Press Release: The Hour Glass Celebrates The Award-Winning Toric Hémisphères Rétrograde With The Talented Master Watchmaker, Mr Michel Parmigiani

On 17th November 2017, The Hour Glass hosted 80 over VIPs at Malmaison, celebrating Parmigiani Fleurier’s award-winning Toric Hémisphères Rétrograde in the presence of Master Watchmaker and Founder, Mr Michel Parmigiani himself. This cocktail celebrates comes at an apt time on seeing that it is just shy of a week since the announcement of Parmigiani Fleurier’s win at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) in recognition of the Toric Hémisphères Rétrograde that took the top spot in the "Travel Time" category.

Amidst the festivities, a bespoke leather corner was set up for clients to personalise their very own leather notebook cover that accompanies “The Notebook of inspiration” – a specially created memorabilia that consists of photographs, plans, sketches, meditations and quotes by Mr Michel Parmigiani on the inspirations of the Toric’s creation.

The Story of the Toric Hémisphères Rétrograde

The Toric was the first watch designed by Michel Parmigiani, when he started the eponymous brand in 1996. At the heart of Parmigiani Fleurier, is an altruistic perspective on watchmaking and its traditions. The Parmigiani Fleurier signature has resided within timepieces that command the utmost respect, in harmony with watchmaking traditions.

The Toric Hémisphères Rétrograde shares the same narrative. It was a restored piece that inspired Parmigiani Fleurier to add the GMT complication to its collection. Parmigiani Fleurier's restoration workshops had been entrusted with a pocket watch containing two movements inside one case, each responsible for its own time zone. This sparked a desire to create a timepiece that incorporated the same accuracy of display in the reduced space of a watch case too small to house two separate movements. Michel Parmigiani found an elegant solution to this limitation by constructing a single calibre that controls two time zones, each accurate to the nearest minute. The Tonda Hémisphères released by Parmigiani Fleurier in 2010 was a world first. In 2017, the brand is extending this exceptional movement to the Toric collection, its founding model, to add a dimension of travel to its elegant and timeless aesthetics.

“When I was little, my father would say to me: ‘If you learn to look, art will reveal itself’, and it has always stayed with me. Art is all around us; it is in nature, in the harmony of its proportions and in the attention paid to each detail. A world of wonders is unveiled to those who know how to look,” says Michel Parmigiani as he reflects on the inspirations of the timepiece.

The Toric Hémisphère Rétrograde is available with a rose gold case paired with a grained white dial. On the back of the piece, the movement is entirely decorated with Côtes de Genève and circular-grained to the highest Haute Horlogerie standards. It incorporates an 22 ct rose gold guilloché oscillating weight to add a prestigious touch befitting of a timepiece dedicated to travel.

The Hour Glass is proud to be the exclusive retailer for Parmigiani Fleurier in Singapore.