A nice macro of Parmigiani’s Pershing Tourbillon Abyss, unveiled earlier this year.  It is limited to just 30 pieces.  The watch features a beautiful 45mm titanium case with both polished and satin-finished elements.  The bezel is rose gold.  The caliber features a 30-second tourbillon, as noted on the dial.

Read and see more over at Parmigiani’s blog>>>

Wood veneer dials…

Last month at SIHH Parmigiani Fleurier had on display three new musical themed timepieces featuring marquetry dials.  One of the pieces was a clock; the other two, wristwatch tributes to the cradles of rock n’ roll.  I am a big fan of marquetry, which is a basically the assembly of many small, thin pieces of wood (aka veneer) to form a design or decorative pattern.  It is an art form dating back to the 16th century.   This year, Parmigiani Fleurier created two Tonda Tourbillons with marquetry dials — the USA “Woodstock” and the UK “Wooodrock”.    We’ll take a closer look, below.
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Listing of 2013 Parmigiani watches, haute horlogerie.  Tonda 1950 small seconds were also presented with diamond-set bezels.

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	Tonda Tourbillon “Woodstock” hand-wound, tourbillon wood marquetry dial	Tonda Tourbillon “Woodrock” hand-wound, tourbillon wood marquetry dial

SIHH 2013…Burmese jade dial…

This symbolic creation from Parmigiani draws inspiration from Greek mythology and the architect Daedalus who legend has it created the labyrinthe to incarcerate the Minotaur.  Though the symbolism that I think Parmigiani tries to represent here is that of the labyrinthe as a place to lose oneself, a search for one’s self, if you will.  The Toric Quaestor Labyrinthe contains a minute repeater, hidden but for its sound under the 2-layer dial — on bottom, a disc of Burmese jade sits under an openworked white gold plate; together they form the visual of the labryinthe.

Parmigiani Toric Quaestor Labyrinthe

Limited edition 5 pieces

46mm platinum case

The back of the movement, visible through the caseback, is impeccably finished, as you can see here.

SIHH 2013…

The Parmigiani Toric Tecnica Samba is another haute horlogerie pieces from the manufacture, featuring a minute repeater (2 cathedral gongs) and tourbillon.  The case is platinum 42mm with a hinged caseback.  The dial features a hand-engraved plant motif with translucent enamel coating.

Parmigiani Toric Tecnica Samba

SIHH 2013…

Parmigiani’s “Toric” collection reside solely in the brand’s haute horlogerie segment and are among its most complex pieces as well as the manufacture’s most unusually decorated dials.  This new Toric Tecnica Minos has a hand-wound caliber with an impressive mix of complications:  minute repeater on 2 cathedral gongs, tourbillon, perpetual calendar and power reserve (43 hours).   The case is 45mm, rose gold.

Parmigiani Toric Tecnica Minos

SIHH 2013…

Parmigiani Fleurier presents a new Pershing haute horlogerie model, the Pershing Tourbillon Abyss.  The watch features a 45mm titanium case (14.2mm thick) with rose gold bezel, water resistant to 100m.  Aside from the 30-second tourbillon which takes center stage, the watch has a power reserve display (one-week max) and basic hour/min/secs indications.   The movement is hand-wound.  Fitted on an indigo blue alligator strap.  Note also the subtle wave motif on the dial.

Parmigiani Pershing Abyss Tourbillon

 Parmigiani Fleurier PF510 Caliber

SIHH 2013 preview…

With SIHH 2013 in Geneve right around the corner, this is the last SIHH 2013 preview I will share with you before the action hits (follow our SIHH 2013 feed here).  The Bugatti Vitesse from Parmigiani was actually unveiled a few months ago in Pebble Beach, but it will be received by a much broader audience next week in Geneva.   The watch is, as the name suggests, a tribute to the king of the road, the Bugatti Veyron.  And like the Bugatti, this watch — with its Texalium dial and alligator strap by Hermes — is anything but ordinary.
Click through for a closer look at the futuristic Parmigiani Bugatti Vitesse Watch

Though most brands are not fans of making one-off, personalized watches, a select number of high-end brands a offer a bespoke, or highly customized, watch service to their best clients and collectors.  I’ve previewed instances of such watches over the years — the Vacheron Constantin Philosophia is one such example; the Patek Philippe Ref 5016 minute repeater perpetual calendar tourbillon with red and black dial is another.  Parmigiani Fleurier is another such high end manufacture that provides individual adaptation of its pieces.  The brand recently featured on its blog a recent customization, created for a customer in Cologne, Germany.

A bespoke Parmigiani Transforma Chronograph

The watch is a Transforma model, a very special type of watch which can be transformed from a wristwatch into a pocket watch, and also a table clock.  Three watches in one.  The watch you see here was customized with special dial colors.  Check out more at Le Blog Parmigiani.

Due to the exclusive nature of such pieces and their owners, many of them are never seen in public, save for the some such as the aforementioned Patek which show up at auction on rare occasion.  So it is always a nice surprise to get a look at bespoke pieces such as this.

I know, I know, you are all waiting for the new Panerai and Patek and AP’s, etc….but I’ve got one more SIHH 2012 piece from the lesser known (but by no means inferior)  brand Parmigiani.  This is the first annual calendar from the brand, with a retrograde date prominently placed around the upper arc of the dial about 4 o’clock to 8 o’clock.  The annual calendar keeps the day and date of the week accurate all year round, only in need of correction in February, unless, of course, it’s a leap year.   The dial looks unbalanced to me, with too much emphasis placed on the date.  Parmigiani manufactures all their own movements, and the Tonda Annual Calendar has an automatic mechanical movement with a newly developed calendar module.

Parmigiani Tonda Annual Calendar

40mm rose or white gold case, dial in silver or charcoal grey with a silvered opaline ring and choice of grained decoration or barley grain in the center