Parmigiani Fleurier has unveiled the most complex and accomplished of its calendar timepieces with the taken one of the Toric Quantième Perpétuel Rétrograde earlier this year at SIHH.
The manufacture has put one of its very finest complications – the perpetual calendar – and placed it at the heart of its most classic, timeless watch: the Toric.
With a precision moon phase and retrograde perpetual date, it is one of the most impressive offerings from Parmigiani Fleurier.
The perpetual date function inside automatically accounts for the numbers of days in each month, including the variances of February over the course of leap year cycles. Parmigiani uses a planet gear to achieve this count, with the indication released from the central wheel at the right point in time, jumping the date instantly to the first of the next month. This type of mechanism is highly complex to create on the minute scale of a wristwatch.
The device governing the precision moon calendar is integrated into the same module as the date calendar. By virtue of its gear system, which is much more complex than on a conventional lunar calendar, it tracks the moon phases accurately, with only one correction needed every 122 years.
Ttwo dial versions come with the red gold of the case. The first is white grained, which uses expertise specific to the Parmigiani Fleurier manufacture to lend the material a striking brilliance.
The second dial has a hand guilloché finish, with a pattern representing the concentric arrangement of the scales on a pine cone. This arrangement is one of many natural expressions of the Golden Ratio which defines a harmonious relationship of proportions. The decoration is interrupted around the top edge, to highlight the semi-circular retrograde date cartouche, and in the centre, where the day and month are shown in two separate windows.
The precision moon phase sits elegantly at 6 o'clock, displayed on an aventurine disc which evokes a starry night sky, in the middle of which sits the moon in each of the two hemispheres. These moon discs echo the red gold colour of the case, and the semi-skeletonised javelin-shaped hands.
Designed to sit snugly on the wrist, the Toric Quantième Perpétuel Rétrograde has a more slender, more elegant shape than previous versions. The curved contours inject a certain dynamism into the design. The end of the strap and its attachment have been redesigned to reflect this, and the lugs rendered more ergonomic, making it more comfortable to wear.
The crown is topped with a blue sapphire cabochon.
While retaining the collection's iconic codes — particularly the hand-knurled bezel which is the signature of this family — the Toric Retrograde Perpetual Calendar offers a vibrant yet understated appearance.
