tony p
567
Bvlgari scorecard: Credit, but not a Distinction
Mar 30, 2012,01:41 AM
Unlike many, I have nothing against the Bvlgari brand per se. I even own and love a Bvlgari Calibro 303 chronograph (the original release with two-tone grey dial and copper sub-registers).
I actually submit that styling has always been a strong point of the Bvlgari timepiece collection. I love the BVLGARI * BVLGARI bezel motif - it's a classic design, arguably designer Gerald Genta's single most famous creation. Many see it as gaudy and nouveau-riche, and some of my non-watchlover friends visibly wince when I show them my watch. Do I care? Nope.
I accept that after some eight or nine years of propping up the Genta/Roth manufacture, and in the face of possible looming disaster from the GFC fallout, the Bvlgari management had to make a tough decision with respect to their boutique flagship brands. This was a business reality.
However, I do object to the emasculation of GG and DR's design signatures. OK, they kept the wacky cases and some of the quirky elements. But in "harmonising" the GG dials in particular, they threw the baby out with the bathwater. The 2007 Gerald Roden-driven relaunch of the Gefica was absolutely inspired. They should never have touched that watch, but they did. And they ruined it. It's like sticking a Chevrolet grille onto the front of a Rolls-Royce. It doesn't work.
Most of the other iconic GG models suffered a similar fate. DR was less badly affected, but in the rush towards "harmony", DR's classical edge was also dulled.
This has nothing to do with the Bvlgari logo appearing somewhere on the dial. They have a right to do that. It's about something much more basic.
I remember being simply overwhelmed by the display cases at DR/GG during Baselworld 2008. Under Roden, they had built up an extraordinary and uncompromising design heritage which was visible in every model - not to mention the impressive and innovative horological underpinnings.
Most of that has been discarded in favour of corporate blandness. The shame, the shame.
It's especially galling as, if the watches had been allowed to proceed to market with minimal design tampering, GG and DR would have gained a big new audience through being rolled out across the Bvlgari boutique and dealership network. Well, ok, that has of course happened - but with most of the beauty and quirkiness gone, what is there to distinguish these ranges from their more workaday cousins in adjacent displays, and to justify the vastly higher prices being asked?
Not enough, I would say.