Michel Parmigiani celebrates his 75th birthday this December, and in true horological fashion, the observance is marked not by fanfare but by the quiet, enduring resonance of a masterpiece. The Maison has unveiled La Ravenale, a unique Lépine pocket watch that joins the Parmigiani Fleurier Objets d’Art collection. This piece is a profound dialogue between restoration and creation, nature and mechanics, history and the present moment. It draws its name and inspiration from the Ravenala madagascariensis, or Traveller’s Palm, a plant whose fan-like symmetry adheres to the Golden Ratio, a divine proportion that has long guided Michel Parmigiani’s hand.
The face of La Ravenale is an exercise in chromatic depth and textural richness. Crafted from 18-carat white gold, the dial has been treated with a calibrated PVD process to achieve a profound shade of blue. This is not a simple surface application but a vacuum deposition that creates layers of colour, resulting in a hue that shifts and breathes with the ambient light.
The surface is hand-engraved and grained, providing a tactile backdrop for the square hour markers and the subdial frames, all formed from polished 18-carat white gold. The openworked Delta-shaped hands for the hours and minutes float above this composition, while a baton-shaped hand tracks the small seconds at six o’clock. The layout is clean, almost architectural, allowing the eye to rest on the subtle interplay of the grained finish and the sharp, polished indices.
Beating within this case is a mechanical heart with a lineage as distinguished as the watch itself. The movement is a historical minute repeater calibre signed by Ed. Koehn of Geneva, dating back to the 1920s. Edouard Koehn was a technical director at Patek Philippe before establishing his own workshop, and his movements are renowned for their slender construction and acoustic purity. This specific calibre, numbered 78708, was drawn from Michel Parmigiani’s private archive of antique movements. It has been meticulously restored by the Maison’s Atelier de Restauration. The restoration process involved a complete dismantling and refinishing of every component.
The bridges and mainplate are hand-engraved with the palm motif, integrating organic geometry into the mechanical structure. Even the hidden bridges beneath the dial bear this engraving, a detail invisible to the wearer but essential to the integrity of the piece. The technical specifications are equally impressive for a century-old engine: a manual winding system with a hanging barrel and Maltese cross stopwork, a Swiss anchor escapement, and a split bimetallic balance with a steel hairspring. The minute repeater chimes on two gongs with symmetrical hammers, producing a crystalline sound that strikes the hours, quarters, and minutes with exceptional clarity. The finishing includes hand-beveled edges and “découvertes” around the jewels and screws, polished using traditional wooden tools to achieve a shine that modern machines cannot replicate.
The vessel for this movement is a substantial 18-carat white gold case, measuring 51.8 millimetres in diameter and 13.1 millimetres in thickness. It follows the classic Lépine pocket watch style but elevates it with intricate hand-engraving that echoes the Traveller’s Palm theme. The crown is set with a blue sapphire, adding a final touch of nobility. However, the true spectacle lies on the double caseback. Here, Parmigiani Fleurier has commissioned a rare marquetry of opal and jade. The opal, sourced from Turkey and Australia, represents the shifting elements of water and sky, its iridescence capturing the concept of impermanence.
In contrast, the jade from Guatemala stands for the stability of earth and the stillness of nature. This mineral composition creates a visual silence that balances the auditory richness of the repeater. To complete the ensemble, the watch is accompanied by a chain handcrafted by Laurent Jolliet, one of the last master chain-makers in Switzerland. Fashioned from 18-carat white gold, the chain features alternating hexagonal and oval links, the latter echoing the PF logo, and required nearly one hundred hours of labour to forge, shape, and polish.
Holding La Ravenale is an emotional experience that transcends the technical specifications. It is rare to encounter a timepiece that so successfully bridges the gap between a functional instrument and a piece of high art. The collaboration of artisans, from the engravers at Atelier Blandenier to the chain-making mastery of Laurent Jolliet,has resulted in an object that feels alive. The sound of the repeater is distinct and musical, a voice from the past given new life. This pocket watch is undoubtedly one of my favourites of the year, not just for its aesthetic beauty but for the story it tells of continuity, respect for tradition, and the relentless pursuit of harmony.
