Dubai hosts launch of rare Bvlgari x MB&F timepiece - a Serpenti watch for men

New collection, limited to 99 pieces, has been inspired by a women’s design

The new MB&F x Bvlgari Serpenti watch for men has launched in Dubai. Photo: MB&F x Bvlgari

“Serpenti is Bvlgari and Bvlgari is Serpenti”, states Jean-Christophe Babin, chief executive of Bvlgari.

Speaking at the Bvlgari Yacht Club in Dubai, he is unveiling a new luxury watch for men based on a women's design. The collaboration is between Bvlgari and the independent watchmaker MB&F.

Babin describes Serpenti as the leading ladies' watch collection, while stating that it is one of the few collections, since its inception, created as a watch for women.

“Many watches for women are made either exclusively for women, or are variations on a men's watch,” he explains. “Now, for the first time in watchmaking history, a ladies' watch has birthed a man's watch. Now women's watches are setting the styling of a man's watch.”

The result is three variations of a new timepiece, made with a distinctive snake head-shaped case. While the serpent shape is undeniably a Bvlgari, the technical know-how is made possible by the specialist expertise of the MB&F team.

The new MB&F x Bvlgari Serpenti watch for men comes in three iterations, including rose gold and green. There are only 33 pieces of this colour available. Photo: MB&F x Bvlgari

Babin says the “beauty of this collaboration” is that Bvlgari's product creation executive director, Fabrizio Buonamassa, and MB&F's founder and chief executive, Maximilian Busser, belong to two different companies.

While this may seem like a small matter, it underscores the mutual trust and respect between the two companies: the smaller MB&F and one large Bvlgari, worth more than €4.5 billion.

The synergy is apparent in every aspect of the watch. It comes in three versions: white gold with blue colouring and strap; rose gold and green; and all-black. Every line, contour, shape and element has been finessed by the two creative experts, Busser and Buonamassa, over a three-year period, with the pair exchanging ideas, sketches and know-how to bring about the new design to fruition.

The collection is limited to 99 watches – 33 of each colour. As for price, would-be collectors can expect to pay between €143,000 (Dh 540,000) and €165,000 (Dh 625,000) depending on the model.

The MB&F x Bvlgari Serpenti watch is thought to be the first time a woman's watch has laid out the styling for a man's watch. Photo MB&F x Bvlgari

This is the second time Busser and Buonamassa have worked together. The first being in 2021, with the Legacy Machine FlyingT Allegra watch, a three-dimension, gem-studded masterpiece.