Michel Parmigiani launched his namesake watch brand in 1996, beginning with the Toric. More than two decades later the Toric represents a culmination of the know-how of Parmigiani Fleurier, its collection of watchmaking facilities, and its founder.
A subtly curved sapphire crystal sits on the top of the perfect mirror polished 42.8 mm 18K red gold case that’s just 9.45 mm thick. Surrounding the crystal is a fixed bezel that’s manufactured with an intricate Gaudron and knurling decoration that alludes to the intricate details that lie underneath.
The dials made at Parmigiani Fleurier’s manufacturing center, specifically, Quadrance et Habillage, are truly amongst the best in the world — with an anonymous client list bearing this out.
With that said, the slate gray dial features an exquisite manually applied guilloché “Grain de Riz” pattern with 18K rose gold Arabic numerals hand-applied on top. Long, skeletonized, rose gold javelin-shaped hands with luminescent coating indicate the hours and minutes. Between 6 and 8 ‘clock a large circular aperture, framed with a rose gold ring and graduated seconds scale, accentuate the flying 60-seconds tourbillon as it makes 21,600 semi-oscillations to and fro per hour (or 3Hz). The position of the tourbillon at 7 o’clock on the dial is a nod to the Michel Parmigiani, who was born at 7:08 am on December 2nd, 1950.
Animating the two central hands and the blued tourbillon hand is extra-thin in-house made automatic caliber PF517 which measures 32 mm x 3.4 mm and consists of 207 components including 29 jewels. Being so thin, and therefore not having as much room to work with, a platinum micro-rotor has been integrated directly into the mainplate so as to maintain maximum thinness.
The micro-rotor is decorated with manually applied “Grain d’Orge” guilloché-work. The bridges are rhodium plated and have a circular Côtes de Genève striping on top and hand beveled and polished edges. Each jewel on the movement side has a polish sink and all the screw heads have a mirror finish. Even the perlage decoration on the mainplate is smaller than is typically seen, which of course requires more precision and time to apply. The time-only caliber has a power reserve of 48-hours and is adjusted in 5 positions to chronometer specifications.
An individual number and “EDITION LIMITEE XX/25” is engraved on the perimeter sapphire caseback, which is secured by four screws, on each Toric Tourbillon Slate. A 6 mm solid 18K red gold crown controls all functions and winding and has ridged edges with an embossed logo on the end. Water-resistance is 30 meters.
Finishing the high-horology limited edition timepiece is a Hermès Havana alligator leather strap secured by an 18K red gold pin buckle. (Ref. PFH479-1600200-HA1241) The retail price is $130,000.
