The total independence of the Parmigiani watchmaking centre is often understood as the enviable access to a ready supply of components. But there is a second dimension, often forgotten but no less important, that follows from this autonomy: the potential to create the most audacious timepieces, the most daring shapes; the ability to follow any design or technical project to completion with no limitation other than mechanical feasibility. The Bugatti family is a case in point and has been widely discussed recently through the Bugatti Super Sport and Bugatti Vitesse models, which design takes the form of a lug – Parmigiani Fleurier’s emblematic shape. Les Artisans Boîtiers is the department within the Parmigiani Fleurier watchmaking centre which specialises in the creation of high-quality watch cases. Its’ employees are experts in every stage of the production process and in 2010 they stood up the challenge of an audacious creation for the Parmigiani Fleurier headquarters. The Bugatti Super Sport, a testimony to the fastest car in the world, was a project that inspired little faith at the time. Today however, according to Fabien Chapatte, the director of Les Artisans Boîtiers, it is the most brilliant project ever completed for a wristwatch. MANY CRAFTSMANSHIP FACED WITH THE UNKNOWN To leave the beaten tracks and setting off towards something that has never been attempted before requires a substantial amount of research. Today, each stage in the production of the Bugatti Super Sport and Bugatti Vitesse cases has been clearly defined, the delicate integration of a remarkablyshaped movement has been achieved successfully and all this seems straightforward and accessible. But it is important to remember that this project started from a blank slate. A new direction to define entirely; the fastidious invention of each manufacturing process; the taking into account of all structural challenges defined by design and movement constraints, along with the question mechanical feasibility... These were the dilemmas facing the team of Les Artisans Boîtiers as they sat down on a fine spring morning of 2010 for a long preliminary talk. Of course, the case manufacture in La Chaux-de- Fonds was not the only establishment at work on this within the Parmigiani Fleurier watchmaking centre. In order to meet a very tight deadline, other craftsmanship of the group were dwelling with this project simultaneously. This represented a further difficulty, as the gradual progression of each entity reduced the margin for manoeuvre and adjustment of their neighbours, day after day. For example, while the team at Les Artisans Boîtiers wished to make a tiny adjustment to the movement in order to resolve a casing dilemma, it appeared that Vaucher Manufacture were at a more advanced stage of developing the movement with no turning back – and hence an impossibility to incorporate the solution proposed by Les Artisans Boîtiers. Back to the drawing board they went, to find another solution which would take their neighbour’s progress into account. THE BUGATTI SUPER SPORT – STROKES OF GENIUS The Crown: The team at Les Artisans Boîtiers quickly established that to position the crown as envisioned by the Parmigiani Fleurier design team was not feasible, because it would render the winding of the movement impossible. The only feasible design would have required to place the crown further away from the case, hence ruining the beauty and ergonomics of the timepiece – in other words, inconceivable. Therefore, along with Elwin (the bar turning unit at the Parmigiani Fleurier centre), they decided to manufacture the most complex crown in the world to this day – no fewer than 12 components – which pops away from the case as it is given a gentle pressure. This allows for winding, after which the crown is reinserted close to the case by the same way. Creating a small case-back: A movement as complex as that used in the Bugatti Super Sport can only have a single fixation mode: on the crystal case-back with four attachment points. But this assessment revealed in turn a serious issue: the masterpiece would become a watch that was impossible to dismantle. Indeed, once the movement is fixed, the case closed and the stem of the crown put in place, it becomes impossible to remove this stem from the outside, which consequently blocks the entire movement and hence seals the crystal case-back. The solution consisted in creating a bipartite crystal structure with a smaller case-back that can always be opened, thus giving access to the crown stem so that it can be unscrewed from inside, and finally allowing the whole structure to be dismantled. THE BUGATTI VITESSE – WTHE CHALLENGES The movement and design of the Bugatti Vitesse are identical to those of the Bugatti Super Sport, and so each stage and each potential obstacle of the manufacturing process were already well documented or overcome. Nonetheless, the new challenge for this futuristic piece related to the new case material: Titanium. This material is highly flammable, is easily deformed due to its elasticity and becomes sticky on exposure to heat – characteristics that make it a very difficult material to machine. The first block of titanium put to test under the robotic cutter bent as if it were wax and was catapulted from the fixing points – something that has never happened with the white gold used for the Bugatti Super Sport. As a result, the machining speed had to be decreased threefold and greater attention paid to all the operations carried out on this extremely fragile metal. The second major challenge when it comes to titanium is that it does not solder well – especially when the standard requires waterproof solders. Therefore the team at Les Artisans Boîtiers, who had never previously performed soldering on titanium for these reasons, were forced to rethink the procedure in order to succeed in creating a solid and waterproof assembly for the various parts that constitute the Bugatti Super Sport and Vitesse cases. It was decided that three successive solders were necessary – the initial solder, a second solder for reinforcement and a final laser solder, followed by subtle machining in order to perfect the finishing that are altered under the heat of the laser beam. The Bugatti Super Sport and the recent addition to the family, the Bugatti Vitesse, are subject to enormous pride on the part of the whole Parmigiani Fleurier watchmaking centre. Each manufacture has been commissioned to work on the project, and this watch, beyond technical and aesthetic prowess, symbolises the alliance of craftsmanship and their teamwork. Les Artisans Boîtiers count amongst the most important contributors to each generation of Bugatti timepieces, and have chosen to bear the omnipresent trace of this work. Their logo is a representation of the Bugatti Type 370 case, the first watch of an extraordinary generation of horizontal movements – the start of a great adventure.