The Serpenti by Bulgari are one of the icons of high jewelery. The bracelets, however, can be of two types: simple ornaments, or they are also interpreted as watches. But, of course, they mainly remain high jewelery, even if the mechanical aspect of haute horlogerie is by no means secondary. As evidenced by four new pieces presented by Bulgari and called Mysterious Serpents. The name derives from the possibility of showing the clock only by operating a small lever that forms the forked tongue of the snake. Otherwise, the clock face remains enclosed in the head of the reptile-jewel.
Bracelets Mysterious Serpenti are gorgeous, as always. They are made of yellow, pink and white gold with brilliant-cut diamonds, pear-cut emeralds and rubellites, turquoise inserts. But the technical aspect of the timepiece must also be described, because in this case it is by no means ordinary administration. The clock, in fact, is very small: it has a diameter of 12 millimeters, practically the size of a teaspoon. The thickness is 2.50 millimeters and weighs very few grams. Inside there are 102 components. It is no coincidence that Bulgari called this movement with the name of Piccolissimo (means extra small). A small bidirectional crown on the caseback is used for manual winding and time setting. The autonomy of the watch is 30 hours.
The new Mysterious Serpents are the heirs of a tradition that began in the late 1940s, while watches with secret (that is, which are hidden in the jewel) were introduced in the late 1950s with a compartment hidden in the cavity of the Serpenti head. In the 1970s, watches switched to using quartz movements.
