Watches with blueprints of their movements on their dials.

In 2020, a top LVMH watch brand Zenith adorned the dial of their Pilot Type 20 Blueprint watch with a sneak peek of the technical plans and notes used by the dial-maker, allowing fans of their watches behind-the-scenes access to the workshop where their favorite models are made.

Two years later, another LVMH subsidiary used a similar scheme — Bulgari. Only instead of using a scaled-down blueprint, the dial of the 2022 "Sketch" Chronograph GMT reproduced the first sketch of the Octo Finissimo dial, which was hand-drawn by Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani.

The fashion designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani was born in Naples but moved to Rome as a child. He has set the style which is central to Bulgari's current line with Roman roots — Octo Finissimo. Stigliani began his career working on designs for Fiat and Alfa Romeo, and turned his attention to watches in 2001.

Now he's applied his creative genius and approach of always sketching by hand to create three new Bulgari Octo Finissimo "Sketch" editions. The idea of a sketched dial has been maxed out on the Automatic 140th Anniversary Sketch Dial. The paper drawing replicated on the dial two years ago had a sketched logo, numerals, and counters, but now we can see a full technical drawing of the back of the micro-rotor movement.

Not only are the sketches for various design elements on show here, details designed by Stigliani are also labeled in his own handwriting. This watch launch is dedicated to Bulgari's 140th anniversary and the Octo Finissimo collection's 10th anniversary.

The series consists of two-hand Automatic 140th Anniversary Sketch Dial editions with small seconds in steel and rose gold, along with a steel Chronograph GMT (photos haven't been unveiled yet — only its sketch is available).

The limit for each edition has been set at numbers derived from the big date: 140 for the Chronograph GMT, 280 pieces for the Automatic 140th Anniversary Sketch Dial in steel, and 70 in rose gold. Turning the Bulgari Octo Finissimo 140th Anniversary Sketch Dial over, the sketch comes to life on the caseback side.

Here you can see how Bulgari has brought the designer's idea to life into the automatic BVL 138 movement. This movement with a 60-hour power reserve measures a mere 2.23 mm in height, which has kept the case height down to 6.4 mm.

The Chronograph GMT edition is equipped with caliber BVL 318, which uses a peripheral rotor instead of the micro-rotor used in BVL 138. The magic trick where you can bring the sketch to life by flipping the watch over doesn't work here. The dial side reveals the front rather than the back of the movement. The case for this novelty measures 43 mm × 8.75 mm.

Credits taken from: www.monochrome-watches.com