STRUCTURAL STYLE

Parmigiani Fleurier CEO Guido Terreni explains the logic of the new Toric collection and takes us through his thoughts on style and elegance

- ASHOK SOMAN

Our year in watchmaking is incomplete without a discussion with one of our favourite CEOs, Guido Terreni of Parmigiani Fleurier. Regular readers will recall that we only recently published our last chat with Terreni but immediately after that, we booked some face time with him at Watches and Wonders Geneva (WWG). We have interviewed the Parmigiani Fleurier CEO every year since he joined and we are likely to meet him again while you are enjoying this issue, some time this quarter. Famously (at least in watchmaking circles), Terreni was the boss of watchmaking at Bvlgari and was part of the team there that created the Octo Finissimo.

While we maintain an authentic familiarity with Terreni, we think, this does not mean our conversations are full of soft ball questions. On the contrary, those of you who looked askance at the much-praised Toric will be pleased to hear that we questioned the collection’s similarities with the Tonda PF. Terreni of course had the most apt response, which you can read for yourself. In point of fact though, such a question is of middling quality but we felt the need to give Terreni a chance to respond. We are glad he did so at some length.

On the other hand, the matter of the price point for the collection overall is very pertinent indeed, and here too Terreni and the Parmigiani Fleurier team has obliged us with a spirited defence. We can sum up this one in a few words: think of another watch with all the qualities of the Toric that is available at a better price. The brand definitely does not think any other watch comes close; for what it is worth, despite our many questions on the Toric, we crowned it the winner of WWG 24 ourselves last issue.