Birds of a Feather Tick-Tock Together: Bulgari Reveals New Divas’ Dream Peacock Novelties at Dubai Watch Week

Juno, the queen of the Roman pantheon of gods, was the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire and was rarely depicted in artistic form without her sacred sidekick of choice: the majestic peacock.
 

Naturally, Bulgari, being no stranger to Romanesque design, has decided to flaunt both its feathers and its fine watchmaking skills at Dubai Watch Week 2023 with several new editions of the Divas’ Dream Peacock watch.

The term “métiers d’art” translates simply into English as “artistic careers.” The French phrase morphed from text into textiles (and beyond) after the LVMH group began sponsoring an artist-in-residence program in 2016, only one year before Bulgari introduced its Divas’ Dream Peacock collection.
 

While vastly different from and not as well-known as the brand’s Serpenti line, the Divas’ Dream Peacock collection has managed to maintain its popularity as well as its place in the Bulgari catalog over the last five years. After all, a peacock is a symbol of glamour, exceptionalism, and even luxury in some cultures, making it an ideal representation of the Italian brand.

The five most recent editions of the Divas’ Dream timepieces show off the aesthetical beauty for which Bulgari is known, obviously; however, they also reaffirm the brand’s commitment to offering a diverse range of highly complicated watches to a demographic of enthusiasts that grows by the day: women.
 

Why does Bulgari’s commitment to female enthusiasts matter? Because, with more and more women – especially younger women – showing an interest in mechanical timepieces, brands have an opportunity to take advantage of this interest and see some growth in a way they may not have had in the days before social media (which has been instrumental in not only growing the female community but fostering their love for mechanical pieces).
 

Let’s take the new Divas’ Dream Peacock Precious Marquetry Jumping Hours and Retrograde Minutes (ref. 103784) as an example of the merging of mechanics and aesthetics.

At first glance, the Divas’ Dream Peacock Precious Marquetry Jumping Hours and Retrograde Minutes has a gorgeous blending of blues and greens in the form of aventurine and malachite, with three-dimensional marquetry (or “inlay work”) in peacock form on the dial (which, according to the brand, was inspired by the mosaics of the Roman Baths of Caracalla). Combine this with an 18K rose gold case, multiple round brilliant-cut and snow-set diamonds, a tsavorite-capped rose gold crown, and an emerald bird eye, and you have the makings of a late 19th-century art nouveau work or even an early 20th-century avant-garde sculpture, only, you can wear it on your wrist.
 

Then… THEN… you realize that this piece of art actually ticks. In fact, not only does it tick, but it is equipped with a self-winding movement with a 42-hour power reserve and includes jumping hours and retrograde minutes.

Did I mention that this movement is visible through the sapphire crystal caseback? Because it is! MORE OF THIS, PLEASE.
 

Oh, wait… There is more!

Another of the releases in this new collection is the Divas’ Dream Peacock Dischi (ref. 103473), which uses two concentric discs on the dial to indicate the hours and minutes in lieu of traditional watch hands.
 

Like the ref. 103784, the Dischi’s self-winding calibre BVL 308 movement also has a 42-hour power reserve and is water resistant to 30 meters. That said, we doubt its wearer would want to go snorkeling in an 18K rose gold, diamond, and blue sapphire watch with an intricate inlay dial. Though, one never knows. We concur.
 

The last of the mechanical Bulgari Divas’ Dream novelties is the 37mm, 18K rose gold Divas’ Dream Peacock Diamonds (ref. 103348).
 

The dial offers a white mother-of-pearl background embellished with round brilliant-cut diamonds and decorated with a hand-painted peacock motif comprising fourteen different colors. The watch is powered by the BVL 191 self-winding movement and is accompanied by an 18K rose gold and diamond feather-patterned bracelet with a folding buckle.

While Bulgari knocked it out of the park with their mechanical releases in the Divas’ Dream Peacock collection, they also introduced two new watches powered by a quartz movement and accompanied by alligator straps with rose gold and diamond pin-buckles (because having options is never a bad thing).

The first offering is the 33mm Divas’ Dream Peacock Feather Marquetry in 18K rose gold (ref. 103767; $27,700). The dial has been crafted with an elegant feather-like inlay design and gilded hour and minute hands, all encased in rose gold and accented with white round brilliant cut diamonds and a cabochon-cut sapphire-capped crown.
 

The second of the two quartz timepieces is the Divas’ Dream Peacock Mother-of-Pearl Marquetry (ref. 13769), which, like its sister watch, is 33mm in diameter and equipped with an 18K rose gold and diamond case. The major difference is that the mother-of-pearl dial on this timepiece is beautified with a decorative peacock silhouette inlay and topped off with diamond hour markers and a rubellite-capped crown.
 

All five editions stand alone in their appearance, and yet each, no doubt, would make the goddess Juno beam with pride. For more information, visit Bulgari’s website.