Offered here is a highly rare, sought-after and gorgeous white-gold Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Ref.PF000071 Date Automatic (1st Series)
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The Watch is running well in excellent condition. The Date Complication works perfectly.

The Dial is perfectly clean with no visible markings or exclusions.

The Case in superb condition, unpolished and rarely worn with no scratches or any dings. Hallmarks are still clear and crisp.

Year: Circa early 2000s

Watch Only with its Original white-gold Parmigiani Tang Buckle.
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Brief summary:
The brand Parmigiani Fleurier by now is one that majority of people in the watch industry/collecting circle know about. Though it has always been overlooked and only appreciated by a very niche circle of collectors especially their earliest/original creations, and only recently gaining some attention among due to the rise in neo-vintage hidden gems.

Officially created by Michel Parmigiani in 1996 backed by Sandoz Family Foundation, the brand itself is fairly young but very strong. When Parmigiani Fleurier began expanding their capacities in the early 2000s through acquisitions of key part-making businesses, this allowed the young brand to explore its identity, giving them greater creative freedom over the watches they created. Not only that, they’ve also supplied movements, cases and dial to supplied a large number of clients over the years in various capacities, which include names such as Hermès, Richard Mille, Patek Philippe, IWC, Zenith, and Audemars Piguet, among others.

After completing his watchmaking education, he worked at a small workshop, then remained in Couvet to open an independent restoration workshop in 1976 when he was just 26. Parmigiani has spoken in previous interviews about how friends and family once attempted to dissuade him from going down this path, but he was determined to follow his passion.
He also began creating unique pieces for clients. Since then, the Parmigiani restoration workshop has long been known as a training ground for some of the most celebrated independent watchmakers today, including the likes of Kari Voutilainen, Stepan Sarpaneva, Denis Flageollet, and Raúl Pagès.
The workshop has successfully restored various significant pieces which are exhibited at museums and archives such as the Patek Philippe Museum, the Musée d’Horlogerie du Locle, the Maurice-Yves Sandoz Collection, and the Moscow Kremlin Museums.

Among these important pieces include the Breguet Pendule Sympathique, which they restored in 1990 which took around a year and more than 2,000 hours of work to restore this table clock and pocket watch set to working order despite Sotheby’s claiming that this clock could not be repaired. The Pendule Sympathique would go on to be purchased and exhibited by the Patek Philippe Museum.
Another timepiece purchased in 1997, an oval-shaped pocket watch made by Vardon and Stedman in 1800, was restored and would later form the basis for the calibre PF111 found in Parmigiani Fleurier’s Ovale Pantographe in 2016. The work was not just confined to clocks and watches, but also included many important automatons such as the Yusupov Fabergé Egg and the Frères Rochat Singing Bird pistol

Introduced in 1998 and part of the original roster from the first Parmigiani Catalog, this Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Date Automatic was the second Toric model and the first “simple” Toric as most likely back then, many may have wanted a slightly larger case with a more practical/more affordable complication while keeping all of his unique design cues.

As part of the Toric collection, the watch features several design principles that can be seen across the collection as a whole, such as the stepped coin-edge bezel and the javelin-style hands. The shape of the watch was inspired by the curvature of the Golden Ratio, while the intricate bezel draws upon classical Greek and Roman “Doric” columns.

Furthermore, this first generation Toric feature traditional techniques like engine-turning and knurling, further maintaining its classically-styled look through the combination of a rarer white-gold case and silvered dial. Additionally, the watch also possesses a simple date complication at 3 o’clock, while the hands are rendered in white-gold, with a blued steel seconds-hand.

The watch is powered by the calibre 133 movement, based of the Lemania 8815, that has been finely finished seen through the sapphire caseback, revealing a beautifully engraved rotor bearing the PF signature, with subtle Côtes de Genève below.

These First Series/Original Torics are just so beautiful, unique and iconic! This understated piece highlights the mastery that the brand holds over traditional watchmaking techniques. Establishing many of the design cues that Parmigiani is now known for, it is both elegant and subtle in style.
Even with the current and rising appreciation for Parmigiani’s earliest pieces, such as this one created between the period of 1996 to the early 2000s, they remain quite elusive and fairly difficult to find, especially the more desirable variations/combinations. This Neo-Vintage Hidden Gem is simply the perfect timepiece for any collector looking to add an important and rare piece of history in their collection!
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Please feel free to contact us for more questions or for a private viewing of the watch!
For more information do visit our Q&A post at https://carousell.app.link/roUoDh0y3kb

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