By Harlan Chapman-Green
Bulgari and Cartier make up the ultimate fashion duo, partners in crime you might say. Both are super accomplished in both fashion and horology, Cartier’s expertise in high complications and Bulgari’s perfection of ultra thin watches makes them the ones to beat. It’s Bulgari’s turn in the spotlight this time, we often talk of Cartier’s watches and admittedly they do take the bulk of the market, however Bulgari’s divisive designs are some of the best in the business.
Despite the fact that their designs are often timeless, elegant complications, Bulgari enjoys the Italian pastime of competition, in fact, it’s part of the name. Diagono stems from the Greek word agôn, meaning competition. The 42.5mm case is made of a high tech blend of ceramic, magnesium, an advanced polymer known as PEEK and PVD stainless steel, so there’s a lot of stuff going on in there! Thinking about it in depth, this is probably the ultimate blend of materials made into the case of a watch. The ceramic and PEEK make the case scratch resistant like no other and the stainless steel provides the brute strength needed in the rough and modern times of ours.
Black PVD is used for the screw down crown, caseback and the pushers for the chronograph, used as a cost cutting method and avoids extra complication from manufacturing. If it brings the cost down for you, the consumer, then who am I to complain? It’s a win/win! I’m getting a little sidetracked here but the point is clear.
Perhaps the most unique feature about the construction of the case is that the PEEK’s colour can be changed, meaning an even higher resistance to daily wear over the years. Bulgari offers it in 4 shades: black, blue, red and grey. My personal favourite is the red one, it’s nice to have some colour on the watch. Black sports watches are all the rage at the moment and I do understand why, the stealth factor, the associated coolness of a black sports watch but those really are just black, why not inject some colour into your world?
The movement inside the watch is the B130 movement, it’s automatic winding, features a chronograph movement with a date window and a power reserve of 42 hours, a reasonable amount for today’s modern wearer. Interestingly for a modern day sports watch, which this is by the way, the chronograph is not paired with a functional bezel. Off the top of my head only the Bulgari Bulgari watch springs to mind, at least one that’s relatively affordable at least. Like Gerald Genta’s Bulgari Bulgari watch, the bezel on the Diagono Chronograph Magnesium watch simply says the name of the company twice. This move could annoy some fans, especially those looking seriously into a practical watch given the amount of time spent perfecting the case material. Then again, Bulgari is perfectly happy to let those customers find something else to their fancy, a Bulgari watch doesn’t need to be hustled or bashed about, it’s about letting things find their own way in life.
If the Italian classic car speedo style numerals and the tuning fork shaped indexes in-between tempt you, the 100m water resistant Bulgari Diagono Chronograph Magnesium will cost $4950.
For more info, please visit bulgari.com
HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN – MANAGING EDITOR
A keen bass guitar player, Harlan enjoys all the perks modern watchmaking technologies the industry has to offer. Although you might catch him sampling Omegas or the “odd” Rolex, Harlan loves all things Haute Horology, with his three favourite brands being Breguet, A.Lange & Söhne and Vacheron Constantin. He hopes to study timekeeping more in depth someday and will never be able to thank his father enough for introducing him to the industry. You can follow him on Instagram Read his articles here
