Some watches are watches first and design pieces second. The Bulgari Serpenti Tubogas is the other way around. It’s a piece of jewellery that also tells the time — and Bulgari has been doing this exact thing, with this exact bracelet technique, since the 1940s.
This one is the reference 101828 in stainless steel. The single-spiral tubogas bracelet — no clasp, no solder, just polished steel coiled to wrap the wrist and hold its own tension — is the whole story. At the head sits a 35mm curved case framing a silver opaline dial with a guilloche soleil finish and applied hour markers. The crown is set with a pink rubellite cabochon. Small details, deliberately restrained.
The Tubogas technique is what makes this a Bulgari and not just a bracelet watch. It’s a construction method the Roman house developed for their jewellery in the 1940s — flexible strips of steel formed into a hollow tube without any welding, so the whole bracelet moves like fabric on the wrist. Nobody else does it the way Bulgari does, which is why the Serpenti Tubogas has held its identity for eighty years without changing much.
This example is a 2025 model in excellent condition with only light wear, full set with the original Bulgari box and papers, dated December 2025. Covered by our TWB 12-month in-house warranty. At $8,900 for a near-new full-set steel Serpenti Tubogas, this sits well below current boutique retail and gives you one of the most recognisable Italian designs of the last century for the money. Viewings by appointment, Sydney CBD.
Price: $8,900 AUD
Condition: Excellent, light wear — full set with box and papers, dated Dec 2025. TWB 12-month warranty
Reference: 101828 (2025, 35mm steel case, single-spiral tubogas bracelet, silver opaline guilloche dial)
Enquiries by appointment — Sydney CBD.