SJX Watches
Parmigiani Introduces La Rosa Celeste Minute Repeater
For its 25th anniversary last year, Parmigiani debuted La Rose Carrée, a grande sonnerie pocket watch that was entirely hand engraved and enamelled in blue. While it was a one-off creation, the pocket watch has spawned a collection of five minute repeaters, Les Roses Carrées. Each of the five will be unique and the very first is La Rosa Celeste, a minute repeating wristwatch that takes after the pocket watch in both decoration and detail. Initial thoughts As is typical of Parmigiani’s top-of-the-line compilations, La Rosa Celeste is impressive in both its decoration and complication, but it has an unusual modern feel. Although the case is intricately engraved, the clean dial gives it a contemporary feel, so it doesn’t have the old-fashioned ornateness that such watches often possess. With the lavish engraving and generous enamelling, the case makes a statement on the wrist, even more so with its size. At 42 mm in diameter and over 13 mm high, La Rosa Celeste is a big watch, a little too big to be as elegant as its decoration. But the size is no doubt also meant to give it presence, which it will surely have. La Rosa Celeste is finely crafted and artisanally decorated, which inevitably means it is expensive, or CHF600,000 to be exact. That’s a hefty sum but par for the course for a watch like this. Repeating roses and blue enamel Of all the elements of the watch, the dial is the simplest in terms of style. It’s almost minimalist with small, square hour markers...