Bvlgari proves that its Octo Finissimo range of ultra-thin watches is truly a conduit for creative expression
It shouldn’t work, but it does—that a canvas roughly the size of a large postage stamp can unlock endless possibilities for a vast expanse of artistic endeavours. At Geneva Watch Days 2025, Bvlgari once again demonstrates the depth and breadth of horological artistry with one of its most iconic—and dimensionally unforgiving—watch collections, the Octo Finissimo.
Measuring just 40mm by 40mm, the Octo Finissimo watches are known for their ultra-thin profile. Since the collection’s debut in 2014, it has broken 10 ultra-thin records in watchmaking, including one for the world’s thinnest mechanical tourbillon with this year’s Octo Finissimo Ultra Tourbillon. At the Geneva Watch Days 2025 exhibition in September, Bvlgari elevates the Octo Finissimo’s technical sophistication with striking artistic executions that transform these svelte mechanical marvels into true masterpieces for the wrist.
The Italian luxury house has previously enlisted Japanese architect Tadao Ando, and artist Hiroshi Senju, to reimagine Octo Finissimo models. This year, the company has worked with Lee Ufan, a Korean-born, Japan-based artist celebrated for his minimalist philosophy and works that express the power of space and silence.
“I know Lee Ufan from his amazing paintings. Then I discovered his sculptures, where a big rock sits on a mirror—I was intrigued. At first, you think these two elements don’t work together, but in the end, it works perfectly,” says Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Bvlgari’s product creation executive director, in a press statement.
The collaboration between Lee and Bvlgari has yielded a 150-piece limited-edition Octo Finissimo. A study in contrasts between stillness and exuberance, the watch comes in a titanium case and bracelet, combining matte surfaces, polished edges, and bracelet links that have been individually etched by Lee to create a meteorite-like texture.
At centre stage—amid the studied decorative flourishes—is a pristine mirrored dial, unadorned except for black hands that tell the time. On the reverse, the open caseback reveals the in-house automatic movement, just 2.23 mm thick, and engraved with Lee’s signature. As Stigliani notes of Lee’s works, the elements appear not to belong together and yet, somehow, coalesce harmoniously.
If the limited-edition Octo Finissimo Lee Ufan x Bvlgari is a dialogue between silence and matter, the new Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Marble, housed in a 40mm polished platinum case, underscores Bvlgari’s audacity in pushing the limits of materials.
Marble has always been synonymous with Rome, a material that evokes both refinement and grandeur. With the latest iteration of the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Marble, Bvlgari crafts the dial from opulent deep blue marble, sourced from Italy’s finest quarries. This is not the first time marble has graced the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon. In 2023, Bvlgari introduced a one-off, full-marble edition in striking “Verde Alpi” green marble, and earlier this year launched a 30-piece limited edition featuring the same verdant stone in a yellow gold case.
Heavy, brittle, and unforgiving, marble is not a material typically associated with watchmaking. Yet Bvlgari’s craftsmen have managed to coax it into one of the thinnest watches in the world, producing a piece that unites sculptural finesse with mechanical sophistication. Despite housing a marble dial and the hand-wound BVL 268 movement with flying tourbillon, the latest Octo Finissimo Tourbillon Marble measures just 4.85 mm thick.
By inviting artists into its fold and daring to shape even the most unyielding materials, Bvlgari transforms the Octo Finissimo into more than an ultra-thin marvel—but a canvas where horological mastery meets contemporary art.
