Snakes Alive: Introducing Bulgari’s Latest High Jewellery Secret Watches
At this year’s LVMH Watch Week, Bulgari unveiled several stunning creations — including four slithering new watches that pay homage to the brand’s first-ever secret watch.
Few animals are as emblematic or immediately recognisable as Bulgari's serpent. The Italian brand has long used the snake as an icon of rebirth and seduction. This year, Bulgari has added a new chapter in the serpent's mythos with the release of four new Serpenti secret watches — just in time for the 80th anniversary of the brand's first-ever secret watch.
Unveiled at this year's LVMH Watch Week, the four new watches revisit an iconic design from the 1950s, where a bejewelled snake guards a secret watch within its gem-encrusted maw. Powering the secret watch is one of the smallest mechanical movements in the world. The BVL 100 Piccolissimi calibre — which was conceived and produced at Bulgari's Le Sentier base in Switzerland — comes with a 30-hour power reserve and weighs just 1.30 grams.
The four versions offer up several different takes on the iconic serpent, including a sleek version in black-lacquered rose gold, and another in yellow gold set with round brilliant-cut diamonds.
Also revealed at the event was a one-of-a-kind high jewellery secret watch, said to be one of the most expensive timepieces ever made by the brand. The Serpenti Misteriosi Romani features a staggering number of precious stones — including some 670 sapphires and diamonds — crowned with a 10.83ct cushion-cut sapphire that rests on the head of the serpent.
