Inside Bulgari Bracelet Manufacturing

pingtsai · 2013-11-05T22:45:05Z

Go inside Bulgari's bracelet-making process. Discover the precision and artistry behind their watch bracelets, including the acclaimed Octo steel bracelet.

pingtsai

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Pingtsai offers an exclusive look into Bulgari's bracelet-making process, highlighting the brand's commitment to quality and precision. The article delves into the intricate steps involved in crafting watch bracelets, from individual link production to finishing, showcasing how these elements contribute to the overall enjoyment of a Bulgari timepiece like the Octo.

Inside Bracelet-Making at Bulgari

With the impressive comfort and construction of recent releases for Bulgari watch bracelets like the stainless steel Octo, it has become quite evident the quality, precision and beauty that Bulgari is capable of producing. The stainless steel Octo with bracelet is made so well that even men who don't normally wear watches with bracelets have liked this version of the Octo.

Bracelet-making can be an important step in the process of making a watch. Constructing individual links that must be individually produced and finished and later linked together in succession to create a single flexible entity is a complex process that may have a crucial impact on the overall enjoyment of the watch.

Let's take a closer look at this process and how they do it at Bulgari.

Again from this 3D description of the pieces command files for the CNC machines are generated. And again, as at Finger for the casemaking, stamping and machining are often combined to create the final part. Here we see an initial stamping and the final machined piece.

This is how the bracelet is formed for this distinctive ladies watch, the B. Zero

As we are used to in an industrial environment measuring equipment and technical drawings are found everywhere to control the dimensions of the pieces fabricated.

Here we see a CNC milling machine with its automatic material feed. With this automatic feed the machine can operate for several hours, depending on the size and complexity of the pieces, until it needs human intervention to add new material.

Again measuring equipment, this time optical equipment with which, for example, an edge can be scanned to make sure that it has the correct form, or the distance between two hole centers can be accurately measured.

These smaller CNC machines are used to make the links in bracelets or the pins of a standard buckle. Again the raw material is in the form of a 3 meter long bar which is placed in the long tray to the left. Making such small parts the machine works for about 4 hours before needing new material.

These are the parts this machine has been making.

After the parts have been machined the finishing commences. Here we see a buckle which has been selectively sand blasted in the center.

Many parts of bracelets are stamped. Here we see some of the dies used for this stamping.

And here is a display of the different steps of stamping this center portion of a deployant buckle. In general there is a heat treatment of the part between each stamping step so that the metal doesn’t become brittle. The actual stamping is not done in house. 150 ton presses are not to be played with.

We now enter the finishing room, mostly empty as it is now lunch time. But there are still a couple of people at work.

Here the first steps at cleaning up a buckle.

All the critical dimensions correct?

Polishing similar in casemaking

Interesting is the hard soldering operation. For this the pieces to be soldered together, the lugs on to a watch case, for example, are spot welded together to assure the positioning. The solder paste is spread on the joint and the piece is sent through an oven on a conveyor belt. The soldering room has 4 such ovens that are set to different temperatures from 800°C to 1000°C. No extra heating is needed in this room!

The workbench for spot welding.

One of the ovens.

Finally the many pieces of a bracelet are assembled. Here we can see all the pieces.

Two finished deployant buckles.

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2013-11-06 16:39:16

Key Points from the Discussion

The term 'superior' in the title likely refers to brands that excel in both jewelry and watchmaking, such as Bulgari, Cartier, Chopard, and Piaget, which tend to have truly in-house and highly ranked bracelet manufacturing capabilities.
Despite extensive machinery, the ultimate beauty and feel of a bracelet depend heavily on the skill of an artist using a polishing wheel, a craft that can take four to six years to master.
The author clarifies that 'art' in the title refers to the hand-crafted nature of the process, acknowledging that 'technical' might be a more precise descriptor given the industrial aspects shown.
Crafting a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing bracelet is a challenging endeavor, with the Bulgari Octo bracelet cited as a prime example of successful artistry.
A contributor questions the use of 'Superior Art' in the title, suggesting that the showcased machines and skills appear to be standard industry practices for luxury goods.

The Discussion

small-luxury-world

Nov 6, 2013

Ping, first of all I would like to say thanks for the insight. Something like this is always much appreciated by me, because I always try to learn what makes "luxury goods" special. Therefore I would like to ask why you have chosen the title "The Superior Art". So far I see machines and skills I would expect from the industry. Is there a detail that I missed? Cordially, Oliver

nilomis

Nov 6, 2013

Even with all those machines, at the end the beauty of the bracelet depends on an artist, that uses a polishing wheel. Without this gifted artist, the bracelet will look and feel as the ones of a 5$ watch. Thanks for showing this series (cases and now bracelets). Cheers, Nilo Addition: My watchmaker, that comes from a family of jewelers, educates several persons on the art of case and bracelet polishing. He says that took four to six years to one to master this ... art.

AnthonyTsai

Nov 6, 2013

Crafting a comfortable bracelet which at the same time looks good is a difficult thing to do. The Bulgari Octo bracelet is a perfect example of artistry. Cheers, Anthony

pingtsai

Nov 10, 2013

You are right that it is more technical perhaps. I guess I think of anything that is hand crafted as art in a way. But perhaps I should have chosen a different title :) Thanks for your comments.

MTF

Nov 13, 2013

Oliver, As former moderator of Chopard forum and now for Piaget forum, I have been exposed to watch bracelet making behind-the-scenes. I don't know what drove Ping to use the adjective 'superior' in her title but I suspect it is something sub-conscious. Within the industry, they know which brands truly make their bracelets in-house and which have nice bracelets made for them by 3rd parties. Even those that make their own bracelets are ranked in league tables of prowess. The brands that have mast

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