Masterpieces of Time

Parmigiani Fleurier Les Roses Carrées “Collection Grand Feu” Rosa Celeste

La Rose Carrée has now evolved into Les Roses Carrées, a series composed of 5 unique minute-repeater pieces. Share

In 2021, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its creation, Parmigiani Fleurier launched one of the most ambitious and demanding projects in its history: an exceptional pocket watch called La Rose Carrée. Based on a Louis-Elysée Piguet calibre with grand sonnerie, entirely restored in the Parmigiani Fleurier workshops, this unique pocket watch continues the legacy of watchmaking art that is precious to the history of the House.

Parmigiani Fleurier Les Roses Carrées “Collection Grand Feu” Rosa Celeste

In 2022, on the occasion of the birthday of its founder Michel Parmigiani, the brand reveals the first creation in this collection: La Rosa Celeste, an extraordinary creation that pays tribute to the age-old artisanal tradition of Grand Feu enamel and to the favorite color of the brand’s founder. The Rosa Celeste is an example of excellent craftsmanship and fine watchmaking. Its 42 mm white gold case is hand-engraved with the “La Rose Carrée” motif and has a hunter’s caseback. The latter and its chiseled dial are covered with grand feu enamel in blue.

Between the petals of this horological flower, Parmigiani Fleurier has concealed a manually wound minute repeater calibre with cathedral gongs. Its skeletonization and bevelling bring together the best of Parmigiani Fleurier’s watchmaking expertise and craftsmanship in a unique and poetic piece.

Parmigiani Fleurier Les Roses Carrées “Collection Grand Feu” Rosa Celeste

A hinge located at 2 o’clock on the reverse side of this unique piece articulates its hunter’s back. Its outer face bears a large square fractal rose, also hand-engraved and covered with multiple layers of colored enamel. On its other side, this unique piece features a dial of solid white gold, with a surface engraved by hand.

Countless small carvings are made with immaculate regularity throughout the breadth and depth of the dial. Once the surface has been prepared, the enameler takes over and applies the same shade as on the hunter’s caseback, striving for an identical level of nuance and a play of light made possible by the depth of the work done by the artisanal engraver.

Parmigiani Fleurier Les Roses Carrées “Collection Grand Feu” Rosa Celeste

In both cases, dial and cover, the technique used is Grand Feu enamel. Each gold element is first covered with enamel from crushed glass, ground finer in each layer, pigmented with metallic oxides and shaded with the color of the base metal. The firing process is carried out at a high temperature, 800 degrees Celsius, and must be mastered and repeated for each of the six layers applied.

To the movement’s extreme aesthetic refinement, Parmigiani Fleurier has added horological substance on a comparable level. The noblest, most historic complication, the one most directly in line with Michel Parmigiani’s watchmaking practice as a restorer, was chosen to enliven Rosa Celeste: the minute repeater. But striking the hours, quarters and minutes on demand was not enough for this rare timekeeping rose.

Parmigiani Fleurier Les Roses Carrées “Collection Grand Feu” Rosa Celeste

The gongs on which the sound is produced are cathedral gongs. Their exceptional length, spanning one and a half trips around the movement, brings a deeper, richer sound, a more sustained vibration and a more palpable intensity. In order to allow this potential to be fully expressed, the case has been carefully designed to optimize the sound of the movement.

The movement is suspended in the case and the heel of the gongs is physically connected to the case by a double screwing. The caseback and case middle have been redesigned to create resonance pockets and to lighten the white gold mass. A final quality criterion is that the ringing sequence automatically skips dead time. Thus, at 3:19, the three chimes for the hour are immediately followed by a double chime for the quarter-hour and again, without silence, by up to four chimes for the minute.

Parmigiani Fleurier Les Roses Carrées “Collection Grand Feu” Rosa Celeste

This device, which is unusual in the world of minute repeaters, is an indispensable characteristic for Parmigiani Fleurier. The maison’s legendary criteria for ergonomics and directly perceptible quality are also reflected in a running time extended to 72 hours, i.e. three full days, another rarity for this complication.

The skeletonization of the PF355 calibre is reminiscent of that of the PF361 calibre, known as the Chronor, which was launched in 2016 inside a model that was at the time the pinnacle of the Parmigiani Fleurier collection. With its curves and counter-curves, harmonious inflections, the depth of the chamfers and its 114 inward and outward angles, Rosa Celeste is the product of unparalleled achievement. The bevelling, polishing and surface treatments are all done by hand. Thus, beauty, rarity and substance unite as stem, petal, and fragrance in this rose for the wrist.

Guide Price
CHF 600,000
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