Bvlgari Unveils Its Smallest In-House Automatic Caliber in New Serpenti Editions

In a post-quartz world, teeny-tiny-watch lovers such as myself often find themselves compromising on the movements within the watches of our affections. Today, Bvlgari turns that expected notion on its head and is venturing into an area that so many watchmakers have yet to explore in the 21st century: revitalizing the lost art of small mechanical movements. For LVMH Watch Week 2025, the Italian-Swiss maison combines its strengths for both high-jewelry and horology into a new selection of nine watches – five within the Serpenti Seduttori line, along with two new Serpenti Tubogas – equipped with the new, in-house-manufactured BVS100 Lady Solotempo Automatic Caliber, which is now one of the smallest mechanical automatic movements available on the contemporary market. 

According to the Chinese calendar, 2025 is the Year of The Snake, but Bvlgari might have just successfully rebranded it as the Year of the Serpenti. Mythical, symbolic, and drawing upon the brand’s own Greco-Roman influences, the Serpenti made its debut in 1948 and has been riffed and expanded upon to help it keep in step with the changing times. Many of the original models in the 20th Century used mechanical movements, of course, but these were typically outsourced by the brand to manufacturers like Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin — both historically renowned as makers of exceptionally small movements. Then, with the advent of quartz, the unabashedly jewelry-oriented piece adapted to the innovations of the time, and much of the contemporary Serpenti collection still relies on quartz to power its various iterations. 

As Bvlgari has put its weight behind establishing itself as an innovator in the horological world (the Octo Finissimo Ultra Mark II still holds the title of the World’s Thinnest Watch), it hasn’t neglected the Serpenti as a vehicle for expressing its dynamic approach to watchmaking. In 2020, the brand equipped the Sedutorri with a tourbillon movement (the BVL150 Tourbillon) which remains one of the smallest tourbillon movements in production. In 2022, the watch hidden within the mouth of the Serpenti Misteriosi was powered by the Micro-Calibre Piccolissimo, which, at 12.3mm in diameter, is still the smallest mechanical movement produced in this century. 

Now onto the release at hand. Bvlgari says that to create this new technical achievement, the automatic BVS100 Lady Solotempo was under development for three years to get the details just so, and to successfully fit it within the unique shape of its serpentine watch. This new movement measures a minuscule 19mm in diameter and 3.90mm thick. Despite its tiny stature, this movement still manages to achieve 50 hours of power reserve. Further tying in the snake symbol, the oscillating weight has been emblazoned with the seven scale motifs, powering the movement with the motion of its wearer and slithering to and fro. It wouldn’t be right to not have this new movement on display, and one can view the BVS100 Lady Solotempo caliber in action through the sapphire crystal caseback, which has been used across all nine models. Additionally, each model details the mechanical prowess that lies within, proudly sporting “Automatic” printed on its dial front and center.

In both the Serpenti Seddutori and Tubogas models that have received this mechanical upgrade, you won’t find much alteration to the previously established DNA of each respective line, though the brand has expressed that it has refined the architecture of the curved Serpenti case a touch. But that is beside the point. The real star of the show is the movement at hand, which is representative of a shift that watch enthusiasts like myself have been calling for for years: more consideration to the inner workings of smaller watches. 

The options among the newly unveiled lineup of Seddutori are the most varied, and range from the low-key combinations of stainless steel with either black and white dials with diamonds flanking the case — the Serpenti equivalent to a classic white tee and jeans combo — to feats of high jewelry in white or yellow gold with pavé dials and diamond-set cases and bracelets (the staggering total of diamonds on these dials is over 600). Each model is paired with the brand’s “second skin” bracelet which features hexagonal scales, along with a cabochon crown in either pink rubellite or sapphire. Additionally, each model is water resistant 30 meters. 

Bvlgari has left room for further expansion within its new Automatic Serpenti Tubogas offerings, unveiling just two new models equipped with the automatic BVS100 Lady Solotempo movement. Both crafted in rose gold with bezels set with 40 brilliant-cut diamonds, these models feature the line's quintessential wrapping bracelet with either one or two swirls. Like the Seddutori models, both Tubogas models feature pink rubellite cabochon crowns and are water-resistant 30 meters. I am willing to bet that we will see a myriad of new riffs on this established form in the not-so-distant future. 

With this release, Bvlgari has alluded to its plans of sharing its tiny yet mighty BVS100 Lady Solotempo automatic caliber with its fellow family members within the LVMH conglomerate. As an unabashed lover of small watches, I am eagerly waiting to see the trickle-down effect that this will definitively have. Now, the question remains: will other contemporary watchmakers answer the call of redefining small watch movements in the 21st Century?