WORLDTEMPUS - 24 January 2012
Roberta Naas
Those who know Michel Parmigiani know that he thinks on a different level than most brand leaders. As a master watchmaker and restorer, his mind dances to the drum of achieving the sublimely perfect timepiece.
This year, Parmigiani Fleurier accomplished the above-mentioned with its haute horlogerie selection. In fact, the brand unveiled four superb minute repeaters – an accomplishment few can claim. Collectors were certainly in their glory listening to one after the other during the SIHH. One of them, the Toric Westminster Eiffel, retailing for approximately $590,000, offers Westminster chimes on four gongs. The 46 mm rose gold watch also houses a tourbillon. In creating this watch, Parmigiani utilizes a centrifugal system that eliminates all the drag sounds of the escapement when the repeater is activated. The result is an amazingly clear and melodious pitch.
The three other exceptional repeaters include the Toragraph Tourbillon Minute Repeater with Chronograph in a newly developed three-part Toric case with a dial created in art deco design. Available only in a limited edition of five pieces in white gold, this repeater retails for approximately $390,000. The Toric Questor Minute Repeater in an edition of one piece each in platinum and 18-karat rose gold boasts a fingerprint pattern dial and a patented minute repeater with outsized date. In fact, this watch features one of the largest date indications on the market, visible via two numeric disks on different levels so they don't interfere with one another when the instantaneous date changes. This watch retails for about $590,000.
Also new this year is the superb Tonda Annual Calendar – Parmigiani's first annual calendar with retrograde date function on the outer ring. It is outfitted with the brand's 17th movement. The new Tonda Annual Calendar is based on the brand's PF331 automatic movement but incorporates an additional module to create the PF 339 annual calendar, which automatically accounts for the variation in the number of days in each month except February. The watch features a retrograde date on the outer portion of the dial and month displayed via a number from 1-12 at 3:00. The moon phase indicator displays the phases in both the northern and southern hemispheres and is accurate to 122 years. Offered in rose or white gold, the $32,800 watch needs only one correction per year in February.
Easily the most amazing piece from Parmigiani this year is the approximately $3.5 million Dragon Automaton clock that celebrates the year of the dragon. Le Dragon et la Perle du Savoir (The Dragon and the Pearl of Wisdom) clock is extraordinary. Sitting on a rock crystal base, the tall standing dragon is sculpted in 18-karat gold with a belly of sterling silver. As if in motion, the dragon‘s fully formed body features paws reaching toward a globe that represents pure wisdom. He makes one full turn on his base every hour, always reaching toward the globe, but as soon as the globe seems nearly in reach, it rolls further away. This magnificent dragon is decorated using almost every color of jade and utilizes most of the artisanal crafts available in the watch industry – making it a masterful mechanic wonder.
