We go as soon as extra into the breach at Parmigiani Fleurier, this time as a part of a guided tour with different Asian press. Our final story on this most wonderful of watchmaking nodes – the model itself is only one a part of the set-up – lined all of the fundamentals of all of the constituent elements of what’s referred to as the Parmigiani Watchmaking Centre.
For this run, we’re as soon as extra not visiting Atokalpa and Elwin, sadly, and we acknowledge that these stay vital gaps in our in any other case intensive protection. However, we did get an in-depth rundown on what occurs on the aforementioned websites and dutifully sum it up right here.
In fact, in case you are already comparatively acquainted with Parmigiani Fleurier, or have learn our story from three years in the past (it lives on on-line), nothing has modified in any respect. We’ve got made an effort to spruce issues up with commentary on every of the manufacturing websites, primarily based on what would possibly make them precious…
On that word, the most important replace at Parmigiani Fleurier in the previous couple of years is the information that your entire Parmigiani Watchmaking Centre (PWC), together with the model Parmigiani Fleurier, was and would possibly nonetheless be in the hunt for a brand new proprietor.
Presently, the entire present remains to be underneath the stewardship of the Sandoz Household Basis. This information (nonetheless) provides us one other angle to current the details about PWC in a distinct gentle, and that’s simply what we’ve got accomplished.
We start subsequently with the very brief record of what Parmigiani Fleurier, which we’d use interchangeably with PWC, can’t do. It’s actually simply 5 objects… Parmigiani Fleurier doesn’t make sapphire crystals, artificial rubies, leather-based straps, bracelets and mainsprings.
Provided that the model goes nice weapons with gross sales of the Tonda PF, which Bloomberg says accounted for an unimaginable 98 % of the model’s gross sales in 2023, we think about that plans have to be afoot so as to add bracelet manufacturing to the capabilities of Les Artisans Boitiers, or else make a strategic acquisition. The in need of it’s that there’s nothing to report, but, and nothing rises above the extent of rank hypothesis.
A Basis In Restoration
The story of Parmigiani Fleurier is inextricably linked to its founder, Michel Parmigiani. Within the coronary heart of the Quartz Disaster of the Nineteen Seventies, when the Swiss watch business was wobbling precariously, Michel (whom we deal with by his first identify for readability) established a workshop devoted to the near-lost artwork of restoring vintage timepieces.
His extraordinary expertise for respiration life again into historic marvels earned him an elite clientele, together with the Patek Philippe Museum and, crucially, the Sandoz Household Basis. To wit, Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni usually says Michel has a black belt in watchmaking, because of his prowess in restoration.
The inspiration, constructed on the fortune of the Novartis pharmaceutical firm, entrusted Michel with sustaining its huge and priceless assortment of historic clocks and automata.
This relationship blossomed, and with the muse’s backing, the Parmigiani Fleurier model was formally launched in 1996. Its first creation, the Toric QP Rétrograde, instantly established the model’s identification with its distinctive knurled bezel impressed by classical structure and its advanced, fantastically completed motion.
For Michel himself, restoration is a method to return life to mechanical wonders, with out altering the character of the unique. This deep understanding of historic mechanics and distinct absence of egotism grew to become the model’s unshakable basis.
Manufacturing Powerhouse
To appreciate this imaginative and prescient of uncompromising high quality, Michel and the muse launched into an bold mission: constructing a vertically built-in industrial hub round Parmigiani Fleurier. This Parmigiani Watchmaking Centre is a constellation of specialist firms, every a grasp in its personal proper, giving the model a stage of self- sufficiency that few can declare.
Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier (VMF): The guts of the operation, VMF develops and produces high-end actions for Parmigiani Fleurier. It additionally provides a choose record of prestigious shoppers, together with Hermès (which owns a 25% stake) and Richard Mille. It’s the model’s central nervous system, dealing with every little thing from R&D to remaining motion meeting and ending. TAG Heuer’s Motion Technique Director Carole Forestier-Kasapi calls Vaucher the most effective within the commerce; VMF works with TAG Heuer to provide the model’s split-seconds chronograph motion.
Atokalpa & Elwin: These corporations produce the just about microscopic, high-precision parts which are the constructing blocks of a motion. Atokalpa is a specialist within the regulating organ—the escapement, steadiness wheel, and even the hairspring—a functionality possessed by solely a handful of manufactures worldwide. Elwin excels in bar turning, creating an enormous array of tiny screws, pinions, and spindles with micron-level precision.
Quadrance & Habillage: That is the dial-making professional. From intricate hand-turned guillochage to the fragile grained end of the Tonda PF dials—achieved by manually rubbing silver powder onto a brass plate—that is the place the face of the watch is given its soul.
Les Artisans Boitiers (LAB): The casemaker, LAB masters each trendy CNC machining and conventional hand-craftsmanship. It’s chargeable for the elegant, ergonomic instances of the Tonda PF in addition to extraordinary one-off creations just like the white gold double hunter case of the La Rose Carrée pocket watch. This built-in construction signifies that Parmigiani Fleurier produces just about every little thing in-house, from essentially the most advanced calibre to the smallest screw, and is ready to create just about any complication it needs.
Silent Luxurious
For a lot of its historical past, Parmigiani Fleurier was a model for these within the know, together with King Charles III, who famously wore a Toric Chronograph for years, even when he was the Prince of Wales. Nevertheless, the appointment of Guido Terreni as CEO in 2021 marked a pivotal second. Terreni, the person behind the outstanding success of Bvlgari’s Octo Finissimo, introduced a brand new imaginative and prescient of “silent luxurious” to the model.
This was crystalized within the Tonda PF assortment. Launched in late 2021, it was an on the spot sensation, and that’s no exaggeration. The Tonda PF distilled the model’s essence right into a clear, refined, and extremely subtle sports activities class watch. Its design is a research in subtlety: the superb knurled bezel, the intricate guilloché dial, the elegantly built-in bracelet, and the minimalist “PF” emblem. It was a watch that didn’t shout; it whispered. Terreni famous was solely attainable due to the unimaginable depth of in-house experience and capability at PWC.
The success of the Tonda PF has propelled the model to new heights, with turnover reportedly surging, in keeping with Bloomberg. The gathering has expanded to incorporate progressive issues such because the GMT Rattrapante (see our word on this within the Moser story) and easy fashions, resembling a celebrated no-date Micro-Rotor watch. Concurrently, the model continues to honour its classical roots with a revival of the Toric assortment, now that includes beautiful perpetual calendars and chronographs with strong gold actions, with gold dials to match.
In a world of hype, Parmigiani Fleurier stands aside. It’s a model constructed on the quiet confidence of a grasp restorer and powered by probably the most complete manufacturing hubs in Switzerland. With Terreni’s refined imaginative and prescient, it has discovered the proper concord between its wealthy heritage and a compelling, trendy voice, proving that true legacy isn’t just about preserving the previous, however artfully reinventing it for the long run. The gathering was developed in underneath a 12 months, a feat Terreni famous was solely attainable due to the unimaginable depth of in-house experience and capability at PWC.
The success of the Tonda PF has propelled the model to new heights, with turnover reportedly surging, in keeping with Bloomberg. The gathering has expanded to incorporate progressive issues such because the GMT Rattrapante (see our word on this within the Moser story) and easy fashions, resembling a celebrated no-date Micro- Rotor watch. Concurrently, the model continues to honour its classical roots with a revival of the Toric assortment, now that includes beautiful perpetual calendars and chronographs with strong gold actions, with gold dials to match.
In a world of hype, Parmigiani Fleurier stands aside. It’s a model constructed on the quiet confidence of a grasp restorer and powered by probably the most complete manufacturing hubs in Switzerland. With Terreni’s refined imaginative and prescient, it has discovered the proper concord between its wealthy heritage and a compelling, trendy voice, proving that true legacy isn’t just about preserving the previous, however artfully reinventing it for the long run.
