A little over a decade ago, serious collectors did not talk about Bulgari watches. The Roman house was known for jewelry and for the Serpenti, and its watches were treated as accessories rather than horology. Then came the Octo Finissimo, and a jewelry brand spent the next ten years quietly breaking one ultra-thin world record after another. The watch that started as a statement of intent turned Bulgari into one of the most respected names in modern watchmaking.
The new 37mm version, shown at Watches and Wonders 2026, is the next chapter, and it is a telling one. Instead of chasing another record, Bulgari took its design icon and finally made it fit a normal wrist. Here is why that matters, and whether the watch is worth your attention.
The images in this article are AI-generated illustrations created for editorial purposes. They are not photographs of a specific watch offered for sale.
The short answer: the Octo Finissimo 37mm is a more wearable version of the ultra-thin watch that made Bulgari a serious watchmaker. It runs a new in-house automatic micro-rotor movement, measures a slim 6.45mm, and starts at $16,600 in sandblasted titanium, which undercuts the Royal Oak and Nautilus by a wide margin. The trade-offs are modest water resistance and a design-led resale curve, so it is a watch to buy because you love it, ideally pre-owned. For the distinctive look and the horological credibility behind it, few watches near the price are this interesting.
How a jewelry house became an ultra-thin champion
The Octo Finissimo arrived in 2014 as an ultra-thin tourbillon, and it was a declaration. Over the following decade Bulgari, led by designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, broke a remarkable run of thinness records: the thinnest automatic, the thinnest minute repeater, the thinnest chronograph, the thinnest GMT, and eventually the Octo Finissimo Ultra, the thinnest mechanical watch ever made. Along the way the collection became a genuine design icon, with a stepped octagonal case drawn from Roman architecture and a sandblasted titanium finish that reads as industrial and elegant at once. That combination, real technical achievement wrapped in an unmistakable design, is what moved Bulgari from jeweler to serious watchmaker.
A decade of thinness records built the reputation. The slim profile is the whole point of the Octo Finissimo.
What the 37mm actually is
The 2017 Octo Finissimo Automatic that most people know is 40mm and just 5.15mm thick, and for many wrists it wears large because the octagonal case fills the wrist like a square. The 37mm fixes that, and it required an entirely new movement to do it: the in-house Calibre BVF 100, a self-winding micro-rotor caliber developed over three years, running at 3Hz with a healthy 72-hour power reserve. The new case measures 6.45mm, about 1.3mm thicker than the 40mm, a trade most buyers will happily make for a watch that finally suits smaller wrists, part of the broader shift toward smaller watches. It comes in sandblasted or polished titanium and in 18k yellow gold, all on an integrated bracelet.
At 6.45mm and 37mm, the Octo Finissimo slides under a cuff and suits smaller wrists in a way the 40mm never quite did.
The honest caveats
It is not a flawless watch, and pretending otherwise does no one any favors.
30 meters is not a swim watch
Water resistance is just 30 meters, so despite the sporty integrated-bracelet look, this is a dress watch you keep away from the pool. Treat it as the elegant slice of watchmaking it is, not a tool watch.
Movement and finishing shortcuts
The movement beats at a leisurely 3Hz with a necessarily small balance, an acceptable trade for the thinness and the reserve. But as SJX notes, the dial markers are thin appliques affixed with adhesive rather than pinned, a visible finishing shortcut at this price.
It is not an investment
Like most watches outside the Rolex and Patek orbit, the Octo Finissimo is not something to buy as an investment. Design-led pieces tend to depreciate, which is precisely why the pre-owned market is the smart way in.
The new BVF 100 micro-rotor is decorated better than it needs to be, with striping radiating from the balance. The finishing nitpicks are on the dial, not here.
Where it sits against the establishment
The Octo Finissimo plays in the same integrated-bracelet sport-luxury arena as the Royal Oak, Nautilus, and Overseas, and it competes on very different terms. It cannot match their brand gravity or their resale, and it does not try to. What it offers instead is a genuinely distinctive design, class-leading thinness, and a price that sits well below the establishment, closer to a Vacheron Overseas conversation than a Royal Oak one. For a buyer who wants that look without the waitlists and the premiums, it is a compelling alternative.
The stepped octagonal case borrows from Roman architecture. Few watches at any price look this distinctive on the wrist.
Should you buy one?
Buy the Octo Finissimo 37mm if you want a design icon with real horological substance and you are buying it to wear, not to trade. It is one of the most interesting watches you can own near its price, and the 37mm case makes it wearable in a way the 40mm never quite managed for smaller wrists. Because it depreciates like most design-led watches, the pre-owned market is the smart entry point, letting you skip the first owner's loss. Go in for the design and the thinness, and it delivers something almost nothing else at the price can.
If the integrated sport-luxury look is what you are after and you want it from a house we carry, browse authenticated pre-owned Audemars Piguet at 5dwatches.com.