Highly Anticipated New Timepiece Premieres at the Cortina Royal Nikko Hotel Taipei Store
After years of absence from the Taiwanese market, the prestigious independent brand Parmigiani Fleurier is making a resounding comeback in November 2023, thanks to the proactive efforts of Cortina Watch. Starting today, horologists and fans of the brand can explore the highly acclaimed Tonda PF series at the Cortina Royal Nikko Hotel Taipei Store, featuring a lineup of timepieces with innovative complications. These include the debut masterpiece newly launched this year, Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante, the feature-rich Tonda PF Xiali Calendar, and the elegantly minimalist Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante. With a profound commitment to purist aesthetic principles, Parmigiani Fleurier looks forward to meeting watch collectors in Taiwan again.
Comprehensive Vertically Integrated Capabilities
For collectors and watch enthusiasts who appreciate independent brands, the name Parmigiani Fleurier undoubtedly comes to mind. Founded in 1996 by the master watchmaker Michel Parmigiani and supported by the Sandoz Family Foundation, Parmigiani Fleurier encompasses five major watch manufactures, empowering the brand with the capability to independently manufacture all critical components, including movements, cases, and dials. In fact, Parmigiani Fleurier today stands as one of the very few independent brands in the Swiss watchmaking industry capable of fully vertical integrated production. Its impressive technical prowess surpasses even many major players in the watch industry, making it a standout in the world of horology.
In 2021, as the brand marked its 25th anniversary and under the leadership of the new CEO, Guido Terreni, Parmigiani Fleurier unveiled the all-new Tonda PF series. From the debut of the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor in early 2021 to the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante in 2022 and the launch of the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar in 2023, the series never fails to surprise watch enthusiasts with its innovative yet refined complications. Through impeccable craftsmanship and minimalist design, the Tonda PF series rekindles the pure aesthetic pleasure of mechanical watches. In just two short years, Parmigiani Fleurier’s Tonda PF series has rapidly risen to become one of the most highly sought-after newcomers in the watch industry.
Global Presence with Limited Quantities and Unparalleled Quality
With the active facilitation of Cortina Watch, Parmigiani Fleurier has made a triumphant return to the Taiwanese market in November 2023. “Over the past two years, Parmigiani has strategically streamlined its global distribution network, aiming to partner with select, trusted allies”, noted Guido Terreni, CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier. “Cortina Watch stands as a prominent and influential luxury watch channel in the Asian region, with over 40 sales locations. We look forward to collaborating with Cortina Watch to explore promising markets, and Taiwan undoubtedly holds a pivotal position in our strategic expansion”.
Alvin Tan, Managing Director of Cortina Watch Taiwan, expressed confidence in the Taiwanese market, stating, “We have tremendous confidence in the Taiwanese watch collector community. Their remarkable expertise and discerning taste, particularly in seeking out unique independent brands, are truly impressive. Parmigiani Fleurier, with its limited production output, exceptional craftsmanship, and profound technical expertise, has long captured the enthusiastic attention of prominent watch collectors in Taiwan. Cortina Watch has long been committed to offering a diverse range of renowned brands and timepieces, and the addition of this new brand is poised to infuse a boost of vitality into the Taiwanese market”.
Combined Capabilities of 5 Watch Manufactures
Parmigiani Fleurier today stands as one of the very few brands in the industry that produces almost all of its components in-house. Since 2000, the brand has steadily expanded its presence in the watch industry, including the incorporation of Les Artisans Boîtiers for watch case production, as well as the acquisition of Atokalpa (a company specializing in gear manufacturing) in 2000. In 2006, a significant technological advancement enabled in-house production of crucial movement components like balance wheels, hairsprings, escapements, and escapement wheels. Continuing this trajectory, Parmigiani Fleurier acquired Elwin, renowned for precision machining, in 2001. In 2003, Parmigiani Fleurier established Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier for movement production, followed by the establishment of Quadrance et Habillage for dials in 2005. Thanks to the five artisanal companies that compose the manufacture, Parmigiani Fleurier has constructed a finely-tuned, seamlessly integrated production supply chain.
In today’s watchmaking industry, very few independent brands boast such comprehensive vertical integration capabilities across their production lines, a rare feat outside of major conglomerates. Benefiting from this strong foundation, Parmigiani Fleurier can orchestrate a fully integrated process from design, research, manufacturing, assembly, to quality control, aligning seamlessly with the brand’s stringent quality standards. This holistic approach results in crafting artisanal aesthetics that embody the brand’s unique DNA. Every component, from screws to hairsprings, from watch cases and dials to movements, undergoes the most rigorous manufacturing processes, ensuring each timepiece meets Parmigiani’s exacting standards for unparalleled quality.
Innovation Stemming from the Home of Haute Horlogerie
Among Parmigiani Fleurier’s five major watch manufactures, a standout is the Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, nestled in the town of Fleurier in the canton of Neuchâtel. This postcard-perfect town, often referred to as the “Jewel of Switzerland”, has long been a cradle for master watchmakers and esteemed watchmaking ateliers, and also happens to be the birthplace of Michel Parmigiani, the founder of Parmigiani Fleurier. The brand’s name, Parmigiani Fleurier, is a testament to its roots and heritage tied to the town of Fleurier, underscoring the connection between the brand and its esteemed origins.
Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier epitomizes the core of Parmigiani’s engineering prowess. Not only does the firm independently produce mechanical movements and develop various innovative complications, but it also supplies high-end movements to several renowned international watch brands, with its precision and exquisite craftsmanship garnering acclaim from numerous luxury brands and watch collectors. The intricate art of movement finishing, rooted in the traditional watchmaking techniques of the valley of Val-de-Travers, distinguishes the exceptional craftsmanship of this fully-fledged process of manufacture. Furthermore, Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier serves as Parmigiani’s hub for technological research and development, consistently pioneering innovations in the realm of complex functionalities. This relentless pursuit of excellence results in the creation of sophisticated and elegantly refined timepieces, brimming with creative ingenuity.
Understated Luxury Meets Practical Ingenuity
While Parmigiani Fleurier is renowned for its profound technical prowess, it eschews flashy gimmicks and instead prioritizes user experience. The brand pursues ultimate perfection in craftsmanship, simplicity, and practicality, while boasting refreshing functional innovations. Take, for instance, the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor introduced for the brand’s 25th anniversary in 2021. It features the Parmigiani PF703 automatic movement, incorporating a platinum micro-rotor. Retaining the everyday practicality of automatic winding, this timepiece achieves an incredibly slim profile with a movement thickness of only 3 millimeters. Optimizing the layout of the movement space, the watch case thickness measures just 7.8 millimeters, significantly enhancing both comfort and elegance for wearers.
In 2022, Parmigiani Fleurier launched the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante in stainless steel, setting a new standard for simplicity in dual-time watches within the industry. In its standard usage, the watch dial features only the hour and minute hands in white gold, with a hidden rose gold home time indicator positioned beneath the hour hand. When wearers travel across different time zones, they can simply press the timezone quick-adjust button at the 8 o’clock position to set the white gold hands to the local time. What’s even more astonishing is the capability to press the split-second button at the center of the crown at the 3 o’clock position: this action aligns the local white gold hour hand with the rose gold home time hand, merging the two hands seamlessly. This feature, known as the “Rattrapante complication” or split-second function, typically found in chronograph watches, is ingeniously integrated into a dual-time watch by Parmigiani, a pioneering first for the industry. This timepiece stands as the most elegantly simple and user-friendly dual-time watch ever introduced in watchmaking. Following the success of the stainless-steel model, in 2023, Parmigiani presented the watch in 18K rose gold, further enriching product offerings.
In 2023, Parmigiani Fleurier extended this concept further with the launch of the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante. Similar to the previously mentioned Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, under regular use, its dial displays only the hour and minute hands in white gold. What sets it apart is a third rose gold hand concealed beneath the minute hand, which is utilized as a countdown timer. By pressing the button positioned at the 8 o’clock position, the rose gold timer hand moves in five-minute increments in a clockwise direction. Alternatively, pressing the button at the 10 o’clock position moves it in one-minute intervals, enabling users to set a reminder for a specified time in the future. Upon completion of the countdown, a simple press of the crown’s central split-second button at 3 o’clock swiftly repositions the rose gold timer hand, concealing it beneath the main white gold hands.
Both these timepieces employ the Rattrapante complication, yet they interpret it through hour and minute hands, showcasing distinctly different functionalities worth appreciating. This fully embodies Parmigiani Fleurier’s unique technical prowess—crafting diverse combinations of complications.
Masterpiece of the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar System: A Monumental Feat of Engineering
In 2023, Parmigiani Fleurier unveiled an impressive complications that takes complexity to a whole other level: the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar, an astronomical timepiece that prominently features the traditional Chinese calendar system on its dial. Immediately recognizable through Chinese characters on the dial, this watch operates using the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. Unlike the Western solar calendar (Gregorian calendar), the Chinese calendar follows a lunar cycle, incorporating leap months every three years and varying between 30 and 29 days per lunar month. The rules of the Chinese calendar are significantly more complex than those of the Western calendar, making its creation even more daunting than even a perpetual calendar complication. In the watchmaking industry, only a handful of brands have dared to venture into this extremely complex function.
Parmigiani Fleurier developed the groundbreaking PF008 automatic movement, which faithfully represents the cycles of the Chinese calendar while displaying all time-related information in Chinese characters. At 12 o’clock, a small sub-dial features three layers, displaying the Chinese sexagenary cycle, the twelve zodiac animals, and the Yin-Yang Five Elements (Wuxing). Positioned at 9 o’clock, the dial indicates the months and leap months through a small circular window. The 3 o’clock position indicates the date and distinguishes between longer and shorter lunar months. The 6 o’clock position displays the lunar phases, while the 24 lunisolar terms surround the dial. The intricate dial showcases a machine-engraved “Grain d’Orge guilloche” in Imperial Red that pays homage to ancient Chinese civilization. This design embodies Parmigiani’s mastery of simplicity within complexity, showcasing a pure aestheticism that is both understated and yet truly extraordinary.
Get up close with the dynamic and thrilling Parmigiani Fleurier at Cortina Watch today or discover more online.
