nafetS
1869
Long time experience with different materials of the Octo Finissimo
Apr 08, 2023,17:14 PM
The different materials available on the Octo Finissimo offer a quite diverse wearing experience. As I've owned 4 of those materials for quite some time now, I thought I'd post my experience with them. I do not own carbon or platinum variations, so I can't comment on those. Pls share you experience, if you do. Of course all of this is just my opinion and might differ from yours.

The Octo Finissimo is by design thin and light with a lot of sharp edges and a big, plain dial. The bracelet is also thin and rather light. The clasp offers no fine adjustement, but is on the other hand also thin and becomes almost invisible when it's closed on the wrist. The height of the case varies slightly depending on the materials, some offer a screw down crown and 100m of water resistance, while others only offer 30m of water resistance. If you take into account all of these traits, the user experience with the different materials varies more than expected at first glance.
Titanium:
The Titanium OF offers the most well rounded wearing experience. It's light, matching the watch's thin appearance. The Titanium case is also the thinnest out of these 4. It's showing all of the angles of the watch case, but it doesn't accentuate them. The Titanium bracelet is the most comfortable to wear. It adapts well to the wrists temperature and feels very smooth. The missing fine adjustement of the clasp doesn't matter as much, because the watch is very light and doesn't put pressure on my wrist or hand. The Titanium OF is the quintessential OF. Everyone interested in the OF should at least try a Titanium version and I'd definitely recommend it to people who want the best wearing comfort.
Ceramic:
The ceramic OF is slightly thicker and slightly more heavy, but it's still light enough for me to not miss a clasp with fine adjustement. The edges of the bracelet feel a bit sharper on the skin, slightly lessening the wearing comfort. The black colour of the mat ceramic (not sure about the glossy ceramic) hides the edges of the case the most out of all of these materials, at least at first glance. If you have a closer look, they become visible. It's the most restrained case material, yet still offers enough wirst presence being all black. It could also be a good choice as your first OF, because it doesn't overwhelm you with the case design.
Steel:
The steel OF is shiny and heavy compared to the OF variations mentioned above. It's also thicker, but on the upside it offers a screw down crown and 100m of water resistance. The steel doesn't try to hide the edges of the case, it accentuates them. The dials available on the steel OF pop. The edges of the bracelet are not as sharp on the skin as the ones of the ceramic OF, but also not as smooth as the titanium ones. The heft of the steel case can make it sit uncomfortably on the wrist/hand depending on the situation. With this material, I'm missing a fine adjustement of the clasp. If you want to feel a watch on your wrist and want more wrist presence, this can be your material. It definitely feels more sturdy. But it comes at a price. In steel, it's more Octo and less Finissimo.
Gold:
The (newer) gold case has the same thickness and water resistance as the steel cases (older ones are different). Because it's even more heavy than steel, I opted for a leather bracelet instead of a gold bracelet, as I was already missing a fine adjustement with the heft of the steel version. You can of course go for a gold bracelet, but I recommend thoroughly testing it on your wrist before buying it. At first, I thought the OF is a watch made for a metal bracelet, but I've really come to love wearing this one on leather. The red gold colour fits the case well. It doesn't pronounce the edges as much as steel does, yet more than the other two. The golden OF does have a more luxurious appearance, yet it's fine luxury, not exaggerated luxury.
So, these are my impressions. I hope it helps people to make the right decision which case material to choose.