The story of the collaboration between Bvlgari and MB&F is first and foremost that of an encounter between Bvlgari’s product creation executive director, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani; and MB&F’s founder and creative director, Maximilian Büsser.
The outcome is FlyingT Allegra, a joint and unexpected feminine creation merging various skills, but above all two mindsets. This story is also that of an unlikely connection, of two paradoxes combining to form a single, homogeneous and sophisticated whole. It is also the story of an encounter between two unusual and unconventional creative approaches.
The two brands were thus bound to converge on a shared platform: that of their jewellery-making and mechanical audacity. MB&F works on volumes and complexity, while Bvlgari creates two-dimensional models with a radically graphic aesthetic. The choice to revisit MB&F’s Legacy Machine FlyingT was thus both natural and logical, since FlyingT Allegra incorporates both sensibilities.
In an ultimate refined touch embodying this sophisticated approach, the movement is designed in such a way that only its owner can read the time.
The volumes of the watch – featuring a case entirely redesigned by Bvlgari to give it a futuristic and opulent profile – are matched by those of the coloured stones. These gems serve to counterbalance the cold precision and micromechanical complexity of this model by instilling the Roman jeweller’s warm and exuberant signature touch.
For each of the 20 timepieces composing the two pink or white limited editions, jewellers have carefully selected tourmaline, tsavorite, diamonds, rubellite, amethyst, tanzanite and topaz, in an exceptional composition forming a full circle around the movement. The dial entirely paved with snow-set diamonds provides a dazzling backdrop.
Inspired by the lotus
In the summer of 2021, French designer Alain Silberstein contacted Kross Studio to discuss his vision for a lotus-inspired timepiece that would capture the essence of the sacred Asian flower. A brief initial meeting between Silberstein and Kross Studio founder Marco Tedeschi turned into a crossfire of ideas and a formal plan to bring the Lotus Tourbillon to life.
The KS 7’000 calibre from Kross Studio comes equipped with an oversized barrel offering a five-day power reserve. The regulator takes its place in the centre within a tourbillon cage at the top of the barrel, uniting form and function, and setting the stage for innumerable and creative iterations, this time: a delicate lotus flower.
This ephemeral bloom reminds the viewer that each passing moment is precious. Revered in Asian spirituality, the lotus is the flower of life and a sacred plant. Its seemingly fragile petals conceal unsuspected strength. It is renewed and reborn each day without losing its splendour. The lotus flower in polished grade 5 titanium has been machined entirely in the Kross Studio production facility. It seems to float above the tourbillon in all its lightness, with four elements superimposed to symbolise perfect harmony.