Of Divine Proportions

The magic formula behind Michel Parmigiani's rise to success

Expanding Creativity

A watchmaker inspects a timepieceSince the brand was created, Parmigiani Fleurier has extended the range to include the Tondagraph, a combination of chronograph and tourbillon, which underlines Parmigiani's quest for perfection: “What’s different about the Tondagraph is the case, and the grand complication never before seen since the creation of the Fleurier brand. The entire mechanism is visible from the back, and one look at the components and you will see that it is a work of precision. Technically, it is a masterpiece. The finishing of the bridge alone took 20 hours, while the cage required 40 hours.”

The Bugatti Atalante, an extension of the Bugatti series, comes in a round case, and fitted with the in-house PF335 movement, Parmigiani Fleurier's first flyback chronograph. Inspired by the Bugatti Atalante 57S Sport, one of the only private passenger cars of the 1930s, the watch profile sees the bezel and the caseback joining to form a satin-finished area which evokes the air intakes found on the side wings of the sports car, while the dial is inspired by the radiator grille.The brand’s sumptuous Beijing atelier

Aside from these, Parmigiani has also worked on unique pieces, including another world first, the Hijiri continuous lunar calendar, which was presented to the Middle East last year. It is the world's first 30-year mechanical clock based on the Hegirian Calendar, or the Islamic lunar calendar, which displays the mean time in hours and minutes and also the phases of the moon. It took Parmigiani 20 years to perfect the algorithm for the clock's movement, and the clock itself took four years to create.

So what makes up the equation for success? A love of watchmaking, the pursuit of perfection, hard work, plus inspiration from a fellow great mind. Add these to the fact that Parmigiani has remained true to his values, and faithful to the mastery of mechanical construction, and the results are truly golden.

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