Parmigiani - A New Bugatti for the Wrist
WORLDTEMPUS - 23 August 2010
In early July, former professional racecar driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel set a new Guinness world record from the cockpit of new Bugatti sports car called the Veyron Super Sport: Raphanel piloted the French coupe, boasting 1200 horsepower, to a speed of 267.81 mph. The much smaller machine on Raphanel's wrist as he broke the land speed was equally impressive.
The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, which took place August 13-15 in Monterey, California, marked not only the official unveiling of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, but also a sneak preview of the second iteration of the Bugatti watch created by Parmigiani Fleurier. The award-winning Type 370 Bugatti watch, the long-withstanding focal point of Parmigiani's fleet of complicated watches, was retired after the final piece of the 250-watch set was sold in 2009. Fifty watches had been produced each year since its 2004 inception at an approximate retail price of $230,000 each. The Bugatti Super Sport Watch, known internally as the Type 372, is a direct descendent of the 370, and proudly displays much of its original genetics.
A true driver's watch, the dial of the Type 372 sits vertically on the wearer's wrist, which allows the time to be easily read without removing a hand from the steering wheel. The vertical dial is positioned perpendicularly to Caliber Bugatti PF 372 via a complicated system of double pinions. It is these pinions that allow the horizontally positioned movement to provide energy for the displays of the vertically oriented dial. This configuration, as founder Michel Parmigiani points out, is what makes the Type 372 so special—and so different from the original Bugatti watch. The manually wound timepiece comprises 337 parts and a ten-day power reserve. The watch is crafted in white gold and features carbon fiber accents on the dial reminiscent of the material used in the Bugatti Super Sport car.
The dial itself is angled at 60 degrees and displays only the hours and minutes. The case is a thin teardrop framing six pieces of sapphire crystal, two of which sandwich the dial. Spattered throughout the watch are doses of burnt orange, an homage to the record-setting Super Sport car, which dons a two-tone carbon and orange paint job.
Parmigiani CEO Jean-Marc Jacot expressed delight that his company was able to produce this watch, and produce it quickly. He explained that in the fall of 2009—less than one year ago—Bugatti approached him with the news the car company would have something very special to unveil at the Concours d'Elegance in 2010. The idea was for Parmigiani to also have something to show there in tandem. At the time, the watch was nothing more than a concept; to meet the challenge, he put more than forty of the manufacturer's designers and engineers on the project full-time. "We have a lot to prove with Parmigiani because we are so young," said Jacot. "And with this watch, we have proven how creative we can be."
The Type 372, while shown to select journalists at Pebble Beach, will not officially be released until the SIHH in January. Only thirty watches are scheduled to see the light of day every year, each carrying a retail price of $259,000. The first finished timepiece has already been reserved for the British executive who will be receiving the first Bugatti Super Sport car off the assembly line. When Jacot was asked if he thought the 1.6 million euros the man is paying for the Bugatti was enough to warrant receiving a free Parmigiani watch, he responded, "I wish I could, but this watch is too special to give away, even for 1.6 million euros."
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