For Parmigiani Fleurier, 2025 was not about new collections and high-concept designs, nor new movements and complications. There has been plenty of both since the brand’s relaunch in 2021, and it was time for a quieter period of consolidation—and this was done through colour. Throughout the year, Parmigiani Fleurier debuted new references of its existing models in a series of brighter, pastel greens, blues, golds, pink, and more, injecting a note of freshness and energy into its current offerings. But, of course, as it is Parmigiani Fleurier, these new shades were implemented with elegance and timeless panache.
“We’ve been working on colours since the beginning of the relaunch, but it takes time to add one colour after another. It was always part of our relaunch idea,” says CEO Guido Terreni. For the past few years, the brand’s new references encompassed new collections, such as the sporty-elegant Tonda PF and the dressy Toric, as well as complications that range from simple and innovative—like the GMT and Minute Rattrapante—to consummate classical, like skeleton watches or split-seconds chronographs. Almost inevitably, they would arrive with neutral, distinguished dial colours: greys, dark blues, warm whites. But, by the time Watches and Wonders 2025 rolled around, a marked new direction had been introduced: novelties included the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante with a rich Verzasca Green dial, inspired by the clear-flowing waters in the namesake valley; the Toric Quantieme Perpetuel in a soothing sky blue and bright gold; and the Tonda PF Skeleton in a handsome Slate Green.
“Colours are part of our style. They’re in the aesthetic codes of the brand. They are colours that are enduring, because a watch is supposed to outlive you. A dial colour is not supposed to wear you out after a couple of seasons,” Terreni explains. “So, it’s a very difficult choice to make, because though you have to be specific, you also have to match what you’re wearing—and not wear out the pleasure of the client. Our inspiration comes from architecture because, when you’re decorating a home, you choose colours that are there to please you, to make you feel good, to have that serenity of your home, and that you don’t redecorate every six months because you’re fed up with what you chose.” One big point of reference was the work of the pioneering architect Le Corbusier, who developed a colour palette in 1931 and expanded it in 1959 for use in architecture and interior design. He was greatly interested in how colour could affect a person’s perspective and mood.
“It takes time to build a palette because you need a reference. You can’t launch all of the colours in one year—you build it up. Then people start to see there’s something, that there’s a theme,” Terreni adds. “Our palette evolved sometimes through unexpected things. For instance, the Morning Blue that we did on the Toric Quantieme Perpetuel evolved the choice of colours into something more energetic, because it has that crispy light of the morning when you look at the blue sky, which is not flashy, but it has that vibe that is nice. These are things that evolved our thinking around the colour theme.”
One of the last releases of 2025 was unveiled at Dubai Watch Week: the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante with an Arctic Rose dial. “That is something that I find extremely refined, extremely sophisticated. It’s almost very pale, but it’s very masculine. It gives you this bright energy, and it changes according to the light. It can be mistaken with white, but then it can go to pink, and pink in masculine wear is extremely elegant, extremely masculine, but very refined, too,” Terreni says.
One challenge that is more peculiar to Parmigiani Fleurier is that one of the brand’s current calling cards is subtle textured dials that are part of its core values of understated elegance. Typically, the Tonda PF has an extremely fine guilloche pattern, while the Toric’s signature is a grained texture, using a technique revived by Michel Parmigiani himself. “When you change the techniques of the dial, light is reflected in a completely different way,” Terreni says, explaining that the two collections required a different approach. “You have to mix the texture, the material, and the colour, and then you end up with the mood that you like—or not.”
It does not seem that long ago that dial colours were a lot more limited across the industry—aside from black and white, you might have a navy blue and, maybe, some traditionally styled champagne or salmon hues. Today, with most manufactures counting brighter shades of blue, green, and pink, does this mean that consumers are embracing more colourful timepieces? “I think so. Because I think it’s also due to how we live,” Terreni comments. “I remember when I started in the luxury industry in 2000, the era of Tom Ford and Gucci, everybody was wearing black. It was a completely different vibe and a different mood. Society evolves.” The challenge with watch design, he notes, is that, unlike fashion, watches need to last more than a season or two. “The watch is something that is extremely delicate to design—it’s there for life. So, that’s a more complex way to address colour,” Terreni says. “You don’t want your watch to end up in a drawer because you’re fed up with it, you know.”
