Bvlgari Tubogas gold vintage

The so-called tubogas (or gas-pipe) technique was developed during the second half of the nineteenth century and used by Bulgari on the first Serpenti watch creations of the 1940s and 1950s.

The term “tubogas” was inspired by the distinctive shape of the gas carrier pipes in use from the 1920s onwards. This motif was revived by Bulgari in the 1970s, and employed so effectively in the creation of watches, bracelets, necklaces and rings that it became one of the firm’s trademarks. The Bulgari Tubogas is a flexible band with rounded contours produced without soldering.

But as a wristwatch, in the open-coil style that determines the better-known Bulgari Serpenti, the Tubogas retains its early avant-garde nature, with designs featuring contrasting finishes that capture the spirit of the times in which they were made, and others that allow the watch head to take precedence.

This one we offer at LTF is a very rare ref.G-1211-4, made entirely of 18kt yellow gold, with a hand-wound movement on an Ebel base. The sapphire mineral crystal protects the polished black dial bearing the Italian maison's logo.

The watch is currently the only one for sale in the world in this configuration and is, in addition to an incredible piece of 1970s design, a likely investment in terms of collectibles.