Robb Interview: Bulgari CEO, Jean-Christophe Babin
The Bulgari CEO on records, recognition and propelling the Roman jeweller into watchmaking’s big league.
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It’s difficult to believe now, but Bulgari’s was never a booth for which you’d make a beeline. Sure, you’d schedule an appointment; the Switzerland-based watch division of the Rome-headquartered jeweller had, after all, brought out a couple of big-swinging tourbillons since swallowing up indie watchmakers Daniel Roth and Gérald Genta at the turn of the century. But when it came to timetabling your speed dates at Baselworld—the oldest and most prestigious industry get-together until everything went Pete Tong in 2020—you’d be sure to line up the heavy-hitters first. Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe. That’s where the headlines were written.
Bulgari’s titular timepiece had, since the late ’70s, remained—and how should we describe it—the “Romanesque” Bulgari Bulgari, a fashion-led item that over the course of several restyles had not aged all that well. And so you’d swing past Bulgari’s stand on day two or three.
That all changed in 2014. Two years earlier, Bulgari had rebooted the Octo. The round-bezelled, octagonal-cased watch had originally been launched by Gérald Genta, the legendary watch designer who, during a spectacularly productive purple patch in the 1970s, managed to conceive the holy trinity of luxury sports watches: Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, IWC’s Ingenieur and Patek Philippe’s Nautilus.
Together, Bulgari’s then-watch boss Guido Terreni (now CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier) and then-design director Fabrizio Buonamassa (still at Bulgari, but since promoted to executive director of product creation) had slimmed down Genta’s design, refined the Octo’s edges and created one of the most contemporary and charismatic shapes in modern watchmaking.
Still, it wasn’t until 2014, and the launch of the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, that it dawned on the watch press (hiya!) that Bulgari should probably appear a little higher on their Baselworld schedules. The movement inside the Finissimo Tourbillon, exhibited at the fair that year, measured just 1.95 mm-thick—the thinnest tourbillon movement ever created.
“We wanted to create a new generation of 21st-century watches,” recalls Jean-Christophe Babin, Bulgari’s CEO since 2013, as he hands me the slinky trailblazer from across a glass coffee table. It’s late March and we’re sat in the Royal Penthouse of Geneva’s grande dame, the Hotel President Wilson. Watches and Wonders 2022 is taking place on the other side of town. But rather than join the brands exhibiting in the city’s Palexpo convention centre—Rolex, Cartier, IWC and Patek Philippe among them—Babin has chosen to do his own thing; booking out one of the most expensive hotel suites in the world (it occupies the hotel’s entire eighth and top floor, looking down on a stretch of prime Lake Geneva waterfront) to showcase Bulgari’s latest watches in what are, it must be said, far more rarefied surroundings. (“I can serve whichever champagne I like here—and no one comes around at 8pm to kick us out!”)
“To do that we had to ask ourselves, ‘How do we express the elegance of the contemporary gentleman?’ The answer pushed us towards slim-line watches, which pushed us towards ultra-thin watches, which pushed us towards rethinking the traditional mechanical wristwatch.”
The Finissimo Tourbillon was a bona fide game changer, authenticating Bulgari as a big-league watchmaker and legitimising the brand’s punchy position at Baselworld, where it occupied a hallowed spot in Hall 1 between Rolex and Patek Philippe. Indeed, between 2014 and 2019, as Bulgari turned its attention to ultra-thin watchmaking, some of the most exciting watches exhibited at the show were found within the brand’s two-storey, serpent-shaped gold booth, to wit: the thinnest ever minute repeater (2016), the thinnest ever automatic winding watch (2017), the thinnest ever automatic tourbillon (2018) and the thinnest ever automatic chronograph (2019).
In 2020, citing reasons of spiralling costs, Bulgari quit Baselworld (the world’s most expensive hotel suite is apparently a cost-effective alternative). Yet the records kept coming. In the year that saw Covid-19 force production lines to grind to a halt, Bulgari announced the thinnest ever automatic tourbillon chronograph, followed in 2021 by the thinnest ever perpetual calendar.
Last year, that perpetual calendar scooped the biggest accolade in watchmaking, named best overall watch at the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
“We’ve won awards before,” says Babin, who before joining Bulgari served as president and CEO of TAG Heuer for 13 years. “But never the top award, so it was a crowning event of seven years of dedication and commitment. Externally, it brought a lot of spotlight onto the brand. Internally, it provided a huge motivation. No brand has ever broken so many consecutive records. No brand ever built an icon in just 10 years.”
Hublot might counter that statement, nodding towards its Big Bang. Bell & Ross, too, signalling in the direction of its BR-01. But Babin is right. The Octo Finissimo joins the pantheon of luxury sports watches as a genuinely new—and the Finissimo differentiates itself from Genta’s original Octo just enough to be called “new”—Hall of Famer.
This year marked a decade since the Octo’s relaunch. Naturally, there was speculation as to how Bulgari would mark the occasion. The answer: the Octo Finissimo Ultra—the thinnest mechanical watch, full stop, ever. “This year we are celebrating 10 years of the Octo through a new world record, the eighth world record,” says Babin. “Although, really, we can think of it as the first record of a new generation of ultra-thin watches. This one is markedly different from the first record, not only because it’s three times thinner but because it’s a totally new construction. To achieve it, we had to forget 3D watchmaking and go two-dimensional. This is basically a 2D watch. Take a look,” he says, handing me what looks like a watch made of extra-thick paper. “It’s rather mind-blowing.” And it is.
Employing the watch’s caseback as a mainplate, the Ultra is just 1.8 mm thick —thinner than a 20 cent coin. “The Finissimo has turned watchmaking horizontal,” says Babin. “You don’t have overlapping wheels and pinions inside, everything is on the same plane, including the crown, which is actually a wheel. The hours and minutes are displayed on separate sub-dials. Not just because they look graphically nice, but because we couldn’t have two hands on top of each other—it would have been too thick.”
Ten Finissimo Ultras are being made. On the dial, at 11 o’clock, a mainspring barrel has been laser-engraved with a QR code. Scan it and you’ll be taken to NFT-linked, moving-image artwork that breaks down the watch into building blocks before building it back up again. Sidestepping the question of whether anyone actually wants a QR code on the dial of their watch, the video is pretty cool. Ultra owners will be able to upload the video to a digital art frame and play it on a wall in their homes.
Babin is a businessman. He graduated from Paris’s prestigious HEC business school, before joining Big Three management consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (by way of the French subsidiary of Procter & Gamble). He joined TAG Heuer in 2000, shortly after it was bought by LVMH.
During our interview, Babin talks about the cash-flow benefits of manufacturing at a faster pace, with less components, than before the pandemic. “We have less working capital, more volume and more sales—which is ideal.” He explains how the plan had been to roll out e-commerce to 80 percent of Bulgari’s markets within three years. Forced by the pandemic, the brand achieved that target in nine months.
Babin is also open in revealing that watch sales still account for less than 20 per cent of Bulgari’s revenue. Mostly, that’s because the jewellery side of the business is incredibly buoyant. “We’ve had constant double-digit growth in jewellery, which has taken us to levels that were never even considered at the time of [LVMH’s] acquisition [in 2011]. Watches have been growing in single digits. All categories—watches, fragrances, accessories—have lost market share to jewellery.”
A week before our meeting, Swatch had collaborated with Omega on a low-cost, quartz version of the latter’s halo product, the Speedmaster. As police were called to control the crowds that had built up outside Swatch stores around the globe, the Bioceramic MoonSwatch usurped the Finissimo Ultra as the most talked-about watch of 2022. I ask Babin what he thought of the collaboration, and whether the buzz generated by the coming together of two polar-opposite watch brands was a good thing for the industry in general?
“For Swatch, it’s been phenomenal. We all saw the queues. Now, if I reason in terms of Bulgari, would I do a collaboration with our B.zero1 [fine jewellery collection]? I’m not sure. As a luxury brand, I’m not sure it’s good to lend your name, your icon, to a brand that costs 20 times less. For right or wrong, I would have resisted. Over my dead body, but maybe I’m just too conservative, maybe I’m just too narrow-minded when it comes to thinking about new luxury.”
Handing back the most futuristic watch I’ve ever seen, I highly doubt that.
This piece is from our new Watch Issue – on sale now. Get your copy or subscribe here, or stay up to speed with the Robb Report weekly newsletter.
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Forget a Bow Tie. Here Are 3 Black-Tie Accessories to Rock Instead
Stylist Tom Stubbs on ditching the bow tie this festive season—and what to wear alternatively.
Black tie, that essential marker of an increasingly rarefied ceremonial style, is inspiring. Nothing coaxes men into upping the sartorial ante quite like reading those words on an invitation. I say amen to raising the bar, but I can’t bear wearing a traditional bow tie—and haven’t done so for over a decade.
Around the turn of the millennium, I was enthusiastically dress-code obedient, but two unstoppable forces put me off: Fashion moved on, and I got old. Where abiding by hallowed traditions once felt exalted, it suddenly began to seem restrictive and stuffy. And while it was extraordinary to be a bow-tied 30-something, in my 40s, the convention made me feel like a pompous, conservative square. Now, menswear has changed so much that bow ties register as pedestrian garb better suited to waiters than to revellers.
Fortunately, there are several black-tie alternatives that excite and inspire me now that I’m well into my 50s—many espoused by stylish guys on the red carpet and innovative designers in London, Paris, Florence, and Milan. And though I might take a bow on nonconformism as I step into my 60s, I still plan to steer clear of the bow tie, that ultimate symbol of gentlemanly customs, for as long as I can. Here’s what I’m replacing it with.
Form and Function
I got excited seeing Lemaire’s slim metallic modernised bolo ties in the house’s fall 2024 show. A favourite of men as varied as Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, and Snoop Dogg, the bolo is perhaps best remembered as the chosen neckwear of John Travolta’s surly hit man, Vincent, in Pulp Fiction. Originally, Native American tribes including the Zuni, Hopi, and Navajo used these accessories used to fasten bandannas with plaited-leather cords. High-end versions double as a bit of jewellery, with silver slides set with turquoise and often engraved with animal motifs, including buffalo skulls and eagles. Contemporary takes abound, but vintage sleuthing can turn up some particularly beguiling options.
Gambling Man
Varying in size, flounce, and attitude, ribbon ties—also called gambler or Kentucky neckties—have long been a legitimate black-tie alternative. Actor Cillian Murphy has worn Saint Laurent’s take to various award shows, looking stand-alone chic and authentically cool. They have a distinct Western energy—Kirk Douglas donned one as Doc Holliday in Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, as did Robert Vaughan in The Magnificent Seven. But they’re as much rock star as they are gunslinger: The late Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls and Bauhaus front man Peter Murphy (style role models of mine) also wore them with panache. Take a note from the runway and wear them with a pair of boots—cowboy, Chelsea, or with a Cuban heel—to really step away from the standard.
Fit to Be Tied
Getty Images/Courtesy of Lemaire
If you want to give yourself some breathing room, consider scarves and neckerchiefs. This fall, Tom Ford proposed a louche take on evening style, using black, slim-plaited, or delicately sequined scarves whose long tassels provocatively dangle at the hips. For maximum effect, the brand styled them with open satin shirts, recalling rockers Mick Jagger and Rod Stewart. London’s La Bowtique also does beautiful outsize bows. On a smaller scale, the Twilly—a short silk scarf pioneered by Hermès—works in much the same manner. The French maison makes gorgeous options with angled ends for extra verve, whether hanging loose or more discreetly knotted.
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Show Stoppers
The Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance—a beauty pageant for priceless classic cars—returns for another instalment at the city’s most intriguing, and unlikeliest, venue.
The logic behind staging a prestige automobile show on an island may, at face value, seem warped—history tells us that cars and water do not play nicely. The rationale twists further when said piece of land is a former shipyard that is, aesthetically, more workhorse ute than classic Ferrari.
Scratch beneath the surface, however, and the decision to plant the Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance on Cockatoo Island for the second year running begins to make locational sense: the steel arch of the emblematic bridge acting as photogenic backcloth; the UNESCO World Heritage site’s previous guises as 19th-century penal colony and eminent boat-building facility fleshing the show’s historical bones; the theatre of watching collectors delicately coaxing their four-wheeled artworks off a rusty roll-on/roll-off barge in the islet’s wharf before showtime. (After all, if owning a car in this stratosphere isn’t about projecting drama, then what’s the point?)
Throw in an endless endowment of free Champagne for guests and VIP transport from the mainland via superyacht, and it barely matters that the three-day jamboree is, in the words of founder and curator James Nicholls, “a logistical nightmare”.
“People love the energy, the adventure” says the Anglo-Italian, a broadcaster, writer and photographer whose extensive resume includes various stints as a concours judge across the world. “There’s a great contrast between the luxurious motor cars and the industrial environment. The Turbine Shop [a timeworn, hanger-like space used to display the vehicles] is where ocean-going liners and propellers were built. People interested in cars are also interested in that kind of thing but it’s just a backdrop. Cars are the main focal point.”
The concours d’elegance concept (“concours” means “competition” in French) can be traced back to 17th-century Paris, when aristocrats would flaunt horse-drawn carriages in local parks during summer months. Animals eventually gave way to automobiles, and the gatherings mutated into more organised contests in which these new-fangled contraptions were, in somewhat prescient fashion, judged solely on the appearance. The trend spread throughout European high society, before reaching America in 1950 with an inaugural pageant at Pebble Beach, California—a concours which has since evolved into a behemoth of the species, now billing itself as “the world’s most prestigious car show” and drawing 214 vehicles and spectators in the low five figures at the last annual meeting. Other concours are thriving globally, from spectacles in Lake Como in Italy (the longest running event, launched in 1929) to Udaipur in India. Vanity, it seems, remains in vogue.
Among this storied company, Sydney’s interpretation is playing catch-up. But Nicholls insists the local variant—launched in 2019, having occupied three other citywide locations—has no intention of locking horns with competitors. Not numerically, at least.
“In 2024, we had 500 people over the three days; this year we’ll aim for 750. But we’re never going to become a 20,000-people show,” he says. “We want it to be bespoke and beautiful, so people don’t have to queue for a glass of Champagne. You can talk to the car owners, and everyone feels like a VIP.” The overarching aim is to become a “destination event” on the socialite calendar, on par with the Melbourne Cup or the Australian Grand Prix.
While keen to keep paying visitors guessing, Nicholls offers Robb Report a sneak peek into some of the 44 objets booked to occupy the coarse, exposed-brick viewing hall, ranging from turn-of-the-century rarities to modern-day exotics: a 1905 Eugène Brillié 20/24 HP Coupé Chauffeur, believed to be the only one of its ilk left; a 1955 Porsche Speedster 356 “Pre A”, examples of which are valued in excess of $750,000; a Lamborghini Miura 3400, a model famed for its starring role in the opening sequence to 1969’s The Italian Job movie; a 2021 Audi R8 Spyder, an iteration that is no longer being produced and thus quietly accruing kudos.
Up to seven “classes” will be open, including categories solely for Porsche Speedsters and pre-war Australian coachbuilt cars. Two 1930s Bugattis are slated for appearance, one of which is, as this article is being written, on a boat somewhere, on its way to Australia. A panel of seven judges, led by the first ever female concours head assessor, who also adjudicated in 2024, will select the overall “Best in Show” winner—scored last time out by a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, a model line with a $24 million price tag attached. And in a progressive play designed to lure the oil-shunning generation, an “electric elegance” section will debut. Nicholls estimates the combined value of all this precious metal at around $80 million.
While it would provoke an illicit thrill to discover that frenzied super-collectors were slyly puncturing rivals’ tyres or keying priceless bodywork—skulduggery has plagued other pageants, from dog show Crufts (canine poisoning) to Miss World (rigging allegations)—the entrants are, in keeping with the show’s refined, English-garden-party profile—a gentlemanly bunch. To a point. “They like meeting up, the community that’s here, but they do get competitive,” says Mark Ussher, the Sydney Harbour Concours d’Elegance managing director, and on-the-ground organiser. “They care about their cars but they’re investors as well as collectors. If they win a concours anywhere around the world it adds value to the car.”
Which makes it doubly important that, surrounded by all that deep Harbour water, everyone remembers to put their handbrake on.
The Sydney Harbour Concours D’Elegance runs from February 28th-March 2nd 2025; sydneyharbourconcours.com.au
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Jannik Sinner Is the First Tennis Player to Take a Luxury Bag Onto Wimbledon’s Centre Court
The 23-year-old Italian flaunted a custom Gucci duffle bag on center court.
Jannik Sinner aced the style game at last year’s Wimbledon Championships.
The Italian tennis star turned up to his match against Juan Manuel Cerundolo with a custom Gucci duffel bag on his shoulder. It marks the first time a designer bag has been carried onto centre court in the history of the prestigious, centuries-old tennis tournament, as reported by Women’s Wear Daily.
The duffel, which Sinner describes as a “timeless classic,” showcases the house’s signature beige and ebony colorway, the iconic GG monogram, and a contrasting green and red web stripe. It also features the athlete’s initials near the straps. Ironically, the rather traditional design has called into question a 150-year tradition.
“For sure this will create a conversation,” Sinner told WWD before defeating Cerundolo in straight sets. “Bringing sport and luxury fashion together in this way is something that’s never been done before and I feel extremely proud to be a part of it. I hope people will love it as much as I do.”
Wimbledon’s dress code is extremely strict: Players have been required to wear white at the event since 1877, with not even off-white or cream permitted on the court. Tennis whites were originally instated as it was believed the ensemble showed less sweat, as reported by Time. The tradition has continued out of respect for the sport’s history and a desire to maintain formality.
The rules are enforced, too: Our own player Nick Kyrgios was allegedly fined $25,000 for rocking red Air Jordan trainers at 2023’s tournament. Interestingly, the decidedly non-white Gucci accessory was reportedly given the all-clear by the powers that be. A spokesperson for Gucci told WWD the house worked with Sinner’s team “for the approvals from the ITF (International Tennis Federation), ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals), and Grand Slams, including Wimbledon, to ensure the bag met the necessary requirements.”
The 23-year-old, who turned pro at age 18, became a Gucci ambassador in 2023 in his first luxury fashion endorsement. “Gucci for me represents Italian excellence around the world, excellence which is rooted in tradition as much as in innovation,” Sinner said. “This is the kind of message I am proud to convey when I represent my country wherever I am in the world.”
The Italian player was capture in action last week during his 1st round men’s singles match against Nicolas Jarry (from Chile) on day two of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park with more Gucci gear. Sinner carried a custom duffle bag crafted by HEAD and designed by Gucci to the men’s singles match on day two of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.
Sinner will play Australian Alex de Minaur tomorrow 22 January at the Australian Open.
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We Cherrypicked the Best Elements of Luxury Resorts to Create the Ultimate Fantasy Hotel
Everyone has a favourite hotel—but what if you could create your own? We envision the ultimate place to stay, combining elements of the world’s most noteworthy openings.
Forget fantasy football—what about a heavenly hotel? Imagine you could create one from scratch, cherrypicking the best aspects of the world’s most noteworthy recent openings and reopenings, combined into the perfect, impossible property. That’s what we’ve done, from the best rooftop restaurant for supper to the only beach club where’s it’s truly worth basking in the sun, this is the world’s ultimate hotel. The only thing we can’t arrange: the chance to check in.
FACADE Capella Sydney
Australia
It took seven years to turn this local landmark—the building once housed the departments of education and agriculture—into a luxury hotel. A honey-coloured jewel in a precinct awash with appealing sandstone facades, its crowning glory, literally, is the gleaming, four-storey glass addition that perches atop the structure like an architectural tiara.
SUITES
The Surrey, a Corinthia Hotel
New York City
After a full reimagining by Martin Brudnizki and its new operators, Malta-based Corinthia Hotels, this Upper East Side stalwart’s signature suites now include a quartet inspired by Central Park bridges. Mouldings nod to the structures’ architectural details, while hand-painted sketches inside the grandes armoires evoke the Ramble-adjacent Bow Bridge.
RESTAURANT
Le Rooftop at Royal Mansour Casablanca
Morocco
Relax on the 23rd floor of this Art Deco-inflected skyscraper hotel and you’ll not only enjoy astonishing views over the water and toward the towering Hassan II Mosque, but you’ll also find yourself rubbing elbows with the coolest crowd in the city. Snag a sofa on the terrace before sundown and linger all evening.
LOBBY
Peninsula London
England
Hong Kong’s Peninsula hotels are renowned for their fleet of high-end classic cars—a personal passion of billionaire owner Sir Michael Kadoorie. No wonder he struck a deal with Surrey’s Brooklands Museum for his latest opening in London: not only is the Claude Bosi-operated restaurant named in its honour, but the institution also makes available a rotating selection of outstanding vintage vehicles—most recently, a Bentley Blower and a Napier-Railton—for display in the eatery’s dedicated lobby, close to the Concorde nose installed overhead, sourced from Kadoorie’s personal collection.
BEACH CLUB
Borgo Santandrea
Italy
The dearth of standout beaches is the Amalfi Coast’s dirty secret, so this is a remarkable asset: walk down through the terraced, lemon-tree-filled gardens of this Gio Ponti-inspired hotel bolted to the steep cliffs by Conca dei Marini, and you’ll stumble upon its own beach club attached to the property. The restaurant sits in a renovated boathouse; feel free to snip some herbs from the mismatched pots filled with sage and basil.
SPA
Meritage Resort and Spa
Napa Valley
The naturally formed 2,044 m² Estate Cave, located 12 m underground, was already spectacular—its extensive menu of treatments includes both cave-stone massage and guided breathing and meditation sessions—but the $37 million rehab of this establishment thankfully doubled the size of the adults- only pool in front of Spa Terra.
POOL
One&Only Za’abeel Dubai
UAE
This gravity-defying infinity pool, sitting atop the cantilevered link between the hotel’s two towers, has a clubby vibe, swim-up bars and sunken seating pods—and the fact that it’s Instagram catnip doesn’t hurt either.
Photos by ADRIAN GAUT; BORGO SANTANDREA; PENINSULA LONDON; WILL PRYCE.
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Hole In One
The Citizen Kanebridge VHG Golf Open Returns to The Southern Highlands This February.
The third annual Citizen Kanebridge VHG Golf Open Day is happening again this year at Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in the Southern Highlands on Friday, February 21. Players will tee off from 8 am for a day of unrivalled bucolic hospitality in the spirit of friendly competition.
The Open unites forces with the operators of Mount Broughton in Sutton Forrest to stage the popular day, in which teams of four enter to enjoy 18 holes of unadulterated fun.
Players will meet at the clubhouse, where—golf aside—they will be served breakfast, lunch and liquid refreshments throughout the day before heading back to Citizen Kanebridge Lodge for a special dinner, fun awards ceremony and more drinks.
Located just 10 minutes from the Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in Berrima, the stunning Mount Broughton course gives players—male and female, and ranging from amateur to semi professional—the chance to compete in a golf day with plenty of high-jinks and food along with way.
The event is part of the new offering from Citizen Kanebridge, a private membership club based in Sydney. Citizen Kanebridge allows members to have access to the Robb Report Club(RR1) based in the United States of America, Citizen Kanebridge Lodge in the Southern Highlands of NSW, and The Royal Automobile Club of Australia (RACA) in Circular Quay, Sydney.
Members interested in Golf Open Day, may enquire by reaching out to leanne@citizenkanebridge.com.au. For more information on Golf Open day, you can download the information brochure here.
Love golf? jump to our golf connoisseurship package from the Spring 2024 issue of Robb Report ANZ.
