Tuned to a symphony of dramatic musical notes, Bvlgari’s latest Octo Roma chiming watches is like nothing you’ve ever heard before

There’s a sequence of notes, known as tritones, which sounds so ominous that churches once prohibited it from being played during the medieval and renaissance periods. Today, musicians call it, rather appropriately, the ‘devil’s interval’. And you’d probably recognise this sequence of notes, too, in classical pieces by Igor Stravinsky, or the intro to Enter Sandman by Metallica.

Harnessing the darkness and intrigue these notes are known to evoke, Bvlgari presents a trio of chiming watches that sound like nothing else on the market today. Unveiled at Geneva Watch Week 2024, the Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon, Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon, and Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon allow their owners to activate their chiming mechanisms to sound out the time—with a twist of thrilling tritones.

With the three watches, Bvlgari effectively covers all the essential ground in chiming watches. The grande sonnerie (“grand strike” in French) sounds out the time automatically with two distinct types of chimes—a high note for the hours, and a low one for every quarter hour. The carillon, on the other hand, has three types of chimes—a high note for the hours, triple notes for the quarter hours, and a low note for the minutes. Last but not least, a minute repeater sounds out notes for hours, double high-low notes for quarter hours, and high notes for the minutes on demand.

Regardless of the number of notes, Bvlgari’s master watchmakers had to rethink old ways of tuning the watches’ hammers and gongs. Instead of crafting the components to strike mellifluous notes that are typical to regular chiming watches, the artisans now get them to sound out the dissonant tritones.

Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon

Housed in a 45mm titanium case, the Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon features arguably the most complex chiming system of the three. Besides the grande and petite sonnerie, it also incorporates a minute repeater. On top of these chiming options, the watch is equipped with a tourbillon, which rotates theatrically at 10 o’clock. The Octo Roma Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon also leaves no doubt about its technical sophistication by proudly showcasing its hand-wound movement via an openworked dial.

Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon

The Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon also boasts a chiming feature—a carillon minute repeater—alongside a tourbillon at 6 o’clock. Unlike regular minute repeater mechanisms that are equipped with two sets of hammers and gongs, a carillon comes with three sets of hammers and gongs. So, the Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon will strike a high note for the hours, triple note for the quarters, and a low note for the minutes—in Bvlgari’s unique and drama-fuelled tritone, of course. Encased in 44mm rose gold, the watch, too, offers a peek into its hand-wound movement through an openworked dial.

Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon

Rounding up the stellar cast, the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon offers a svelte alternative to the other two models. Hewn from the same Octo Finissimo family that is known for watches with record-breaking thinness, this offering is also incredibly thin. Housed in a black case made of multi-layered CTP (Carbon Thin Ply) that measures just 6.85mm thin, it is driven by a hand-wound movement that is just 3.12mm in height—the same one that holds the world record for the thinnest hand-wound minute repeater movement since 2016.

Bvlgari