New Watch! • 25 Oct 2017
Introducing The Parmigiani Bugatti Type 390
A tribute to the 261mph, 1,500hp hypercar.
Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last year, the Bugatti Chiron is the successor of the infamous Veyron, the fastest and most epic production car ever, until the Chiron came along. The new Bugatti boasts a play of superior numbers: a top speed of 261 miles per hour, accelerating from 0 to 62mph in less than 2.5 seconds, four enlarged turbo charges and a total output of 1,500 horsepower.
Parmigiani has now launched the limited-edition Bugatti Type 390, the horological equivalent of the Chiron hypercar. The Type 390 is not just a new watch, it is an evolution and culmination of the two iconic watches that marked the watchmaker’s 12-year partnership with Bugatti.
Back in the summer of 2005, Bugatti launched the production-ready Veyron 16.4, for which Parmigiani developed the tubular Type 370 watch. It was the first watch ever to have its entire movement constructed on the transverse axis, just like a car engine block. It’s worth noting that this was a time when the left field of watchmaking was just starting to take root with MB&F making its debut that same year.
In 2010, Bugatti upgraded its supercar with the Veyron Super Sport, and Parmigiani followed suit with an equally radical watch, featuring a movement designed on two planes to fit the form of its wing-shaped case and to orientate the dial in the driver’s position. And when the Veyron came to the end of its production run in 2014, the event was commemorated with three unique pieces of the Parmigiani Bugatti Type 370. And today, the usurper has inspired the Bugatti Type 390 watch that combines the wing-shaped case and tubular movmeent for a radically different mechanical masterpiece.
The most apparent elements drawn from the Chiron are its elegant curves, in contrast to the bulbous curves of the Bugatti Super Sport watch and the sharp, angular lines of the Bugatti Type 390 Concept watch, which debuted in tandem with the Chiron at the Geneva Motor Show last year. Like the Bugatti Super Sport, the cal. PF390 was designed on two planes, featuring a patented triangular barrel coupling system.
The rear portion of the watch is shaped like a cylinder much like the movement of the Type 370. It houses a winding tube with a power reserve indicator, double barrels that are coupled directly in series and a gear train that is mounted axially, with a set of three planetary gears positioned one on top of the other. At the end of the transmission chain on the left is a 4Hz flying tourbillon regulator. A worm screw is used to connect the transmission chain to a horizontal plane so that time can be displayed on a conventional dial in the flat expanse of the watch.
In another nod to the Molsheim carmaker, the double barrels of the movement are engraved with the signature of legendary Bugatti racing driver Louis Chiron, after whom the car is named. The Parmigiani Bugatti Type 390 is available in both rose and white gold, each in a 10-piece limited edition.
Click here to discover more about the Parmigiani Bugatti Type 390.
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