M4[Parmigiani Moderator]
7666
Toric Tuesday - my neovintage collection
Parmigiani was founded in 1996. The earliest watches from the maison are now of an age to be called "neovintage" and include the Toric Memory Time, Toric Automatic, Toric Tourbillon, Toric Chronograph, and Toric Westminster. As an avid Parmigiani collector, I have been fortunate to add two neovintage Toric models to my collection.
The neovintage Torics are immediately recognizable by the trademark double stepped and knurled bezels. They also have javelin-style hands, which was part of the early Toric DNA.
Looking at the backsides of these pieces you will see the signature knurling repeated on a single level on the Automatic but not on the Tourbillon.
The tourbillon movement, which is a Girard-Perregaux "Three Bridges" 9900 ebauche, sits inverted in the case. Bridges are visible from the dial side in a sort of open-working that doesn't look open-worked. The opening to view the tourbillon is not a hole in a dial; it is a space created between three bridges for the tourbillon to sit. A backing plate obscures the view through the mechanism (I'm not a fan of seeing flesh through the tourbillon, so the backing plate is a big plus for me). The workmanship is top shelf.
Due to the inversion of the movement, the minute hand passes under the hour hand on the time display, opposite of the standard configuration. I will also admit that I'm more than a little fond of the three red diamonds on the minute track at 6.
The Toric Automatic is the classic "tuxedo" style in black and silver colors. It is 40mm diameter but wears smaller due to the wide bezel and placement of the Roman numerals in a highlighted ring well inside the outer perimeter of the dial. The center section of dial has a fine guilloche (not visible in the photo). Seen here with a dark brown grained calfskin strap, it becomes a daily wearer type of watch, though still on the formal side. The feel on the wrist of the low profile, platinum case is pure magic.
I consider myself very fortunate indeed to own these two pieces. Thank you all for looking and enjoy the day!
M4