The development of personal smart devices able to communicate with our surroundings is booming. Examples include the e-strap, the smart bracelet from Montblanc, among others. These portable accessories are identified in the industry as wearables, with the technology integrated into clothing or skin. The Italian firm Bulgari joined this trend with the presentation of its prototype smart watch Diagono Magnesium at the Watch and Jewelry Show Baselworld 2015.
The new proposal from the Italian brand is Swiss-made and simultaneously offers a traditional mechanical movement while incorporating smart technologies that provide digital connectivity functions that allow the user to interact with computing devices. It is a traditional mechanical watch to which a small close communication chip NFC (Near Field Contact) has been added. This identification chip is capable of storing personal information through an application designed by the company, which can be installed in any smartphone with NFC technology.
Users can enter information into this app about their bank accounts, user IDs, and encrypted wireless locks as well as flight information, notes and encrypted passwords in general. The watch becomes their own “custom pass key”. The owner just needs to place the watch near special readers to access pass codes, make secure payments, access transport tickets, enter their residence’s information, withdraw money from ATMs or start the engine of their vehicles.
For the development of its Diagono Magnesium, Bulgari worked with the Swiss company WISeKey, which developed the application that receives and encrypts the information. This technology ensures that the information is not stored on the mobile device, but in the same sophisticated and secure server used by banks and high-tech companies worldwide. Review our selection of luxury watches and tech gadgets.
The Diagono Magnesium takes its name from one of the materials used for the main body of the timepiece— magnesium—chosen because it is a tough, lightweight and cutting-edge mineral. The ceramics, the steel of the PVD crown and a last generation polymer called PEEK–used in the aerospace industry–complete this sublime piece of traditional performance with materials and connectivity of the future.
This new Bulgari design is available without the NFC chip in three colors: blue, gray and bronze. The prototype version with NFC technology is only available in bronze. The watch attaches to the wrist by a vulcanized black rubber strap, which includes a closure system made from the same last generation PEEK polymer.
The Diagono Magnesium is powered by a self-winding mechanical caliber with a 28,800 vph frequency and a 42-hour power reserve. Both the prototype and the regular edition without the chip, have a market price of $4,600. ■
