It’s been a good year for Parmigiani Fleurier releases. One consistent Watches & Wonders release that I hear enthusiasts of all stripes gush about is the new Toric, a stunning new rendition of the collection that launched the brand in 1996. The Tonda PF Sport watches have their own appeal, but this is a brand that really excels in the formal arena, if you ask me. On that note, Parimigiani is closing out the year on a high note with the release of the L’Armoriale Répétition Mystérieuse, a watch that boasts a captivating pastel green grand feu enamel dial with a guilloché pattern, and notably, no hands at a glance. As you may have guessed, there’s more to this watch than meets the eye, and it’s a beautiful tribute to the brand’s namesake, Michel Parmigiani, who celebrated his birthday on December 2nd.
The L’Armoriale Répétition Mystérieuse is a showcase of the brand’s finishing prowess, as well as their mechanical knowhow and creativity. On a conceptual level, we’ve seen similar approaches from the likes of Haldimann and H. Moser, watches that forgo a set of hands in favor of telling the time audibly via chiming mechanism. That is the case here, though there is another element on the caseback that sets this watch apart.
The caseback affords a personal connection with a watch, generally in the form of an engraving, or view of the movement not readily seen. Parmigiani takes this personal connection a step further by placing a discreet set of hands behind a plate on the caseback, revealing the letters H (hours) and M (minutes), meant to offer a moment of introspection for the wearer to appreciate.
The dial itself challenges our conception of what a watch is, reducing it to a purely aesthetic experience on the wrist. Of course, Parmigiani hasn’t fully committed to that in a way that we see in something like the Haldimann Reduction. The L’Armoriale Répétition Mystérieuse does, mercifully, tell the time, and in rather interesting ways at that. But the real experience here is the dial, which is in itself, quite beautiful.
This is a 42mm watch set within a white gold case exclusive to this watch. The dial component takes advantage of the full landscape underneath the crystal, with a guilloché pattern modeled after the top down view of a pinecone, with a central section revealing Fibonacci spirals. This represents the beauty found in nature, and our attempts to capture it visually through mathematics. It’s a stirring scene made all the more dramatic with no hour markers, sub dials, or hands getting in the way.
A slide along the 9 o’clock side of the case activates the cathedral gongs that chime the time as a part of the caliber PF355. Sadly, any view of the movement is hidden behind the dual dial concept, but it feels like a worthy trade off in this case. Parmigiani Fleurier