Parmigiani Fleurier - BUGATTI Aerolithe Flyback Chronograph NEW
Parmigiani Fleurier - The Bugatti Aerolithe Masculine Elegance
In 2000, the prestigious brand Bugatti was looking for a strong
partnership with a watchmaking company that met its exacting criteria.
The brand in question had to be young – young enough for its founder to actively evolve at its heart. It needed a propensity towards technical excellence, but also artistic flair, a heightened awareness of design and the elegance of forms. Lastly, this brand needed an independent manufacture, so that it could offer the production freedom essential for limitless creative potential.
Therefore, it was a logical move for
Bugatti to link its destiny with
Parmigiani Fleurier, as the brand met and exceeded all its
expectations. Since 2001, the Fleurier-based manufacture has striven to
create timepieces for the
Bugatti collection which are far more than a
watch stamped with a car marque logo; they are cars reborn in watch
form.
This year,
Parmigiani Fleurier is proud to present the
Bugatti
Aerolithe, a new illustration of this partnership, which has gone from
strength to strength in
2013.
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HISTORY OF AN EXCEPTIONAL VEHICLE
No car is more shrouded in mystery than the
Bugatti Aerolithe.
Shortly after it was unveiled at the Paris motor show in
1935 by
Ettore
Bugatti, this single model vanished from the face of the earth,
leaving behind it just one photograph, a few sketches, and the memory of
an enigmatic pale green colour.
However, no-one could forget the material used to create it, which
caused such a sensation that year: a magnesium alloy known by the name
ELEKTRON – a nickname sometimes given to this avant-garde vehicle.
Incredibly light, yet so strong it could not be dented, the body of the
Bugatti Aerolithe was dangerously flammable and highly volatile. Its
assembly, consequently a very delicate process, required the traditional
welding of parts to be replaced with another technique, an incredibly
ingenious method of assembly dreamed up by
Jean Bugatti, Ettore's son.
This solution had a major influence on the car's futuristic look; it
consisted of designing the bodywork in two longitudinal sections,
riveted together using a dorsal seam structure which travelled the
length of the vehicle, from front to end.
So, it was an obstacle, a challenge – the volatility of the magnesium
– which gave rise to the revolutionary design of the
Bugatti Aerolithe.
The result was futuristic curves and harmonious protrusions,
characteristic of the "Streamline" design movement, so full of grace
that they still take your breath away today.
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While this first and only prototype has mysteriously disappeared, its
inspired ideas will never fade. Its magnesium body, crowned with the
dorsal seam, was adopted for its successor, known as the
Bugatti
Atlantic, which faithfully reproduced the creative genius of the
Molsheim family.
Parmigiani Fleurier has decided to pay tribute to the first in an
exceptional line of motor cars by creating the
Bugatti Aerolithe
timepiece, designed in the image of this long-lost mystery.
HOW CAN THE ESSENCE OF A VEHICLE BE TRANSPOSED INTO A WATCH?
This is the question which constantly drives research into design at
Parmigiani Fleurier when working on the
Bugatti collection.
The process consists of isolating the car's most striking and
distinctive feature – whether it is a shape, a colour or a technical
procedure – then transposing this onto a watch, regardless of the
technical and spatial difficulties which must be overcome. An ability to
think outside of the box.
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The distinctive feature of the Aerolithe is the rivet that crosses it
from front to end. This is what joins the bodywork and solved the
problem of being unable to weld the magnesium; it is also what gives the
car its unique character, its fluid and futuristic streamlined look.
Therefore, it is this dorsal seam that was replicated on the watch, and
which was chosen to be echoed on the four lugs of the piece. The profile
of these lugs has not been changed, in line with the brand's visual
codes, but their surface has been riveted, to symbolise the genius of
Jean
Bugatti and the technical prowess which gave rise to the car almost
80 years ag
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LES ARTISANS BOÎTIERS TAKE UP THE CHALLENGE
Each time
Parmigiani Fleurier starts to design a new
Bugatti
timepiece, the La Chaux-de-Fonds manufacture Les Artisans Boîtiers
braces itself for a new challenge. It knows that there will be many
hours of technical meetings and numerous decisions to be taken before
the project they receive – a designer's dream transcribed onto paper –
can blossom into a veritable timepiece, a piece which has broken through
constraints that the imagination couldn’t predict in theory.
In this particular case, it was discovered following the digital
simulations, that it was not possible to polish the titanium case of the
Bugatti Aerolithe as initially designed, to the desired standard. Its
enclosed form did not allow the tools to reach the friction amplitude
required for a finish of the optimum quality. This was more than just a
mere detail as it was clear that the harmony of the piece, in particular
the prominence of the riveted lugs and the very parallels with the car,
rest on the delicate play of light that only the correct finish can
guarantee.
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Les Artisans Boîtiers therefore came up with an ingenious solution
which consisted of manufacturing the case with a gap around its base
(thereby giving it the amplitude to allow all the high quality finishes
required), which is then hidden using a "decorative" ring, ensuring the
piece is hermetically sealed.
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What started as a constraint was transformed into an aesthetic
feature. This titanium ring allowed the textures and colours of the
piece to be varied, while at the same time making perfect finishing work
possible. There is quite a deliberate parallel between this and the
rivet on the car, which initially allowed the welding problem to be
overcome, and ended up becoming the Aerolithe's key aesthetic
attraction.
DEEP BLUE AND VIVID RED
"Abyss Blue": the most mysterious and captivating
colour, and certainly the hardest of the spectrum to achieve. It was an
obvious choice to adorn the dial of an exceptional watch like this
Bugatti Aerolithe.
Abyss Blue falls within the expertise of Quadrance et Habillage, the
watchmaking manufacture which specialises in dials. This hue is obtained
by plunging the dial into a galvanic bath, under highly sensitive
conditions. An electrolytic reaction takes place - actually an exchange
of ions - resulting in a salt which is deposited on the dial material,
generating the much sought-after deep blue colour. The true challenge
lies in ensuring the repeatability of the process, since the galvanic
bath is altered with each exposure.
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To regenerate it perfectly and
guarantee consistency across the whole line of pieces, calculations and a
mastery of the theory are key, but it also depends on expertise and
sensitivity that only experience can provide. This is why the Abyss Blue
created by Quadrance et Habillage cannot be reproduced outside of their
walls.
Over the infinite depths of the dial sit the vivid red hands,
which echo the red and black
Bugatti logo at six o'clock. This contrast
is further echoed in the Hermès strap, with its grained sapphire blue
calfskin offset by edging in the high-shine vivid red of the dial.
Finally, the buckle has been completely redesigned to symbolise a car
grille, so that the
Bugatti DNA encircles the wrist from all angles.
A FLYBACK CHRONOGRAPH
The "flyback" complication is a special aeronautical feature
which allows the wearer to stop, reset and restart the chronometer with a
single press. It was used by pilots to precisely calculate their flying
time for a given course without losing precious seconds manipulating a
watch (on a conventional chronograph, the same operation takes three
presses on two push-buttons).
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In line with the racing car that it represents, the
Bugatti Aerolithe
timepiece is equipped with the flyback module, which is specially
offset at 180° to make it easier to use. The push-buttons are easier to
grip and accessible to the thumb rather than the index finger, as they
are located at 8 and 10 o'clock instead of at 2 and 4 o'clock as they
would normally be.
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Thinner than the brand's other chronographs, the case of the
Bugatti
Aerolithe has a redesigned, more slender, more elevated profile, echoing
the captivating curves of the car.
The
Bugatti Aerolithe is a both a technical feat and a marvel of
aesthetic creativity, in that it distils the distinctive traits of a
vehicle whilst remaining, in essence, a
Parmigiani Fleurier timepiece.
The profile of the piece is identical to that of the entire collection,
and the quality of its finishes meets the brand's impeccable standards.
The
Bugatti Aerolithe is an intrinsic illustration of the potential
an independent manufacture can offer. Its history relates the tale of a
perfectly verticalised watchmaking centre, the constituent entities of
which are in constant dialogue, ensuring a two-way exchange of
assistance and inspiration which gives
Parmigiani Fleurier its strength.
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Technical details
MODEL
Bugatti Aerolithe Flyback – Chronograph
MOVEMENT
PF 335
Self-winding movement
50-hour power reserve
Calibre 13’’’ ¼ − Ø 30.30 mm
Thickness: 6.81 mm
Frequency 4 Hz − 28,800 Vib./h
68 jewels
Two series-coupled barrels
Number of components: 311
“Côtes de Genève” decoration,
bevelled bridges
FUNCTIONS
Hour, Minutes
Seconds at 9 o’clock
Display of the date in a window
1⁄4 second chronograph
(large seconds in centre, 30-minute
counter at 3 o’clock), flyback
EXTERIOR
Round case: 41 mm. Thickness: 12.55 mm
Material: titanium and 18 ct white gold
bezel. Polished and satin-finished
Water resistance: 30 m
White gold shaped push-pieces at 8
o’clock and 10 o’clock
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Polished white gold crown: Ø 7 mm
Open case-back
Consecutive number engraved
on the case-back
DIAL
Abyss Blue dial, satin-finished flange, opaline
centre, snailed counters at 3/9 o’clock
Rhodium-plated applique indexes with
luminescent coating, Delta-shaped hands
with luminescent coating
LEATHER
Hermès alligator with 18 carat gold ardillon buckle, polished finish
Hermès Epsom calfskin with adjustable
titanium folding safety clasp
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