Watches and jewelry are each outlined by how they put on, however wristwatches are constrained by performance — except the wristwatch in query is the Bvlgari Serpenti Misteriosi excessive jewelry secret watch. New for 2022, debuting a few days in the past on the LVMH watch week, the Bvlgari Serpenti Misteriosi is a triumph of high quality watchmaking and excessive jewelry, fulfilling practical duties on the wrist whereas additionally being a pleasure to behold and put on (we now have not tried the Bvlgari novelties on, however the instance of earlier Serpenti watches elevate our expectations).
As you might need guessed, this time-only watch boasts an all-new elegant mechanical calibre — the manual-winding BVL100 — that solely reveals its timekeeping capabilities on-demand. Urgent the tongue of the stylised snake causes it to open its jaws and reveal the time.
With its jaws closed, the Bvlgari Serpenti Misteriosi is likely to be mistaken for a Serpenti bracelet; these are Bvlgari’s signature creations that make it seem that you’re sporting a small snake fabricated from jewels and gold in your wrist. For extra on the motif and its historical past particular to Bvlgari, see our story on this right here. There are 4 references this yr, all excessive jewelry, in rose gold and white gold, and every one has a particular look and possibly textures too; the perfect half about sporting a watch like that is feeling it.
First although, we should spare a number of phrases for the BVL100 calibre (pictured beneath) as a result of it takes us again to a time earlier than quartz actions have been perfected and miniaturised to such an extent that mechanical calibres have been rendered extraneous. The issue is the dimensions of the motion — the BVL100 is 12.3mm in diameter, which is smaller than some wristwatch stability wheels — which tends to restrict accuracy and practicality (when it comes to the facility reserve).
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Picture: Bvlgari -
Picture: Bvlgari
Up to date engineering presents options to those issues, and what we now have in BVL100 is a motion with a powerful 30 hours of energy reserve and a stability wheel in white gold (extra mass within the stability wheel improves the mechanism’s second of inertia), which helps the escapement ship a gentle 21,600 vph. Extra mass right here is relative as a result of the whole motion (102 elements) weighs in at an effervescent 1.3g! Bvlgari is claiming no information right here (this time) however BVL100 is critical and we stay up for studying extra (and seeing it in additional Bvlgari watches).
Provided that the Bvlgari Serpenti Misteriosi is a secret watch, that limits the place a crown can go — such a factor is a useless giveaway that what you might have in your wrist is a watch. The answer here’s a bi-directional dual-duty winding and setting mechanism on the caseback. From the pictures supplied, this hidden crown seems to be to be sizable sufficient to set and wind the watch with ease. Bvlgari has not revealed a lot in regards to the end on the motion however it seems to be like gilt frosting, on some plates and bridges.
Transferring on from the innards of the watch, the scale of watches such because the Serpenti Misteriosi are tough to assign numbers to. For the report, all circumstances are 40mm and every one sports activities three coils (relying on the way you rely them, and known as double tour by Bvlgari) so they’ll have fairly a robust presence on the wrist — Serpenti watches will not be shy, even when these fashions are being slightly coy. Under are the specs for every watch, as supplied by Bvlgari and recognized by mannequin quantity.
Ref. 103559: 40 mm black-lacquered rose gold case, 2 pear-cut diamonds for the eyes (~0.3 ct), diamond-paved dial; black-lacquered rose gold double-tour bracelet.
Ref. 103560: 40 mm white gold case, green-lacquered and set with brilliant-cut diamonds, 2 pear-cut emeralds for the eyes (~0.4 ct), diamond-paved dial; inexperienced lacquered white gold double-tour bracelet set with brilliant-cut diamonds. Complete 369 diamonds (~8.35 cts).
Ref. 103558: 40 mm rose gold case set with brilliant-cut diamonds and turquoise inserts, 2 pear-cut rubellites for the eyes (~0.4 ct), diamond-paved dial; double-tour rose gold bracelet set with diamonds and turquoise inserts. Complete 724 diamonds (~18.05 cts).
Ref. 103561: 40 mm white gold case and head set with 626 spherical brilliant-cut diamonds (~15.83 cts), 2 pear-cut emeralds for the eyes (~0.4 ct), diamond-paved dial; yellow gold double-tour bracelet set with spherical brilliant-cut diamonds, white gold tail set with spherical brilliant-cut diamonds. Complete 795 diamonds (~16.59 cts).
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