The Gran Turismo World Series Finals, wrapped up yesterday in Barcelona, with Spain winning the Nations Cup on their home soil. This virtual tournament is held for the much-loved Gran Turismo, a series of racing simulator video games, which first started in 1997 and was released on PlayStation. The Championship includes two trophies, the Nations Cup and the Manufacturers Cup, where the former includes gamers representing their countries, and the latter is for competing automobile manufacturers.
The event witnessed the unveiling of a collaborative timepiece with the Italian luxury brand Bvlgari, called the Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition, along with the Bvlgari Aluminium Vision GT concept car, whose full-scale model was also on display at the racing championship (the design has especially been made for the video game). The car is the collaborative work of Bvlgari’s Product Creation Executive Director, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, and Fabio Filippini, the founder, car designer and design strategy advisor of ACCAEFFE Creative Consulting Ltd.
It was in 1998 when the Bvlgari Aluminium collection was launched, bringing together the sturdiness of aluminium and the softness of rubber with signature Bvlgari graphic lines. The new releases are based on the Bvlgari Aluminium Chronograph equipped with a new calibre, and pay tribute to the Vision GT program (which allowed car manufacturers to develop race cars for video games) on its 10th anniversary this year. The Bulgari Aluminium Vision GT Car, as well, exudes realism in the digital world as it was developed exclusively for the Gran Turismo racing tournament.
Crafted with robust yet lightweight aluminium, the two 41mm Bulgari Aluminium x Gran Turismo Special Edition chronograph watches take cues from the yellow dashboard of the iconic Italian Gran Turismo car from the 1990s. Ref. 103893 has an anthracite dial with yellow indices and numerals and Ref. 104006 features a varnished yellow dial with black counters and markings. In both of them, the minute and hour hands are coated with Super-LumiNova® and there’s a tachymeter at the periphery of the dial. For the bezel, the brand has chosen rubber which is marked with the brand’s name throughout.
Housed inside is the automatic Calibre B381 which offers the chronographs a power reserve of about 42 hours. On the flip side, the titanium caseback is engraved with the ‘GT Vision 10th Anniversary’ emblem. The crown is also made of titanium and both of these are treated with black DLC. The dials of the watches are flanked with rubber straps with aluminium links and a pin buckle. Both are water resistant up to 100 metres.
Images: Courtesy Brand
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