Pure Class: Parmigiani Fleurier’s Quiet Revolution

When we recently got to meet the architect who put Parmigiani Fleurier “back on the map of watchmaking” in almost no time, Guido Terreni described what he saw as his first task as Parmigiani Fleurier’s CEO as finding an answer to the question, “What can we do to make this brand more interesting?”

According to Terreni, this required “a clear positioning in terms of what kind of luxury we want to provide,” which he sees as “a private luxury, something extremely discreet and not ostentatious with style that is very pure.” In other words, there aren’t that many watchmaking brands that have the legitimacy and expertise of Parmigiani Fleurier, but also the overall aesthetics needed to better reflect the essence of the brand’s values and target audience.

Interestingly, the refined style of the Tonda PF collection would, at the same time, have an impact on the brand’s approach to mechanical innovation. To Terreni, “In the purity of the style lies the simplicity of the idea.” And what better way to express this than with a complication that can be hidden or activated with the push of a button?

He explains, “Of course, the micro-rotor is the father of the entire collection, but we couldn’t stop at the aesthetics. We wanted to, as watchmakers, also innovate through technique. We refuse to think that watchmaking has really invented everything, and while we view restoration as the origin of the brand, it has never been a cage in which you become stuck in tradition.”

A “New Way to Being on Time”

In the same spirit of the GMT Rattrapante, Parmigiani Fleurier introduced the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante (Ref. PFC904-1020001-100182) a year later. The watch enables on-demand minute calibration “over a specific period of time for any occasion or event requiring measurement of the minutes that count.”

Terreni explains: “For me, it’s a simple and discreet watch that allows you to master your time. And the easiest example is for people who are traveling a lot: You have to go to the gate at a certain time. When you’re in the lounge, you set your minute hand, and you know that it helps you be on time just at the glimpse of an eye.” He adds, “It can be when I’m in Watches and Wonders, I have 20 minutes for a journalist. We start with four clicks, and I can master my time. And then when the next one comes, you do the same thing again.”

More importantly, the minute hand can be set in 5- or 1-minute increments on demand. Two lateral pushers come into play: one at 8 o’clock for 5-minute increments, and one at 10 o’clock for 1-minute increments. The rhodium-plated hand aligns with the position of the 18k rose-gold hand, and can be reset using the crown-integrated pusher—just like the GMT Rattrapante.

Terreni continues: “The idea, the basis of it is always the same. It has to be something that comes to life when you need it, and when you don’t need it, it has to disappear. Like the GMT Rattrapante: When you’re not traveling, it’s a two-hander, and everything that interferes with the beauty of a two-hander is taken out. Same thing for the Minute Rattrapante. It’s a sort of simplification of the complication—a way to make it elegant, functional, and playful.”

Continuing the Story

Guido Terreni was appointed CEO at Parmigiani Fleurier in January 2021 after having successfully led the repositioning of Bulgari’s watchmaking division. At Parmigiani Fleurier, he not only took on the role of CEO, he also became the guardian of the legacy of its founder, Michel Parmigiani.

Born in 1950 in Couvet, Switzerland, Michel Parmigiani studied watchmaking and restoration at the Val-de-Travers School and the Technicum in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He opened his workshop, Mesure et Art du Temps, in 1976 and quickly gained renown for restoring valuable antique pieces. With support from the Sandoz Family Foundation, he launched Parmigiani Fleurier in 1996.

Today, the brand encompasses a full ecosystem of Swiss ateliers, from movement manufacturers to case and dial specialists, allowing Parmigiani Fleurier to produce each component in-house at the highest quality.

Managing Success and Expectations

SPECS
Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante

Manufacturer: Parmigiani Fleurier SA, Rue du Temple 11, 2114 Fleurier, Switzerland
Reference number: PFC905-1020001-100182
Functions: Hours, minutes, second time zone
Movement: PF051 (self-winding with micro-rotor in 22k rose gold), 48-hour power reserve, 21,600 vph
Case: Stainless steel with platinum bezel, sapphire crystal in caseback, water resistant to 60m
Dimensions: 40 mm diameter × 10.4 mm height
Bracelet and clasp: Polished and satin-finished stainless-steel bracelet with folding clasp
Variations: In rose gold (Ref. PFC905-2020001-200182, $65,600)
Price: $30,700

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante

Reference number: PFC904-1020001-100182
Functions: Hours, minutes, minute rattrapante
Movement: PF052 (automatic with 22k rose gold micro-rotor), 48-hour power reserve, 21,600 vph
Case: Stainless steel with platinum bezel, sapphire caseback, 60m water resistance
Dimensions: 40 mm × 10.7 mm
Bracelet and clasp: Polished and satin-finished stainless steel with folding clasp
Price: $31,800

Roger Ruegger: What attracted you most about Parmigiani Fleurier?
Guido Terreni: I was looking for a brand that had a deep cultural heritage focused only on one category, because I find it extremely important to watchmaking, and that mastered also the craft just through its internal production, so the prestige is at the highest because I wanted a brand who was already up there. And it’s a bit, there’s not many brands that have this definition. And although it was a small business, I never judged interest by the size of a business, but what you can do with it, and that’s what’s happening. And the other nice thing is the reaction of the trade, the press, the end customers; at the end, everything is fitting together because when you have a clear idea of who you want to serve, which is a non-ostentatious watch connoisseur, because you have to know about watchmaking to know about Parmigiani, but you also have to have a style, which is people who are not loud that come to Parmigiani.

That’s why we took out the logo. The logo is for the others, so this is more for the eyes of the owner and you are not showing it off. You are enjoying it. And people that appreciate that usually are people who are acquainted with wealth and they have an education to luxury beyond watches, because it’s a sensitivity to aesthetics, to culture of the product beyond the watchmaking category. You have a relationship with what surrounds your life, which goes beyond the materialistic approach to luxury. It’s more an expression of personality, of refinement, of being able to express a personality, which is deep. That’s what we try to do, so the bar is very high.

RR: How strongly are you involved in the design process?
GT: This collection has been designed with the same people that did the last 10 years of the brand, so you have the answer. But I’ve always led the design teams with a very short leash. It’s because the designer is not independent. The designer is at the service of the brand. If you want to do creative work, you do your own gallery, you do your own job. But if you want to build a brand that is consistent, that is able to express a style, you have to have somebody who is able to understand creativity but also guide it.

And the first question I asked the design teams when I joined the company in 2021: “Who is our client? What do we want to do as a brand in watchmaking, which are our aesthetic goals?” And when you get to the aesthetic goals of the brand, the design team came back with the movement, so you see that the cultural distance between a technical company and an aesthetic philosophy.

RR: How is Michel Parmigiani involved?
GT: In French, there’s a very nice word, which is “bienveillant” [well-meaning]. Bienveillant is somebody who wants your good and he oversees that you have your good, so of course, the brand carries his name. We have to respect his persona and the fact that he was open with me and I was sensitive to this kind of luxury, so we have the same approach in terms of value, but he brings all his monumental knowledge. And he told me that it’s the first time that he feels interpreted as he likes. And this fresher touch that we bring to his brand, obviously, he appreciates it and he enjoys the appeal that the brand has in this moment through a style that is fresher than what he launched the brand with.

But you remember very well in the ‘90s, when he launched Parmigiani, it was ‘96, we were at the end of the quartz crisis. His mission, that is really to perpetuate the mechanical art, the need was to state what a true mechanical traditional watch is. And in that moment, fewer people were acquainted with that. The luxury business was much smaller than today, and anyone who was buying luxury watches at the end of the quartz crisis was part of an infinitely smaller number of people compared to the watch industry. I recently did an analysis, and I was looking at the exports of Switzerland in 2000, only half a million pieces were exported beyond 10,000 Swiss francs. And today, they are 2.1 million and they used to do only 33 percent, 34 percent of the business. Now they do 75 percent, and the business has grown three times, so it’s huge what has been done.

The taste of the public evolves. You are looking for other less formal interpretations. The world has become less formal, we can say. Although, if you pay attention, there is, especially in Asia, a quest of dressing up again. And probably the Chinese are the ones who are pushing this because also their cultural heritage, that they need to express their personality more. And this is happening quite fast, but it’s a different formality. It’s not a stiff one.

To learn more, visit Parmigiani Fleurier, here.
This article was originally published in the March / April 2024 print issue. To subscribe to WatchTime Magazine, click here.