The Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti: an horological machine for the wrist

For the uninitiated, Bulgari’s Italian savoir-faire appears an unlikely match with the futurist tech of MB&F, Switzerland’s flag bearer for unbiased watchmaking. However the just lately launched and reimagined Serpenti is, actually, the second collaborative effort.

Initially debuted within the Nineteen Forties, the Bulgari Serpenti vary is impressed by the snake. Early designs featured coiled bracelets with hid, or ‘thriller’, dials, leaning closely on the model’s Italian heritage. The Nineteen Sixties launched the twisted flex of the Tubogas method, and in 2023, the Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas Infinity provided a modern celebration of the Serpenti vary’s seventy fifth anniversary with gem-set splendour. Quick-forward to January 2025, and Bulgari lastly unveiled the Serpenti Tubogas and Seduttori fashions with mechanical actions inside their snake-like heads. With a stronger deal with the precise watch inside the serpent, Bulgari now provides a traditional bracelet with a scale-like sample and several other fashions, together with double-twirl rose-gold bracelets and diamond-set extravagance.

However regardless of the Serpenti’s evolution as a timeless calling card for Bulgari, there has not been a mannequin for males, till now. The Bvlgari x MB&F Serpenti incorporates MB&F’s micro-engineering, seen via a sapphire rear crystal and 4 sapphire home windows. The motion seems like an engine in a racing automotive, its immensely giant 14mm steadiness slowly oscillating.

It’s a collaborative effort wherein the flowing strains of Buonamassa Stigliani’s pen are clearly current. The case is kind of giant in comparison with its luxuriously embellished Italo-Swiss spirit animal, at 39mm x 53mm lug to lug. However via an ingenious transfer, twin crowns double as pivot factors for articulated lugs, and the watch will sit comfortably on the wrist with its cloth strap.

Time is considered on aluminium domed discs inside the proper and left entrance apertures, with shiny colors matched by bridgework within the rear. The striated window will remind lots of a louvred window to a mid-mounted V12 engine, and every strap matches the colored element. Max Busser and his scientist-watchmakers developed the manual-winding MB&F in-house motion with its 45-hour energy reserve.

The enchantment of manufacturers like MB&F lies within the delicate juxtaposition of conventional particulars, like a hand-bevelled edge on a motion bridge with cutting-edge futurism. That is encapsulated within the physique created by Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, the place one other duality involves the fore, in a reference to each the serpent and the aerodynamic traits of a racing automotive.

The Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti is being provided in three editions, every restricted to 33 items in a alternative of metals, in rose gold or titanium.