makeover.

Bulgari’s point of difference is that it has credibility in both fields. The Serpenti Piccolissimo is perhaps the perfect example of this. The body and head are created in Rome by Bulgari’s master jewellers, and the movement and assembly take place in Switzerland at its watchmaking facility. Indeed, you can de-couple the timepiece from the bracelet if you wish, which allows access for maintenance.

‘The aim of Piccolissimo was just this,’ confirms Buonamassa Stigliani, ‘to show we are a jeweller and a watchmaker. The Serpenti is not just a piece of jewellery that gives you the time. It is a piece of jewellery that gives you the time with a mechanical movement – one that has been developed by our horological experts to be placed inside our most prestigious jewellery watch.’

It is, he explains, emblematic of Bulgari’s desire to evolve. ‘As our skills change, we change our minds. We change the rules. The archive is an opportunity, but we don’t want to have a copy-and-paste approach. This is not our mindset. Just as a serpent changes its own skin, we change our idea of the product.’

In the case of the new watches, the rules have indeed been changed. ‘Not many watch brands invest in the micro mechanics and the art of miniaturisation required to make a small mechanical movement for high jewellery watches,’ explains the designer. 

There are four new Serpenti secret watches. It is not, explains Buonamassa Stigliani, a limited edition, but it will only be made in limited quantities – around 40 pieces a year in total. ‘There are two models with enamel and two with semi-precious gemstones. In future you will see more and more mechanical jewel watches from Bulgari. And configurations of the Serpenti Piccolissimo; it invites endless creativity.’ 

bulgari.com