Parmigiani Fleurier completed 10 years of its partnership with super-car maker, Bugatti. The watch brand launched 3 new Bugatti watches to commemorate this feat, at SIHH 2015.
Bugatti 2015 watches are Bugatti Revelation, Bugatti Mythe & Bugatti Victoire. The three new Bugatti watches are made of the same engine/calibre PF370 that was used in the first Bugatti watch made in 2004. What changes this year, is just the outer shell.
The unorthodox design of Bugatti 2015 watches make them more desirable to own as a collectible, than be worn around the wrist. As intended, the watch appears like a miniature car engine fitted inside a glass show case. In the words of Parmigiani Fluerier ‘the watch is designed to resemble a block of car engine, tubular shape’.
The tubular shape case houses the Bugatti 370 movement. This movement was made in 2004, but it remains to be awe-inspiring and modern, even today. Parmigiani aspired to engineer a watch movement that will aptly represent super cars made by Bugatti. The watch makers at PF did not want to limit their innovations to making a conventional watch with a few parts that symbolise Bugatti. Instead, they challenged themselves and created a watch that looks like a piece of the Bugatti Veyron engine and can tell time, too.
So how is the PF Bugatti watch inside different from any other super complication watch? Lets start with the base. The entire movement is assembled on a transverse axis rather than being placed on the flat surface of a single main plate. The movement’s various different modules – the regulating organ, gear train, power reserve and double barrel – are built in sections on no fewer than five main plates, which line up in the tubular extension of the block. These modules or “floors” communicate in synergy thanks to a drive shaft that crosses the entire watch from one end to the other, allowing actions to be synchronised, following the exact principle of a car engine.
The wearer of the Bugatti 2015 watches can observe every minute detail of the 337 components comprising the engine block on his wrist thanks to the six sapphire crystals that surround the piece. These crystals mostly have a shape known as “warped”, which follows the contours of the movement without corresponding to a pure geometric formula. The production of these atypical sapphire crystals is unusually complex.
Parmigiani Fleurier has cased this wonder in three different case styles that were shown at SIHH 2015.
Bugatti watches 2015 SIHH : Bugatti Victoire Watch
There is meaning in every aspect of the Bugatti Victoire motif. It is formed of concentric Vs that represent Velocity of a Bugatti car. These extremely pure geometric shapes were produced by means of impressive engraving work on the case. The side sections are also stone-set and offer a striking contrast to the engraving which is neither polished nor rhodium-plated and almost resembles black gold. The satin finishing which emphasises the raw material provides an even more striking contrast with the decorative work of the motif.
The leather strap has been cut with the same V pattern, taking it around the entire wrist. This is a unique piece obtained using a water jet cutting procedure – given that laser cutting would irreparably burn the leather.
Bugatti 2015 Watches: Bugatti Mythe at SIHH 2015
The aesthetics of the Bugatti Mythe are based on the emblematic type 57 grille. This iconic grille, which graced the very first Bugatti cars, presents a structure formed of lines rather than mesh, unlike the classic grilles that followed. These lines are echoed on the dial of the watch, which they draw downwards to extend beyond the oval perimeter of Bugatti watches. This dial harks back to the Art Deco styl- ing of Bugatti’s first creations and ensures the watch is a true tribute to the Molsheim workshop’s legendary cars.
Bugatti watch SIHH, 2015: Bugatti Révélation Watch/ Bugatti Veyron Watch
Its design is based on the grille of the Bugatti Veyron with its honeycomb structure comprised of tightly-packed diamonds. The diamond motif can be found above the tubular movement, where it is hinged in a removable manner, concealing or revealing the watch’s impressive engine block. This cover is designed to represent a car bonnet and exactly reproduces the relationship between a car’s bodywork and its engine.
The diamond motif is reproduced lengthways on the strap in a much larger form. Through the use of a leather- making technique known as “debossing” which imprints a recess forming the motif, Bugatti Révélation’s unique strap suggests the tufting of car seat upholstery.
MOVEMENT Bugatti 2015 Watches (Revelation)
Calibre: PF370
Winding: Manual using a dynamometric starter
Power reserve indicated on the side of a rotating drum Power-reserve: 10 days
Frequency: 3 Hz – 21.600 A/h
Dimensions: 21.00 x 16.00 x 27.40 mm
Components: 314
Jewels: 37
Barrel(s): 2 series-coupled barrels Decoration: Circular-grained hand-belleved main plates, Bugatti design
FUNCTIONS Hours, Minutes
Power reserve indication engraved on drum
CASE Shape: Special shape with cover Dimensions: 52.50 x 32.40 mm
Thickness: 19.6 mm
Finishing: Satin and polished Water-resistance: 10 m
Glass: Anti-reflective sapphire Back: Sapphire
Back engraving: Individual number, “2004-2014 MODÈLE UNIQUE”
DIAL Colour: Openworked graphite Index: Rose gold plated and SLNC1
Finishing: “Grille” dial
Hands: Delta-shaped with luminescent coating
BRACELET Material: Calfskin Colour: Tabacco
BUCKLE Type: Folding Material: Rose gold
