Michel Parmigiani is certainly one of the most talented watchmakers of his generation. He hesitated at length between pursuing an degree in architecture or watchmaking and finally decided on the latter but all his work has been inspired by the former.

At just the age of 26 he opened his own restoration workshops in 1976 and soon after began creating unique timepieces for his discerning clientele.

Some of the greatest independent watchmakers of today cut their teeth on restoration, working for Parmigiani including Kari Voutilainen, Denis Flageollet, Stepan Sarpaneva, or Raúl Pagès. Parmigiani’s workshops were known to restore the most important pieces ever made and even restoring watches and clocks that were deemed impossible to restore, including one of Breguet's original Sympathie clocks.

Michel Parmigiani launched his eponymous brand in 1996 focusing mainly on table clocks and pocket watches and launching his first wristwatch model in 1998: The Toric. The models featured single or double stepped knurled bezels, javelin hands and often intricately guilloché dials.

The Toric chronograph was first launched in the early 2000s and featured and houses the iconic Zenith El Primero based cal. 400Z with a rotor featuring the same guilloché motif as the dial.

The Toric Chronograph is interestingly the watch His Majesty King Charles III wears.

The present watch is further adorned with a lavish and original Parmigiani Fleurier gold bracelet.