The Diva’s Dream watches see Bulgari blend their expertise in both watchmaking and jewellery to present us a Roman inspired collection.
Bulgari designers went and visited the Roman Baths of Caracella to find inspiration for the watches. These baths have long been an inspiration to architects, artists, and designers. They were built somewhere between AD 216 and AD 235 and were in use for at least 300 years before falling into disrepair.
The inspiration Bulgari took from the baths is the fan shaped mosaic floor. This floor has been reinterpreted onto a watch face through the use of precious stones. Nowhere is this more opulent than on the all-diamond version, the ref. 103497.
This variant features multiple cuts of diamonds that are set on the dial to make up the fan motif which extends past the dial and onto the lugs, case sides, and case. Overall, there are 689 diamonds on the 37mm watch. All the diamonds are set on 18k white gold. Each diamond is set by hand and requires hundreds of hours of craftsmanship to get right.
You’ll find on the 7 o’clock case side, a diamond-set fan-shaped charm that doubles as the activator for the minute repeater. When you pull this repeater, the watch will chime the hours, quarter hours, and the minutes past the quarter hour using two tiny hammers and a gong. The calibre used in this watch is apparently the world’s thinnest repeater movement.
The pink ref. 103492 is crafted in 18k rose gold and shows off a dazzling bezel of baguette-cut pink sapphires. The fan motif is done with various hues of pink sapphire and diamond, that reach out onto the lugs. In total, this watch has 282 diamonds weighing 2.16 carats and 261 pink sapphires weighing 12.7 carats.
The green ref. 103491 is crafted in 18k white gold and features 282 diamonds and 262 tsavorites. This watch is essentially the same as the pink sapphire version but with the main gemstone replaced. It seems an interesting addition to the green watch trend we’ve been seeing a lot of in 2021.
These two watches don’t house the repeater movement seen in the all-diamond version and instead houses the mechanical self-winding Manufacture movement, Caliber BVL 911.