OK, let’s just be honest here. For many years, up until August 30, 2021, Parmigiani Fleurier was a brand that, from a technical and quality perspective, I admired more than most others. And yet I felt absolutely no desire to own one of their watches. Zero. Zilch. Nada.
It was not lost on me the staggering in-house horological firepower that they brought to the table. In no short order, these included the first industrially produced 30-second tourbillon; an in-house 5Hz chronograph; an inhouse 5Hz split seconds chronograph (yes, this is the base of Richard Mille’s movement for the RM 65-01); a dual time zone movement with retrograde date; a perpetual calendar with retrograde date; an insane wandering hour orbital display watch with minute repeater; an amazing GPHG-winning Hijri perpetual calendar; and yes, I remembered the Bugatti watch with its vertical movement and display. From a quality perspective, the watches were irrefutably stellar with everything effectively made in-house by subsidiaries of Parmigiani Fleurier’s parent company, the Sandoz Family Foundation. The cases were from Les Artisans Boîtiers (you would lose your mind if I told you who these guys
