FROM WATCHTIME MIDDLE EAST

Parmigiani Unveils its First Wristwatch with Islamic Calendar


In this feature by our colleague Nitin Nair of WatchTime’s Middle East edition, we explore the recently launched Parmigiani Hjiri Perpetual Calendar, the brand’s first wristwatch that follows the lunar Islamic calendar and displays the months of the year in Arabic.

Parmigiani Hjiri Calendar - reclining
Parmigiani has created the first watch with a Hjiri perpetual calendar.

In haute horology’s Hall of Fame, a special place is reserved for the perpetual calendar complication. While the tourbillon escapement has a flashy, exhibitionist quality to it, the perpetual calendar is considered the trickiest to make by watchmakers. A perpetual calendar launch is still a major flex by a watchmaker and Parmigiani Fleurier has flexed hard by unveiling its first wristwatch to use the Islamic Hijri Perpetual Calendar.

Parmigiani Hjiri Calendar - angle
The watch is cased in platinum and 44.5 mm wide.

The seeds of this perpetual calendar were sown in 1993 when Michel Parmigiani, the founder of the eponymous brand, restored an oval-shaped pocketwatch with an Islamic calendar indicating the hour, day, date, and month, in Arabic calligraphy, and the phases of the moon. He used this as the inspiration to create a table clock featuring a Hijri Calendar in 2011, the world’s first such calendar. In 2016, he restored another pocketwatch dating back to the late 18th or early 19th Century, which featured a solar calendar translated into Arabic.

The starting point of Islamic time calculations is the “Hijri” or journey of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), from Mecca to Medina in present-day Saudi Arabia in the year 622, which was also the year the first Muslim community was founded. The current Islamic year is 1441 AH. In the Gregorian calendar, 1441 AH runs from approximately September 1, 2019 to August 20, 2020.

Parmigiani Hjiri Calendar dial CU
The name and lengths of the months are displayed in Arabic on the dial.

A traditional perpetual calendar’s gears are programmed, when continuously running, to account for the leap-year month once every four years and different length months in the Gregorian calendar. The Islamic Calendar is based on the lunar calendar, with the Hijri Year being made up of 12 months of 29 or 30 days depending on the moon phase. The lunar calendar uses the phases of the moon to measure time, usually measuring the time from new moon to new moon as one month.

This wristwatch is presented in a 44.5-mm platinum case and a slate-colored dial. The dial displays the hours and minutes, date in Arabic numerals, the name and length of the months in Arabic calligraphy, as well as the abundant and common years. It also features a moon-phase in an aventurine sky and a power reserve of up to 48 hours. As you would expect from a watch from the Fleurier brand, every single component of the movement, even the hidden parts, is expertly finished. The self-winding movement is fitted with a platinum rotor. There are also nods to Arabic traditions, like the bridges adopting the shape of the waxing and waning crescent moons and the Rub al Hizb, an Islamic symbol represented by two overlapping squares.

Parmigiani Hjiri Calendar - caseback
The lavishly decorated movement has a power reserve of 48 hours.

The case has the teardrop-shaped lugs that are part of Parmigiani’s design aesthetic and have been conceived to be ergonomic and comfortable on the wrist. This timepiece is also fitted with a black Hermès alligator strap with a pin buckle. The watch is priced at $80,000 but the brand says it open to customizing the timepiece for future owners.

Parmigiani Hjiri Calendar - side
The case features Parmigiani’s hallmark teardrop lugs.

Click here for more from WatchTime Middle East.

No Responses to “Parmigiani Unveils its First Wristwatch with Islamic Calendar”

Show all responses
  1. Blaine Cole

    To Whom It May Concern:
    A fascinating concept and beautiful execution.
    Note: In this article you use two spellings when referring to the Islamic calendar; Hjiri and Hijri.

    Reply
  2. Zaid Kurdieh

    They made a pocket watch for Sultan Abdelhameed that had the hijri calendar. If interested can send you a video link.

    Reply
Leave a Reply to Muhammad Mohsin Burhan

Click here to cancel reply.