SimplyAbuDhabi XIV

9 8 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I T he Octo has become a mainstay in the watch collections of Bulgari, a house known worldwide for its exquisite design and fine jewellery expertise. The watch is both a precision timepiece and an architectural creation that pays tribute to Italian creative genius without ever compromising mechanical perfection. The enchanting power of the Octo lies in its effortlessly refined sophistication and the avoidance of simplistic approaches and preconceived ideas. This watch is the embodiment of a remarkable, unusual, and meticulous personality that embraces the complementary sides of its dual nature. The Octo’s nature derives from its classical roots. Born of a marriage of Italian creativity and Swiss precision, it subsumes the best of both worlds to take the middle road between aesthetics and precision. Singular yet multiple, accurate yet attractive, the Octo plays on paradoxes and contrasts to seamlessly show off its various facets. It appears as a robust unit, with two sides to its nature, with strong lines and subtle features therein. The Octo is a real-world paradox of duality and contrasting design, proudly displaying a finely fashioned case with a hundred and ten different facets for a myriad of glittering surprises. The eye is drawn to the ridges and flat surfaces, discovering how the material was worked, cut from a solid piece, pure metal in all its glory. Whether gold or steel, the material expresses and reveals itself in a way that adds solid beauty to an already distinct timepiece. In the heart of the Swiss Jura, the Saignelégier craftsmenwhomake the cases and bracelets carry on a long-practised tradition, repeating the age-old meticulous, precisemotions to create the sublime casing; a tour de force of both contemporary design and precision manufacturing. Its remarkable shape is unlike any other in the world of watchmaking, as the watch is beautifully octagonal and crowned with a spherical bezel. The Octo’s octagonal dial aperture draws the eye further into the design, like the gates of Rome giving passage to the Eternal City. Every facet of the watch leads the way to an extremely refined series of features, created by the pursuit of simplicity and flawlessness wrought through generations of fine workmanship and rich sophistication. The simplicity of the Octo’s arrangement connects it firmly to the essential and fundamental values of measuring and displaying the passage of time. The dial is uncluttered and very easy to consult with only the numbers six and twelve appearing, as has been customary with Bulgari watches since the 1940s. Octo