When Guido Terreni assumed the management of Parmigiani Fleurier in early 2021, he didn’t enter a quiet room; he entered a crowded and boisterous auditorium. The luxurious watch market was navigating the tail finish of a historic increase, pushed by institutional hype, social media validation, and a frantic, collective scramble for extremely seen standing symbols. In such an surroundings, the traditional company playbook for a model looking for a resurgence would dictate high-decibel advertising and marketing, placing neon-adjacent dial colors, and outsized silhouettes designed to be immediately recognised throughout a crowded restaurant.
Terreni did exactly the alternative. He selected to whisper. His opening gambit was the introduction of the Tonda PF assortment, a masterclass in horological discount. In a transfer that shocked traditionalists, he eliminated the complete model identify from the dial, changing it with a small, unadorned oval containing solely the initials PF. The watch was not meant to declare its price ticket or its pedigree to the informal observer. It was designed for the wearer alone – a philosophy Terreni conceptualised as “non-public luxurious.”
“The watch is sort of a marriage ceremony ring between the values of the model and the values of the shopper,” Terreni famous throughout an earlier dialog with us, establishing his thesis that true luxurious is just not a business transaction, however an mental pact. It’s an ethos that rejects the usual markers of ostentation in favour of what Terreni calls cultural schooling, sensitivity, and refined style. Below his stewardship, Parmigiani Fleurier fast-tracked its means into the higher echelons of watchmaking, not by shouting over its opponents, however by providing an alternate for a rising demographic of collectors who had grown weary of the noise.
For Terreni, a timepiece’s magnificence is structurally tethered to how seamlessly it rests on the wrist and the way effortlessly it integrates into each day life. In previous dialogues, he regularly returns to the tactile actuality of horology, noting {that a} designer should look past the flat render to grasp the statistical ergonomics of the human anatomy, shaping bracelets and instances that conform to the physique moderately than forcing the physique to accommodate the item.
This pursuit of pure, unimpeded utility birthed what Parmigiani Fleurier phrases “Invisible Problems.” The idea debuted with the GMT Rattrapante, a watch born out of a post-pandemic collective need to journey once more. As a substitute of counting on a crowded 24- hour bezel or a secondary sub-dial, Terreni’s staff engineered a dual-time operate that is still fully hidden till known as upon. When native, a gold hand hides completely beneath the rhodium-plated hour hand; solely when the pusher is engaged does the mechanical break up happen, revealing the second time zone. As soon as residence, one other press collapses the complication again right into a minimalist two-hander. It’s a complication that prioritises the interior expertise over outward show.
On this complete dialogue, Terreni helps us perceive the subsequent boundary of this minimalist structure: the Tonda PF Chronograph Mystérieux. The dialogue traces the high-quality strains between mechanical stiffness and tactile intent, the deep historic roots of the model’s restoration heritage, and why the final word way forward for luxurious will belong solely to those that possess the data to see it.
I used to be speaking with Pascal Brandt concerning the Tonda PF (Chronograph Mystérieux). Since we had the prototype, I wished to know what the precise pusher would really feel like. I do know it controls 5 fingers – not essentially on the similar time – and there are three clutches. It’s not going to be like butter; there may be going to be a sure stiffness.
The truth that we wish a pointy second by which the chronograph is activated is vital. The GMT and the Minute Rattrapante don’t have this exigence, in order that they have a tender push. However right here [with the Chronograph Mystérieux], you want a second in which there’s a pointy begin. That’s to be anticipated for a chronograph operate.
It’s true that, in contrast with a normal chronograph, the pusher here’s a bit tougher. This may be one thing we fine-tune sooner or later, however for the second, it was a transparent assertion that we would have liked a frank start-and-stop second.
And since the pusher is at 8 o’clock, you utilize the thumb, which may be very highly effective. It’s essentially the most ergonomic place you must press one thing on a watch.
This can be a nice look ahead to individuals who admire the mechanics of the chronograph – like me – however don’t essentially just like the “busy” aesthetics of a standard chronograph. Too many sub-dials, too many scales on the flange and the bezel. This doesn’t have any of that. Was that your intention?
That intention is a part of the philosophy of the Invisible Problems. Beginning with the GMT Rattrapante, that operate emerged out of a necessity for one thing because the world was exiting the pandemic. All people wished to return to touring. We wished to offer the Parmigiani Fleurier buyer a really elegant watch that modifications its look solely when the operate is activated.
When you’re not touring, you aren’t “bragging” on the restaurant that you’re a global particular person; you simply have your two-hander, which is the utmost magnificence you may have. However when you’re touring, you desire a flawless expertise. That’s why
the pusher is at 8 o’clock for the twin time, and why the (on-demand) operate permits you to (toggle between states, of getting a traveller’s watch and having a traditional two-hander) in a magic second.
Having the chronograph operate on-demand is one thing else!
The chronograph is a monumental operate. That is typically not understood by the broader public, however a chronograph is extraordinarily advanced – second solely to chiming watches in issue of conception. We wished a easy, solo-tempo look once you aren’t utilizing Tonda PF Chronograph Mystérieux to time one thing, (by the use of distinction). By the best way, that is the one Tonda PF that has a central seconds hand; the others are all, on function, and not using a second hand to convey the magnificence of the gathering.
To realize the invisible operate within the Chronograph Mystérieux, now we have the aforementioned mono-pusher. You have got three fingers that act in live performance as a triple flyback; they’re united at midday and begin with just one activation of the pusher. You measure your time on the most scale since you aren’t confining the chronograph to small and difficult-to-read counters. Then, once you
cease it with a second activation of the pusher, you learn the elapsed time and the chronograph is disconnected out of your working time. A 3rd push returns the fingers to native time.
“We wished to offer the Parmigiani Fleurier buyer a really elegant watch that modifications its look solely when the operate is activated”
That requires a form of mechanical reminiscence.
Sure…It’s a part of the rattrapante operate right here with a heart-shaped cam that makes the chronograph fingers return to working time. The hour hand of the chronograph is linked to the hour hand of the working time (and so forth). The wheels linked to the fingers must know precisely which “enamel” they’ve to return to, as a result of once you began the chronograph, you separated the fingers. The motion has stored that in reminiscence (and the fingers return to not the second in native time that you simply began the chronograph however to the right time, everytime you stopped the chronograph).
We selected 4Hz due to power consumption; 5Hz wouldchave consumed an excessive amount of when it comes to energy reserve. It could have been too energetically costly when it comes to having the chronograph operate as now we have it, and 60 hours of energy reserve. We now have a column wheel to grasp the chronograph operate, a vertical clutch to have interaction the second hand (connecting the chronograph mechanism to the common energy practice), after which two horizontal clutches for the double rattrapante operate to cover the fingers,
For the thirtieth anniversary Toric items, you’ve added the brand new double-guilloché ornament on the motion. This appears to return to the model’s roots in restoration. How do you select which decorations so as to add?
Being a commemorative piece, it needed to have fun Michel Parmigiani’s legacy. Michel, in his monumental work of restoration, labored on a pocket watch that had a phenomenal hand-engraved end on the motion. We took inspiration from that.
However the place that was a singular piece, this can be a assortment – 30 actions for the Perpetual Calendar and 30 for the Tonda PF Micro-Rotor. You can not try this with hand-engraving. We used a dial method on a motion, as you mentioned. It was a wager as a result of it’s very uncommon. Our guillocheur got here up with the primary prototype final summer season, and we had been really a bit dissatisfied at first as a result of the software traces had been very evident; it appeared tough.
The engraver didn’t wish to hand over. It took him three months to seek out the answer. The result’s a light-weight reflection that may be very lovely and pays tribute to the origins (of Michel’s work). Our engraver surpassed himself to avoid wasting this creativity.
You additionally launched a brand new hand-hammering method for the dials within the Toric assortment…
Sure. For the anniversary fashions, we wished to offer a luxurious expertise by means of an interpretation of a standard method. This can be a hammering method utilizing a hammer with a small sphere. You’re mainly “breaking” the floor of the gold dial in
an irregular means. The sunshine displays like water on a lake. We toned down the brightness, so it wasn’t flashy, however it isn’t matte both.
It’s very poetic.
“Lovers of watchmaking are going deeper into what they purchase. They’re much less moved by a social buy to point standing and extra by an intimate buy for personal pleasure”
I see fashions just like the Arctic Rose in 36mm as an attention-grabbing proposition for ladies. Is that this an space you wish to get stronger in?
You may’t do every thing in 5 years, which is after we began with the Tonda PF! Our precedence was to ascertain the soul of the model by means of the idea of personal luxurious. We haven’t addressed girls particularly but. Lots of girls are males’s watches downsized, however they aren’t essentially in search of a “female” execution.
I believe it’s way more tough to design a girl’s watch than a person’s one. It’s a must to do very robust introspective work on what the model stands for, what it means for a lady. We aren’t going to serve a “mainstream” girl; we are going to serve a girl who’s into mechanical arts. Till we discover that particular thought, we received’t give you something, as a result of no person wants simply one other watch.
What do you suppose is the way forward for watchmaking usually?
We now have a privileged perspective as a result of we serve the top of the viewers. What we’re feeling is that lovers of watchmaking are going deeper into what they purchase. They’re much less moved by a social buy to point standing and extra by an intimate buy for personal pleasure.
It’s not about how a lot cash you’ve gotten that you simply wish to present; it’s what you do with the cash you’ve gotten. That’s the distinction between a purchase order that’s refined and educated versus one that’s nearly what is dear. Style is one thing cash doesn’t purchase. The way forward for luxurious belongs to the educated.
This story was first seen as a part of the WOW #84 Summer season 2026 concern.
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