Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Tourbillon Slate
The Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Tourbillon Slate is a new model for 2020. It features a slate-coloured hand-guilloché dial, an 18-carat red gold case, incorporating gadroons and knurling, and a highly-specified movement featuring a flying tourbillon and micro-rotor.
Michel Parmigiani, the founder of the eponymous luxury marque is an exceptional watchmaker and restorer of automata, historical clocks and watches. His talents have regularly attracted the great and the good to visit his atelier. However, beyond his prowess at the bench, Michel is an aesthete.
The designs of the timepieces bearing his name uphold the principles of the golden ratio. Each watch possesses optimal proportions and every element of the case sits in concert. This is manifest with the new Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Tourbillon Slate, a blueprint which other brands may wish to consider emulating.
The Parmigiani Fleurier collection is subdivided into families. For example, ‘Tonda’ is used for round watches, while ‘Kalpa’ is the moniker assigned to tonneau-shaped timepieces. The Toric, once again round, encompasses a stepped case band and a fluted bezel motif, collectively reproducing the appearance of Doric columns.
In 1999, Michel unveiled the brand’s inaugural watch, the Toric QP Retrograde. The bezel of this watch featured alternating gadroons and knurling. The knurling was created by hand, using a toothed wheel to displace the metal resulting in a grooved pattern. While each groove appeared uniform, there was an infinitesimal variance between each handcrafted recess. Interestingly, this skilled operation was performed by a local artisan based near the brand’s Fleurier headquarters.
While hitherto my attention has focussed upon the aesthetics of this new model, its mechanical virtuosity is equally impressive. Indeed, this paragon of haute horlogerie proves a spellbinding creation, deserving comprehensive evaluation with a contemplative eye.
The dial
The hand-guilloché dial is enriched with a ‘Grain de Riz’ pattern and presented in a wonderfully refined shade of slate. Upholding the Toric design codes, the watch is equipped with Javelin-shaped hands featuring luminescent coating. They imbue the dial with notable grace while proving highly legible.
Gold applied indexes employ curving lines and elaborate contours while a softly-spoken white minuterie occupies the periphery of the dial.
The dial’s showpiece is the tourbillon carriage positioned at 7:08, the time Michel Parmigiani was born. At first glance, the asymmetric positioning of the tourbillon seems at odds with the brand’s obsession with proportions, lines and sinuous forms. However, within a few moments, any perceived dissonance evaporates into the ether and suddenly the tourbillon’s position seems perfect.
A golden track encircles the aperture for the tourbillon and, together with a blued hand affixed to the Tourbillon carriage, imparts the running seconds.
While the Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Tourbillon Slate is eminently sophisticated, the dial also appears uncluttered and highly legible.
The case
The Toric Tourbillon Slate is presented in an 18-carat, polished red gold case, measuring 42.8mm in diameter and just 9.45mm in height. Considering the complexity of this model’s movement, it seems a remarkable feat that this watch is so slim.
The gadroons and knurling seem at ease with the remaining watch elements. The lugs gently taper to a rounded tip, guiding the strap to ergonomically encircle the wrist.
Parmigiani Fleurier surpasses ‘Manufacture’ status. The company makes every component, save for sapphire crystals, jewels and straps. The Havana brown Hermès strap is sumptuous and befits a watch of such noble status.
The movement
As its name implies, the Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Tourbillon Slate is equipped with Breguet’s whirlwind invention. However, this is no ordinary tourbillon, it is a flying tourbillon, invented by Alfred Helwig in 1920. Unlike a regular whirlwind, the flying tourbillon is supported from underneath and eschews an upper bridge.
One benefit of the flying tourbillon is that the absence of an upper bridge indulges the wearer with unhindered views of the tourbillon cage, escape wheel, balance and pallet lever, all in motion. The movement measures a mere 3.4mm in height, explaining the model’s comparatively modest case thickness. Another reason for the slender movement is that the tourbillon is integrated into the main plate.
The Calibre PF517 features a platinum micro-rotor, embellished with ‘Grain d’Orge’ guilloché. Only a few companies are able to make automatic movements equipped with a micro-rotor, however, Parmigiani Fleurier has possessed this know-how for many years. The micro-rotor sits flush with the adjacent bridges, mitigating the thickness of the movement. Moreover, unlike a conventional oscillating mass which restricts viewing the parts below, the micro-rotor indulges onlookers with superb views of the horological vista in their midst.
Parmigiani Fleurier is renowned for its matchless finishing and the Calibre PF517 upholds the brand’s revered status. The bridges are decorated with Côtes de Genève motif and feature sparkling bevels. The wheels are circular-grained, perlage adorns the main plate and the jewel and screw sinks are polished to a resplendent gleam.
Closing remarks
It proves challenging to summarise the composition of the Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Tourbillon Slate in just a few sentences. This high-end watch from the Val-de-Travers has a long inventory of attributes. Nevertheless, it would be professionally remiss of me if I don’t at least attempt to sum up this timepiece in a couple of paragraphs.
In terms of functionality, this watch eloquently indicates the hours, minutes and seconds. Moreover, the case is beautifully proportioned, potentially suiting an array of different wrist sizes, and the automatic movement necessitates little input on the part of the wearer. However, the excellence of this watch is not limited to mere practical considerations.
The movement is beautiful to behold. The finishing enhances corrosion resistance but also suffuses each part with a sizeable dose of artistic flair. The case regularly partakes in dalliances with light. Each gadroon and every knurled recess necessitates expertise and time but the resultant appearance proves extraordinarily attractive. Likewise, the hand-guilloché dial is equally irresistible. Its rich texture and bewitching hue differentiate it from many of its horological peers.
The Toric Tourbillon Slate is a handsome timepiece, a quality which will resonate with Michel Parmigiani. Its beauty is the result of its time-consuming practices, but as any artist will attest, a masterpiece is never created in haste.
Further reading
Technical specification
- Model: Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Tourbillon Slate
- Reference: PFH479-1600200-HA1241
- Case: 18-carat red gold; diameter 42.8 mm; height 9.45 mm; water resistance 3ATM (30 metres); sapphire crystal to front and exhibition case back
- Functions: Hours; minutes; 60 seconds tourbillon
- Movement: Calibre PF517; self-winding movement; frequency 21,600 VpH (3Hz); 29 jewels; power reserve =48 hours; 207 components
- Strap: Havana brown Hermès alligator strap paired with an 18-carat red gold pin buckle
- Price: €130,000 (RRP as at 1.6.2020)
- Limited Edition: 25 pieces