Bulgarı and Gran Turısmo Team up for Two New Alumınum Race Watches
The Italian house has teamed up with Grand Turismo, the popular gaming franchise, to create two new takes on the Bulgari Aluminum inspired by the world of motorsport. In addition, the duo has designed a new concept car for Gran Turismo 7.
For the unacquainted, Gran Turismo is a racing simulator game that debuted in 1997. Over the past 20 years, it has amassed millions of loyal followers for its sheer realism. (The series has sold more than 90 million copies worldwide to date.) Coincidentally, Bulgari released its Aluminum watch collection in the late ‘90s, and it too has garnered much acclaim.
Launched in 1998, the first Bulgari Aluminium proved that run-of-the-mill materials could, indeed, be luxurious. It combined aluminum and rubber as a nod to the automotive industry and was streamlined by design. The newcomers exude the same sleek style but are replete with references to Gran Turismo.
The limited editions feature a vibrant yellow hue that’s reminiscent of the dashboards in the Italian GTs of the ‘90s. They both sport automatic chronograph movements (Calibre B381) and are also the first self-winding Aluminium models to feature a tachymeter scale for timing races. One model (ref. 104006) sports a yellow dial with black subdials and is limited to 500 examples; the other has an anthracite dial with yellow indices (ref. 103893) and is limited to 1,200. Both are priced at $4,800.