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Test Bench

Parmigiani Fleurier

Avant-garde manufacture

Michel Parmigiani, born in 1950, grew up in the Val de Travers, a valley in the canton of Neuchâtel. From early childhood, he was fascinated by the art of horology and found fertile ground for his appreciation of the watch maker’s philosophy and refinement by restoring renowned timepieces. From this formative experience emerged a true talent for creation. In 1996, the Sandoz family played an active part in the creation of the Parmigiani Fleurier brand by giving its workshops the necessary means for high quality production. And so Michel Parmigiani launched his first collections.

As an entirely independent industrial complex, the Parmigiani Fleurier centre enabled the brand to guarantee the unique and exclusive character of its creations. All components and plates were developed, manufactured, decorated, assembled and encased within the manufacturing workshops. The complexity of execution of the Bugatti Type 370 case goes far beyond the making of a traditional wristwatch. Its design, in eight parts, six of which are welded and two attached, represent a true technical challenge. All of the case parts are mounted and aligned on marble for welding. It takes hours to position and weld all these elements without deforming them.

Technology Bugatti TYPE 370

A masterpiece directly inspired by the car

“An engine block on the wrist that also tells the time“ Michel Parmigiani’s original idea at the start of the Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti adventure appealed to the auto company right away. The concept gave birth to a highly complicated assembly, which highlighted the revolutionary mechanism’s beauty. An 18 carat white gold case, in eight sections, enables the movement to be viewed through six sapphire crystals. Realising the design calls for the use of sophisticated, made-to-measure tools without precedent in the history of horology. To protect the transversal movement and guarantee optimum shock absorption, the Parmigiani Fleurier production shops perfected a system comparable to an automobile chassis.

Automotive and horology terminology:
one and the same passion for mechanics.

Declutch: Generally, the friction of time-setting enables the indexing of the hands on the dial. This function is usually carried out by the hour hand by simple pinching of an axis. In the case of the Bugatti Type 370 it is extremely difficult to produce; a spiral spring mechanism presses a disk to enable the time setting on a complex axis. Universal joint: under the movement of the transversal axis, the universal joints enable the link between exterior function (setting the time or winding the watch) and its interior function. The movement is mounted on Silent blocks and the universal joints avoid a rigid link between the interior and exterior movement of the watch. Differential: To ensure the watch’s autonomy, a differential was developed to link the teeth of the spring drum and the ratchet wheel. To optimize engagement of the differential with its satellite, it was essential to improve the precision of the teeth and use new manufacturing processes. Wheels: Extremely refined, the movement wheels were designed with the aesthetic of a wheel rim. The design is as close as possible to the celebrated original double rim Bugatti iinvented n the 1930s. Silent blocks:The structure of movement arranged on the five plates is held in the case by four Silent blocks that allow the absorption of vibration and protection of the conical gearing of the exterior constraints. These shock absorbers were a first in high precision watch-making.

Revolutionary time-setting and winding.


Le «The Starter»:An instrument in the form of a pen sets two crowns beneath the case into action. Its diametric system delivers constant force to the universal winding stem. The time is set by manual rotations of the other end. The design of the starter took over three years.