Parmigiani Bugatti Super Sport Watch Hands-On Exclusive

Just launched is this brand new Bugatti...watch and car. The car I will cover briefly, and the watch is the newest timepiece made and developed by Parmigiani to continue the Swiss luxury watch brand's relationship with the ultra-high end car maker. The watch is called the Parmigiani Bugatti Super Sport and is an evolution of the Bugatti Type 370 watch collection - just like the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport is an evolution on the standard (relatively speaking) Veyron. Available with an all carbon fiber body, the Super Sport is a sleeker, higher performance version of the car which is already the worlds most powerful and fastest supercar.

The Super Sport in carbon fiber weighs about 50kg less than the standard Veyron, and has been tested to have an almost 270mph top speed! The body design is sleeker, and is a gorgeous evolution on an already gorgeous car. Price for the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport car is 1.6 million euros! Wow indeed. How many small villages would you kill for one? The answer is "12," 12 small villages decimated for the Teutonic love child of excess and godliness.










Parmigiani confirmed for me that the special concept watch they made to go inside Bugatti car dashboards (that I wrote about here) is a "no go." Though it was an interesting concept nonetheless. UPDATE: The official like from Parmigiani is that they would gladly work with Bugatti on that convertible watch should the car ever make production. If the car doesn't ever make production, they might still just make the watch - we will see. So focus for the time being with the watch and car brand relationship is on this new piece. The Parmigiani Bugatti Super Sport watch comes in a case shaped like the standard Parmigiani curved tear drop lug, and it does have a set of bending lugs in that traditional form. Aside from that, very little about this watch resembles anything Parmigiani. As the brand describes the watch, it is an outlet for them to be a little bit wild and crazy, and play with form and aesthetic. The design of the watch makes it so that the dial it facing the wearer at an angle on the wrist, while the top of the watch is a view of the movement and power reserve indicator.

Totally brand new for the watch, inside the timepiece is a Parmigiani calibre PF 372 movement that is quite a spectacle. While not inherently imbued with tons of complexity, the shape and orientation of the movement was hard to accomplish. The movement is placed at a diagonal angle, while the dial is placed at a totally different angle. The dial display is only possible due to a clever using of conical beveled gears that allow for a 90 degree angle transfer of energy. Functions include just the time (hours and minutes), but the movement does have a full 10 days of power reserve (through two barrels) with a power indicator on the top of the case. You can also see the escapement in the top part of the case.










Beautifully finished in mostly black tones with some orange trim, the movement is visible through six different sapphire crystals. It is a great movement for mechanical admirers, and Parmigiani's level of finishing and decoration is pleasant. Complex in construction, the movement is made up of 372 parts. The watch dial is black and orange to reminisce one of the popular color schemes for the car. It also has a partially carbon fiber dial because the Super Sport car makes a lot of use of fiber. Although the dial isn't perfectly round, the hour markers and hands are easy to spot - making it pretty easy to read. Case finishing and polish are good. It is hard to describe the dimensions given the shape of the watch, but you can see the wrist shots here (as worn by the man who made the watch).

Parmigiani makes almost all of their own watch movement and case components. It doesn't make watch straps though. These are all sourced from Hermes Paris. Customers of the Bugatti Super Sport watch can have straps in the pictures black alligator, or whatever else they like. When we are talking bucks like these, Parmigiani isn't gonna sweat the small stuff like a custom watch strap. Besides, most people who are going to buy this watch are existing Bugatti car owners - so they are used to some of the best things in life. You'll see that the watch dial has a Bugatti logo on it, while the Parmigiani name is to the side at 9 o'clock.







Limited to just 30 pieces, the Parmigiani Bugatti Super Sport watch comes in a 18k white gold case with a character all its own. I like that the brand is doing some interesting things for themselves, and Bugatti. The car brands likes to be known as "something special," and they can keep confident that the luxury watch with their name on it is certainly that. I hope that my hands-on images of the watch give you as good a feel for the piece as is possible. Price is $259,000. Look for them starting early 2011.



Tech Specs from Parmigiani:

Model Bugatti Super Sport, 30-piece special edition.

Movement:

Calibre PF 372
Manual winding.
Power reserve 10 days.
Two-plane movement. "Gold black"-coloured plates and bridges.
Height 15.96 mm, width 25.00 mm, length 37.01 mm.
Vibration 3 Hz - 21,600 vib./h.
40 jewels.
Côtes de Genève, perlage, polished and bevelled angles.
2 series-coupled barrels.

Functions:

Hour.
Minute.
Power reserve indicator.

Exterior:

Shaped case: 36.0 x 50.7 mm, height 22.7 mm.
Material: 18 ct white gold. Polished and satin finish.
Water resistance: 10 m.
Six anti-reflective sapphire crystals. Metallised front and top crystal on the outer edge.
Single dynamometric crown for time setting and winding.
Individual number engraved on the case-back.

Dial:

Black Carbon face, fine polished and satin-finished EB applique marker, shaped and polished applique indexes at 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock, Bugatti "nail" motifs, delta-shaped hands with luminous coating.

Leathers (strap):

Hermès alligator, deployment buckle in 18 ct white gold, polished finish.

Written by Mr. Ariel Adams - aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.