How the Bulgari Lucea Notte di Luce Became a Luminous Tri-Culture Mosaic
It’s rare to see Italian design, Swiss horology, and Japanese craftsmanship converge in one object. Rarer still when it takes the form of a special-edition watch produced in extremely limited numbers (just 80 pieces per variation, to be exact). That is precisely what we’re getting with the new Bulgari Lucea Notte di Luce, a timepiece born of the maison’s collaboration with the Kyoto-based lacquer master Yasuhiro Asai.
The partnership traces back to Bulgari’s Executive Director of Product Creation, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, who met Asai in Japan and found a shared fascination with luminosity—the core idea behind Lucea (from lux, or “light”) and its sublimated feminine radiance. Asai, celebrated for preserving the 1,300-year-old maki-e tradition, translates that theme into a dial that feels as ancient as it is contemporary.
Lucea Notte di Luce’s dial is the true revelation. Entirely handcrafted in Asai’s Kyoto atelier, it unites two ancestral Japanese techniques. First, the deep black base is created using Urushi, a lacquer derived from tree sap, one that been used in Japanese craft for generations now.
Into this polished darkness, Asai inlays tiny fragments of mother-of-pearl, individually chosen for their glow and shape. This is what’s called Raden, a centuries-old “sprinkled picture” technique, developed some 1,300 years ago. Here, it simply becomes a field of light held in tension against the shadow.
The Lucea Notte di Luce is offered in a refined 33 mm case, available in either stainless steel or rose gold, paired with a diamond-set bezel and a polished/satin-brushed bracelet. Inside is a Swiss automatic movementAutomatic MovementA mechanical watch movement powered by a rotor that winds the mainspring through the natural motion of the wearer's wrist, removing the need for a battery. Prized by collectors forGo to Automatic Movement Glossary with hours, minutes, and seconds, offering an approximately 48-hour power reserve and 50 meters of water resistance.
Between each layer of lacquer, the dial is patiently charcoal-polished to build depth and brilliance. Each sliver of mother-of-pearl is set by hand, creating a mosaic that seems to move as it catches the light. Asai devotes roughly 60 days of work to each dial. The result is simple and rare: no two Lucea Notte di Luce watches will ever be the same.