Unboxing the $4,600 Bulgari Gran Turismo Watch

[5thwheel]

Bulgari started out as, and still is primarily, a luxury jewellery brand that just happened to start making (some nice) watches.
Anyway, that's all well and good, but the the simple truth is that this particular watch is ridiculously overpriced.
You can buy much better looking watches, with the exact same movement for around $1000 or less. When you're looking at spending a few thousand $ on a watch, the movement is one of, if not the most important thing taken into consideration, along with brand history, quality & finish of the materials used.

Same goes e.g. for Cartier, would you also not count them among watchmakers?
Agreed, you can buy plenty of chronographs for much less money, but not from any of the well known brands you mentioned. And I'm pretty sure design and brand recognition are the most important features of a watch these days. Just look at those Swatch collabs with Omega and Blancpain selling like hotcakes.

 

[OldandSlow]

Brand recognition is the thing. Look at Seiko. Non-watch people think a Seiko is a throw-away junk brand. It's not. How many people have even heard of Grand Seiko?

 

[seadog777]

Just look at those Swatch collabs with Omega and Blancpain selling like hotcakes.

I've seen the Omegas close-up. They look like they're made of Lego!

Brand recognition is the thing. Look at Seiko. Non-watch people think a Seiko is a throw-away junk brand. It's not. How many people have even heard of Grand Seik

The Seiko Astron / Sportura lines are about the most accurate wristwatches you can buy, Way more accurate than COSC parameters used by the top-end brands. As accurate as your phone (they are GPS, solar powered) and very reasonably priced. They don't look that great though..... 🤣

 

[MIE1992]

I almost wonder if Bulgari could end up taking the place of TAG-Heuer as the official timekeeper? Then again, I don't think Bulgari has that same connection to motorsport - not at all like TAG-Heuer. Even Seiko, Citizen, or Rolex would seem more appropriate as the official timekeeper, especially since the last one has been a long-time title sponsor of the Daytona 24h, on top of having tons of signage at Le Mans itself. There's also Breitling, which I mostly recall for sponsoring the Bentley Speed 8 that won the LM24.

In fact, I hadn't even heard of Bulgari at all until the VGT got revealed, but I suppose that's a good thing - I do like learning about this sort of stuff, even if I don't think I'd actually buy something from them.

 

[Angry mom]

Totally unfair on real players of the game to allow only rich people early access to the car

 

[Lomic]

Totally unfair on real players of the game to allow only rich people early access to the car

Who gives a flying duck ? It is a VGT than 90% don't want and we will get it in a few days anyway.

 

[TeamCZRRacing]

The car looks sick af, but the fact that you need a $4,600 watch for early access is patently ridiculous.

 

[Famine]

The car looks sick af, but the fact that you need a $4,600 watch for early access is patently ridiculous.

On the flip side, it offers you no competitive advantage to have this car a month before anyone else and it isn't kept away from regular players.

It is just about the most harmless - if wildly expensive - example of the type I've seen.

 

[Freeman_Cruz]

For 5 grand I want something gaudy, like a Jacob & Co watch that has little VGT cars that run around a little track inside the watch. That watch could easily be mistaken for a 80 dollar fossil watch lol
View attachment 1328654

5 grands is the amount you have to pay to convince someone who is not in a situation of extreme need to wear this monstrosity in public, right?

 

[ziggedzag]

Not sure if many here follow the high end watch market, but it is currently collapsing. And while it is an automatic chronograph, it is hardly worth $4500. It might end up having some collector status, but I personally doubt it. My guess is a year from now, you'll be able to pick one up on the secondary market considerably cheaper. It would be nice if there was something on the dial that screamed "Gran Turismo", because to the average person that might see it, it is nothing more than a yellow sports watch. Pass on the aluminum case as well. If you want to go lightweight in a watch, then titanium is the only way to fly.

 

[sirjim73]

What's next?

GT × Henry?

View attachment 1328703

I would literally have zero surprise, the way things have been going...

They'd be sure to clean up with those!
Plus Henry and Sophy would make a nice couple

In terms of the watch itself, it's not like its "pay to win" and it's entirely up to the buyer if they wanted to buy one. I have no problem in them having the car a few weeks earlier and there are much worse things to blow $5k on.

And I do love the look of the car, it must be said.

But it does need to be limited to this sort of thing going forward.

 

[lancia delta hf]

I honesty don't understand what the watch has to do with Gran Turismo - the GT logo is only present in the packaging, but not the watch itself.

The watch also doesn't radiate GT to me.

Not that I'm defending this practice as I think PD should have teamed up with a watch brand that isn't out of reach for 99% of the played base, but the watch has to do with the VGT car more than the game. The car the watch face as its speedo, the car design is based on the watch case. I think it's a cool idea, if only the watch was around 300 quid.

Akshually ...
Bulgari is not just a luxury brand but also a 'proper' watchmaker - just check out their other offerings (Octo line). They do some really tricked out ultra-thin movements too. I'd say in that technical regard they are well beyond Tudor or Breitling (is Breitling even doing inhouse at all? I thought they were just buying 3rd party ones and then tweaking/decorating them).

As for this watch here, doesn't look like much to me. The price is in line with what other brands are charging for chronographs though, so at least within watch nerd circles it would probably not count as a total ripoff. Just coming with less brand power than the ones you listed. Least they could have done is to include a deployant buckle. But then again this thing is purely a collector's item and will never be worn, will it.

I dont trust Swatch owned brands, at least 40% of their "Swiss nade" watches are made in China, but they dont make you aware of that. I'm not personally hung up on what movement is in a watch of a particular price. I dont see an issue with this Bulgari having a £300 off shelf movement at £4.000, its the other materials used at this price that is an issue for me. I'd rather buy a Farer who make lovely watches that look way more than they cost.

 

[Lomic]

I think PD should have teamed up with a watch brand that isn't out of reach for 99% of the played base

Well we need to get rid of all Ferraris and any car above a few thousands then 😅

 

[OldandSlow]

Not that I'm defending this practice as I think PD should have teamed up with a watch brand that isn't out of reach for 99% of the played base, but the watch has to do with the VGT car more than the game. The car the watch face as its speedo, the car design is based on the watch case. I think it's a cool idea, if only the watch was around 300 quid.

I dont trust Swatch owned brands, at least 40% of their "Swiss nade" watches are made in China, but they dont make you aware of that. I'm not personally hung up on what movement is in a watch of a particular price. I dont see an issue with this Bulgari having a £300 off shelf movement at £4.000, its the other materials used at this price that is an issue for me. I'd rather buy a Farer who make lovely watches that look way more than they cost.

Agreed. There are plenty of Microbrands that are great values.

 

[lancia delta hf]

Well we need to get rid of all Ferraris and any car above a few thousands then 😅

Well no because they are not GT collectables.

 

[Spongeinside]

Hm I don’t know… the watch itself doesn’t really look that special, if it didn’t had the brand name on it, it could’ve just as easily been any watch… also when spending that kind of money on a watch, I’d expect a leather or metal strap at the very least, not a rubber strap. To me the watch, the dlc, the formed thingy and other stuff you get don’t seem worth the price it costs… The sketch is pretty cool though

But as it is with all kinds of collectible things, if you’re really in to it, cost isn’t really that important… as long as you like what you got, nobody’s opinion about it is going to matter anyway.

 

[LSFDRX]

There's little to no operational justification for a watch above £15. If people want to spend their money on a Bulgari, so be it.