Apassionate admirer of Japanese culture, it was only natural for Michel Parmigiani to design a very elegant timepiece to celebrate hanami, the Japanese custom of admiring the beauty of flowers, in his own unique way. The new Toric Fleur, presented in a rose gold case made entirely within the Parmigiani Fleurier watchmaking center, features a delicate lace design of marguerites on its dial. A long-time student of nature and the golden ratio, he was inspired by the subtle grace of this flower as seen in the meadows of the Swiss Jura.
As he was reading this haiku written by the master poet Yosa Buson, evoking the undulating waves of the sea, Michel Parmigiani had the idea to create a watchmaking masterpiece to illustrate the permanence of the spring, the remembrance of the passage of time: the Toric Fleur.
Featuring a rose gold case in 33.7 mm, it is fitted with the subtly knurled bezel typical of the Toric collection. Arabic figures indexes are applied on the white mother of pearl dial, while the delicate gold lace design evokes a carpet of marguerites adorning the Swiss valleys in Spring. Driven by the automatic in-house calibre PF310, the leaf-shaped hands with luminescent material, another tribute to nature, indicate the hours and minutes.
The small seconds hand appears at six o’clock. The case back offers a captivating spectacle, the Côtes de Genève bridges are shaped like a hand fan while the gold rotor is delicately engraved with a barley grain motif. A white opal cabochon graces the crown of this watch, which comes together with a calf oakum Hermès leather strap. The Toric Fleur masters the art of simplicity while combining poetry, high horology, the most sophisticated materials and true elegance.
Michel Parmigiani’s father, a real-life philosopher, used to say « If you learn to look, art will reveal itself. » These words echo in the mind of his son and continuously guide him in every action. As a child, he enjoyed trying to understand nature and the human works imitating its perfection. It was this passion that led him to his work in restoration, to masterpieces seeking to physically reproduce the marvels of our world and to Japan’s culture, and its way of existing with the highest refinement.
This love is also embodied in his own Japanese-style garden, and its material translation in high horology. The golden ratio guides his hand, from the design of the watch itself to the interior parts of the movement, it appears in all that surrounds us, including the wonderful marguerites and all of Parmigiani Fleurier’s timepieces.
