Bvlgari Octo Bi-Retro in Steel and Ceramic

Under its stainless steel and ceramic skin, the new Bvlgari Octo Bi-Retro wrist watch is essentially the same attractive Gerald Genta Octo Bi-Retro model with its exterior designed slightly tweaked to be more in line with Bulgari’s current design language.

Powered by the same GG7722 automatic caliber, the watch features a jumping hour complication, which is becoming more and more fashionable as the time goes by, and a pair of retrograde hands for the minute and date indicators.

Bvlgari Octo Bi-Retro men's wrist watch in Stainless Steel and Ceramic

Beating at standard 28,800 vibrations per hour, the mechanism stores enough energy to power the watch for at least 45 hours when fully wound. Which is not a small feat at all, since the amount of energy needed to push the minute and date hands from “60″ to “00″ and “31″ to “01″ positions respectively while changing the numeral in the hour window is overwhelming.

This, as I have already noted, is a beautiful watch. The Bvlgari Octo Bi-Retro watch features a well-balanced color scheme with black and different shades of gray dominating its face almost undisputedly, with only a minor touch of red, which is used to print the “CAL 7722″ mark at 6 o’clock.

My single complaint as to its dial layout comes regarding its hour indicator. To my taste, Bulgari should have finally introduced a uniform double-digit representation of all the numerals that are indicated on the dial. At least, this kind of solution would be more congruent with the retrograde minute hand’s scale.

Photos: Bvlgari

Bvlgari Octo Bi-Retro in Steel and Ceramic watch specification

Price range: N/A
Movement: Caliber GG7722, automatic, in-house, 28,800 vph
Complications: Jumping hours, retrograde date, retrograde minutes
Power reserve: 45 hours
Case material: Stainless steel
Bezel material: Ceramic
Case shape: Octagonal
Transparent case back: N/A
Case size: 43 mm
Case height: N/A
Dial: Black and gray
Numerals: Arabic
Hands: Steel
Strap: Black rubber with triple-bladed steel folding clasp
Crystal: Sapphire, AR-coated
Water resistance: 100 meters