Introduced at Baselworld 2016, the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater, now claims the title of smallest striking watch on the market, a title that had been held previously by Jaeger-LeCoultre (see below). Striking watches carry several specific construction constraints, and require a high level of expertise to achieve the challenging goal of an intense, crystal-clear chime with a uniform, consistent cadence when the mechanism is activated. Usually, such a watch tends to be on the large side, due to the need for sufficiently generous interior volume for optimal diffusion of the sound within the case, thus ensuring ideal acoustic quality. Bulgari, however, set out to achieve this “perfect sound” within the smallest possible space. To this end, the brand developed the in-house BVL Caliber 362, which measures just 3.12 mm thick, and created a case whose overall thickness is only 6.85 mm. The case is made of titanium, whose low-density properties proved to be excellent for sound diffusion. Another clever touch was the cut-out hour-markers on the dial (also made of titanium) and cut-out ring around the small seconds subdial, which created openings that serve to amplify the resonance inside the case and thereby optimize the sound effect.