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- Parmigiani Fleurier has unveiled the Carillon Tourbillon for its 30th anniversary
- Limited to five pieces, the watch combines a four-gong minute repeater with a 60-second tourbillon
- Its serpentine gongs are inspired by a restored Perrin Frères pocket watch from the early 19th century
- The manual-winding PF950 calibre features 456 components and a listed 12-day power reserve
Parmigiani Fleurier has long been a masterclass in quiet luxury – an independent Swiss watchmaker known best to those deep in the horological loop. To mark 30 years of the Maison, the independent brand has built a watch that asks you to do something most of us stopped doing a long time ago: listen for the time.
Before clocks were in every home, and well before the wristwatch became the default, time was often something people heard before they saw. Church bells and town clocks marked the rhythm of the day, sounding hours across streets, squares and villages at once.
Parmigiani’s new Carillon Tourbillon makes you listen out for the chimes again. Limited to five pieces, the 18ct white gold anniversary watch combines a four-gong minute repeater, a 60-second tourbillon, a hand-hammered Morning Blue dial, and the manual-winding PF950 calibre with a 12-day power reserve.
A Watch That Chimes in Four Notes
Minute repeaters are among the more romantic complications in watchmaking, mostly because they make very little practical sense now. Your phone, laptop, microwave and probably your fridge can tell you the time more easily. But practicality can’t compete with this level of elegance.
On the Carillon Tourbillon, four distinct gongs sound the time. A low note marks the hours. A high note marks the minutes. Two additional tones handle the quarters, giving the watch a four-note chime. Most traditional minute repeaters use two gongs, typically one lower tone and one higher tone, to distinguish hours, quarters and minutes. Parmigiani gives the quarters their own pair of tones, adding more depth to the chime.
This isn’t music-box theatre in the Jacob & Co. sense. It’s smaller and more private: a mechanical chime happening just above the wrist. The visible gongs are a big part of that. Beneath the glass-box sapphire crystal, their curved forms frame the hammered blue dial, giving the front of the watch a sense of movement before the hammers start doing their thing.
Restoration, Rebuilt for the Wrist
Parmigiani Fleurier was founded in 1996 by Michel Parmigiani with the support of the Sandoz Family Foundation, and restoration has always been central to the brand’s identity.
Thirty years isn’t especially old by Swiss watchmaking standards, so Parmigiani leverages the three decades for the Carillon.
The inspiration is a Perrin Frères pocket watch, a complex chiming object made in Neuchâtel in the early 19th century and restored by Parmigiani’s workshops in 2000. The new watch doesn’t copy it outright. It takes the serpentine gong shape and rebuilds the idea inside a modern wristwatch.
White Gold, Morning Blue and a Lot of Restraint
The 18ct white gold case is hardly small at 41.6mm across and 12.6mm thick, but it’s still restrained for a watch carrying this much mechanical baggage. It also has a job beyond housing the movement: helping the sound travel.
In a chiming watch, the case is not just a container. Its material, shape and density affect how the sound travels, so the 18ct white gold construction is part of the acoustic design as much as the visual one. Plus, Parmigiani’s signature vertical gadroons are as fun to look at as they are to say.
As for the dial, its Morning Blue finish is crafted from hand-hammered 18ct white gold, complete with a textured surface that shifts between blue, silver and frost depending on the light. It truly is a sight to behold. With only five pieces in existence globally, it’s an experience reserved for an incredibly elite club.
The PF950 Movement
Inside, the movement is more openly mechanical. Through the sapphire caseback, you can see the PF950 calibre, finished with Parmigiani’s mezzo vibrato engraving. The effect is busy up close, but it suits the watch. On one side, the sound is framed by blue and white gold. On the other, you’re looking at the machinery responsible for making it sing.
Made up of 456 hand-assembled components, the Parmigiani movement is built around three barrels: two superimposed barrels for timekeeping and a third dedicated to the striking mechanism.
The third barrel matters because the chime has its own appetite. When the minute repeater is activated, the watch needs to drive the hammers and gongs without disrupting the timekeeping. An integrated flywheel regulates the cadence, keeping the chime steady from the first note to the last.
The result is a deeply impractical object that not only looks gorgeous but sounds beautiful too.
Key Specs: Parmigiani Fleurier Carillon Tourbillon 30th Anniversary
Reference / Model: PFH996-2010001-300181
- Parmigiani Fleurier Carillon Tourbillon White Gold Anniversaire
- Objets d’Art Collection
- Limited to five pieces, price available on request
Case
- 18ct white gold
- 41.6mm diameter
- 12.6mm thickness
- Glass-box ARdur anti-reflective sapphire crystal
- ARdur anti-reflective sapphire caseback
- 10 metres water resistance (but please, don’t wear this in the pool)
Movement
- PF950 manual-winding calibre
- 456 components
- 42 jewels
- 3Hz frequency / 21,600vph
- Listed 12-day power reserve
- 7.15mm movement thickness
- 15 lignes / 33.5mm total movement diameter
Complications
- Four-gong minute repeater
- 60-second tourbillon
- Integrated flywheel regulator for the striking mechanism
- Dedicated barrel for the chiming mechanism
Dial, Hands and Strap
- Hand-hammered 18ct white gold dial
- Morning Blue finish
- 18ct gold rhodium-plated applied indices
- Alpha-shaped hour and minute hands
- Visible hammers and four serpentine gongs
- Alligator leather strap
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