Bulgari Races Ahead With Gran Turismo

In 1998, Bulgari Aluminium, a non- gendered ‘Italian sport-chic’ watch proved visionary and is now a recognised design icon, winning the Red Dot Design Best of the Best Award in 2023. With its combination of graphic lines and brand cues with aluminium and rubber – materials directly inspired by the automotive industry – the watch has stood the test of time.

25 years later, the horological icon is being infused with high-octane adrenaline: Bulgari and the famed Gran Turismo auto racing simulation game are teaming up under the banner of precision and innovation. Gran Turismo is one of the world’s most successful and famous video games ever, with around a 100 million units being sold since its launch
in 1997 by the Japanese video company Polyphony Digital.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the Vision GT program, which opened race car development for the video game to the world’s top automobile manufacturers. It proved to be the perfect occasion for Bulgari to unveil two limited editions of the Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition chronograph – along with the Bulgari Aluminium Vision GT Car, the first and only hypercar especially designed for Gran Turismo racing by a watchmaking brand. Incredibly realistic in its look and feel in the virtual world, the real-life model on display hints at a hypercar that might well roar on a real track in the not-too-distant future.

Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition

This chronograph channels the Gran Turismo universe through the bold character of the legendary Bulgari Aluminium. It retains the original’s sleekness and coolness, while catching the eye with a vibrant yellow inspired by the dashboard dials of a legendary Italian Gran Turismo car from the 1990s. The watch fuses the robust lightness of the 41 mm aluminium case with the softness of the rubber of the Bulgari- emblazoned bezel. The crown and caseback are forged from high-tech, extra-strong, and lightweight titanium with a black DLC treatment, featuring the 10th Anniversary Vision GT logo. It comes in two limited versions: with a yellow dial and black counters (500 pieces); and with an anthracite dial featuring yellow indices (1200 pieces). Marking a first since the collection’s relaunch in 2020, it pays homage to speed with an integrated tachymetric scale. The automatic Calibre B381 has a power reserve of 42 hours.

Bulgari Aluminium Vision GT Car

Bulgari links the real world with the digital, connecting the mechanics of high horology with high-performance auto racing with this hypercar. The shape and materials used echo the distinctive codes of the Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition watch. The curves of its case, but also of the articulated bracelet with its visible screws, mirror the lines that define the cockpit and wheel design. The bodywork is brushed aluminium, with carbon for the lower body and technical sections, and black rubber to protect exposed areas. Inside the cockpit, colours and materials play off each other, emphasising the contrast between aluminium, black rubber, anthracite Alcantara, and yellow accents. The dashboard evokes the yellow dial of the Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition.

The car stems from a collaboration between two design visionaries: Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, Product Creation Executive Director at Bulgari; and Fabio Filippini, car designer and design strategy advisor and founder of ACCAEFFE Creative Consulting Ltd. “I envisioned a different way of playing with Bulgari’s DNA, creating a concept car that speaks the same language as the Bulgari Aluminium watch. Its design is based on geometric, pure, and angular forms, inspired by the lines of legendary Italian Gran Turismo cars from the 1970s, featuring sporty three-spoke steering wheels and walnut dashboards. These shapes come together to create a
concept car with perfectly realistic proportions, also in the real world, at full scale,” says Stigliani.