Named the festival's Global Partner from 2015, Parmigiani Fleurier is seeing its commitment duly rewarded. To celebrate this event, the Brand has created a timepiece which proudly bears the banner of jazz. The new Tonda Tourbillon Marquetry is swinging!

Variation on a theme

Embodying music, its universal appeal, the energy it emits, the intense emotions that it gives rise to from the very first notes… This is the challenge for the line of timepieces that Parmigiani Fleurier is dedicating to the fourth art. In this respect, the purity and harmony of the Tonda Tourbillon's aesthetic provides exceptional scope for expression. The 2015 opus pays tribute to jazz. Against an urban background, it features a trumpet player and his instrument, the bell of which turns into the watch's Tourbillon. This grand complication, a true centrepiece in itself, takes on an even more striking dimension, as if it were filling the timepiece with the vibrations of music itself.

Marquetry and watchmaking, an extreme alliance

Trying to capture the vibrancy of a scene using fragments of wood, all reduced to the scale of a watch dial, seems like utter madness. Parmigiani Fleurier dares to take on this challenge, which owes its success to perfection. It consists of assembling sheets of wood into rigid packets so that they can be cut into the pattern defined by a tracing paper template, ensuring the dimensions and angles are respected with the greatest precision. Then, the magic really starts! Each piece then has to be adjusted and fitted together, with no glue, no joints and no clearance between them. A miracle! Once complete, the marquetry piece is then pressed for two weeks. The timeless beauty of the scene is set forever. 

Wood striking the perfect note

Marquetry is a highly precise craft which, unlike jazz, has no room for improvisation; it requires heightened sensitivity, even a level of intuition. The artist must choose each grain of wood based on the atmosphere to be communicated. For its new creation, Parmigiani Fleurier wanted to create a warm, harmonious ambiance with the background of the dial in muted shades. The musician's face is made from pear, a smooth wood perfect for representing skin, but the moustache which gives him his character is walnut. Walnut is also used for the natural effect of the folds of his shirt, whilst the jacket is made from tinted birch. Ceylon lemon tree wood and boxwood are used for the trumpet. Lastly, maple brings the urban landscape to life with amazing realism. As he composes his symphony in different types of wood, the marquetry craftsman anticipates. He understands the variations the wood's palette will undergo, pre-empting changes in colour. In his head, the dial of the Tonda Tourbillon Marquetry gets more beautiful as time passes.

A wealth of detail

Like truth, refinement often lies in something that is not immediately obvious. But it is there, in the almost imperceptible fine line of wood which outlines the hand, face and shirt of the musician, created with the most remarkable sophistication. It is also there in the incredible shirt of the trumpeter, in the checked pattern which resembles a mosaic, brought to life by the hot-applied flecks of rose gold, which give the decoration a subtle amber light. This matches the colour of the case, indices, power reserve and tourbillon cage, which are all made from rose gold, creating a warm yet precious harmony. Magnified by its marquetry, the dial of the Tonda Tourbillon Marquetry becomes animated as the hours, minutes and central seconds pass. Created within Parmigiani Fleurier's centre for industrial craftsmanship, in line with the great tradition of excellence which characterises the Brand, this timepiece owes its reliability and precision to its hand-wound PF510 movement. The Côtes de Genève decoration and the hand-bevelled bridges are just two features which demonstrate its allegiance to the world of Haute Horlogerie. To ensure pleasure in every aspect, the Tonda Tourbillon Solo de Jazz is supplied with a Havana brown Hermès alligator strap with a rose gold ardillon buckle. With just one piece available, this timepiece unites time and tempo like no other. Long live jazz!