Interview and text by Masayuki Hirota (Chronos-Japan)
An all-new "daily watch" that shows the brand's future
In late February, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Davide Traxler traveled from Switzerland to Japan. When asked why he had come to Japan at this time, he immediately replied, "This time I'm here to meet with my team and get feedback from the market. Our company is made up of people. It would be meaningless if I didn't meet the people involved." There was a reason why he had come all the way to Japan. It was to hear about an entirely new model due for release in May. "The trend for watches used to be gold cases with alligator straps, but now it's shifted to less formal bracelets. Even John Lobb has started selling sneakers, right?"
CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier. American-born Swiss. The son of a diplomat, he grew up in the United States, Africa, Brazil, and Europe before studying political science in Italy. After graduating, he joined Bulgari. He later moved to Chopard, where he served as managing director for the United States and Italy. In 2015, he became CEO of Corum, where he increased sales by 40% in his second year. In March 2018, he became Parmigiani Fleurier's CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) and assumed his current position in July of the same year.
While we will have to wait for the announcement in May for further details, he described the concept of the new "daily watch" as follows: "This model is a project that began after I joined the company. We invited an external designer to design it through a competition. The main feature is the integrated bracelet." In other words, Parmigiani Fleurier will be creating a sporty watch with a bracelet.
"We didn't like the design of the first prototype, so we had it redone until we came up with a design that everyone was happy with. We redesigned it three times. Also, even if the design is good, it's no good if it doesn't feel good to wear. Now that the prototype is complete, we're happy." What's interesting is that they brought in a designer from outside. Parmigiani Fleurier has preferred to use in-house designers, but this time they've taken a completely different approach. "We brought in an external designer and had him work with our in-house designer. The person we hired was Dino Modoro."
While CEO of Corum, he commissioned Modoro to redesign the Golden Bridge, but he never expected to use something this big. It seems Parmigiani Fleurier is very serious about this model.
"However, the basic design is based on the Tonda Chronor, and the level of finishing has been raised even further. It is Parmigiani after all."
After explaining the specifications, Traxler asked me, with a testing look on his face, how much I thought it would cost. It was an automatic chronograph, finished by Parmigiani Fleurier, and came with a unique integrated bracelet. Surely it would be worth at least 50,000 Swiss francs?
"No, the selling price is lower. We want to target a different audience."
Parmigiani Fleurier's new product is full of amazing content. Stay tuned for more details in May.
Released to commemorate the brand's 20th anniversary, this is the brand's first in-house integrated chronograph movement. As indicated by the two hands, it features a split-seconds chronograph mechanism. The new model to be announced in May will essentially be based on the design of this model. Manually wound (Cal. PF361). 35 jewels. 36,000 vph. Power reserve of approximately 65 hours. 18KRG (diameter 42.1mm, thickness 14.6mm). Water resistant to 30m. 14,090,000 yen.
