It goes without saying that Bulgari is internationally renowned and respected as one of the top luxury brands in the world. With their recent strategical business moves and exciting product developments, one thing is for sure - Bulgari is on its way to claiming a substantial stake in the world of haute horology. Therefore, it was received with great pride on our part when they chose to participate in IGOTT2 and develop a Limited Edition PuristS 10th Diagono X-Pro Watch for the occasion. However, there was something that surpassed even the excitement of that. Bulgari premiered for the first time to the public at IGOTT2, their new Daniel Roth Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar.

Bulgari Daniel Roth Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar
This may not have been a huge deal to the others in the audience but I think it was to me and Ed. Not too ago I was standing in one of the dark display rooms in the Bulgari Hall at Baselworld marveling at one of their videos that they had playing on the wall. The footage was a display of graphical wonder. It felt like you were taking a swim through the inner workings of a high complication watch. It was accompanied by a beautiful chiming sound and ended with a full view of the piece - the familiar Daniel Roth case in gold, black dial with moonphase, sub-dials, gold numerals and hands, prominence and balance. The only watch I could think of that came close to elliciting a similar feeling of complete awe is UN's Genghis Khan.

They played the video but the watch was not on display. Later, only after repeated questioning on our part did the people at Bulgari agree to show us the watch in person. We were led down winding hallways, past various meeting and product display rooms and finally we came to a small room tucked away and guarded with security personnel. There were glass display cases arranged in a circular manner in the center of the room. The cases held the most complicated of Bulgari's watch collection - the Magsonic, the Octo Grande Sonnerie Tourbillon, the Giacatore Veneziano and several others including the Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar we had seen in the video. We immediately gravitated to the case of the last mentioned and requested to handle and photograph it up close. Our request was denied for reasons that the official announcement for the watch would not happen until later in the year and until then we had no choice but to keep our lips sealed. So you can imagine our excitment upon learning that PuristSPro would host the announcement. We present to you, the Bulgari Daniel Roth Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar. Here are some quick initial specifications on the piece. A more detailed report will follow after I make sense of my notes and possibly get my hands on a press release.
The movement is a Calibre DR 5307 with 923 components and 22 complications. Among the complications, a grande and petite sonnerie, perpetual calendar, minute repeater, a moonphase, and double power reserve. It also has 4 hammers and a silent centrifical governer. There are 1057 components in total and it takes an entire year to complete one piece. The case is 18kt gold with a black dial. There are display windows for the month and day of the week at 3 and 9 o'clock. The cage-like subdial at 6 o'clock displays the date.

Snapshot of the movement

Bulgari Daniel Roth Grande Sonnerie Perpetual Calendar

Watchmaker Pascal Legendre

Mr. Pascal Legendre working on the movement and displaying the 3 gongs.

The master watchmaker's personal notes.

A colored drawing of the movement
This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2011-06-03 17:40:26 This message has been edited by ED209 on 2011-06-11 18:09:15