The Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti, The Metamorphosis of an Icon into a Horological Machine

Incredible things can happen when you put Bulgari’s designer extraordinaire and director of watchmaking, Fabrizio Buonamassa, and MB&F’s visionary founder and creator, Max Büsser, in the same room. Joining forces for the second time, the dynamic duo has envisioned a new habitat for Bulgari’s iconic Serpenti that sheds its familiar feminine universe and takes possession of a purpose-built Horological Machine. Beady-eyed MB&F fans might recognise some features of the mechanical movement powering the HM10 Bulldog, which has undergone significant modifications to adapt to the sleek, sinuous habitat created for the Serpenti. Available in pink gold, titanium and black PVD, each limited to 33 pieces, fans of both brands are going to relish its bite. Meet the new Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti.

The Connection

Four years ago, Fabrizio Buonamassa and Max Büsser put their creative heads together to collaborate on a high jewellery version of the Legacy Machine Flying T, MB&F’s first women’s watch. The result was the LM Flying T Allegra, a wonderful fusion of Bulgari’s tradition of exuberant colour-rich jewellery and MB&F’s flair for three-dimensional kinetic mechanics.

Metamorphosis

For their second collaboration, Buonamassa and Büsser selected Bulgari’s iconic Serpenti, the Roman brand’s most famous mascot that slithered into the limelight in 1948. Translating the sinuous silhouette of the Serpenti into MB&F’s horological language proved challenging. The devilishly complicated case, composed of a series of complex curves and shaped sapphire crystals revealing the movement, was a “machining nightmare.” Although MB&F has more experience than anyone in the field for its three-dimensional sculptural cases and movements, Büsser explains that “the biomorphic design of this watch created enormous challenges.” Using 5-axis 3D mills to create the curvaceous case was one thing, but getting the five sapphire crystals to fit snuggly over the curves to ensure the 30m water-resistance was quite another.

Snakes & Cars

A fascinating aspect of the watch is its ever-shifting personality.  Depending on your viewpoint, the Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti looks radically different. Viewed from the top, you can clearly see the Serpenti’s distinctive triangular-shaped head with smooth rounded surfaces and sapphire portholes offering a view of the brain (suspended balance wheel), the slanted eyes (revolving hour and minute domes) and other aspects of the complex movement.

One of Buonamassa’s directives for the watch was to animate the Serpenti’s eyes. This did not pose much of a mechanical problem thanks to the revolving hour and minute domes that reveal the current hour in the lateral, slanted sapphire glass windows. To keep the weight to a minimum, the domes are paper-thin and machined from solid aluminium. Enhanced with hand-applied Super-LumiNova, the snake’s eyes produce an eerie glow in the dark. As you can appreciate from our wrist shots, the downward-sloping channelled lugs that hug the wrist and protrude from the snake’s mouth look very much like fangs.

Viewed from the side, though, the sloping profile evokes the sleek bodywork of, let’s say, a curvaceous 1930s Bugatti Atlantic. It will come as no surprise to learn that Büsser and Buonamassa are car enthusiasts and grew up with the same automotive references. Other car-inspired references are the stepped sapphire crystals that are shaped like the flaps on the rear window of a sports car and the double crowns of this Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti that could be interpreted as wheels.

At the tapered end of the snake’s head and visible underneath the abovementioned sapphire crystal flaps is the time-setting mechanism (crown at 1 o’clock to set the time) partially shielded by an automotive-style grille decorated with the Serpenti’s signature hexagonal scales. Beneath it, parts of the winding mechanism (crown at 11 o’clock) are visible and protected by two flaps with colourful aerodynamic grooves.

The HM10 Movement

With more than 20 calibres under its belt since 2005, the manual-winding movement borrows elements from across the board but is closest in design to the HM10 movement powering the Bulldog, a watch that has been described as the missing link between the Horological Machine and Legacy Machine families. While the case design has been radically transformed and opened up with sapphire crystals, many features from the HM10 have been retained. Like members of the LM family and the HM10, the dial is animated by an oversized 14mm suspended balance wheel beating at a cadence of 2.5Hz with the escapement situated between the two domed indicators. However, unlike the HM10, the suspended balance wheel is held in place by a closed 3D bridge co-signed Bulgari x MB&F.

The reverse view of the Serpenti’s movement and the HM10 are remarkably similar, except for the bulldog’s jaw indicating the amount of energy left in the barrels. In the new models, the 45-hour power reserve is indicated by a more traditional hand pointing to a decreasing arch.

Three Bulgari x MB&F Serpenti Variants

The case, available in rose gold, titanium and black PVD-coated steel, has a length of 53mm, a width of 39mm, and a thickness of 18mm. The rose gold iteration features bright green aluminium hour and minute domes, the titanium reference has blue domes, and the steel black PVD model has red ones.

Needless to say, the finishings are superlative, with many components finished by hand. As MB&F points out, only six to eight watches will be produced per month, meaning that the 99 pieces will require over a year to deliver. The three models are paired with matching hand-stitched rubber straps with a Velcro system and an ardillon buckle made of the same material as the case.

For those who have succumbed to the enchantment of the Serpenti’s new mechanical habitat, be prepared to fork out EUR 140,000 for the titanium reference, EUR 140,000 for the black PVD reference and EUR 161,000 for the pink gold iteration – all prices excluding taxes. More information at mbandf.com.