When it was unveiled in Pebble Beach in autumn 2004, the Bugatti Type 370 turned watchmaking conventions upside down, with a movement featuring components assembled on a transverse axis. It constituted a world first — a feat that no-one had even dreamed of until then. The Bugatti Type 370, the first creation from the partnership with the Bugatti team, set the benchmark for a sensational family of watches.

The Bugatti watch family is the best illustration of the potential of Parmigiani Fleurier’s Watchmaking Hub. This independent centre of expertise is capable of manufacturing every single watch component and is not afraid to stray from the beaten track in search of innovation. That is why the Bugatti family is much more than a watch stamped with a car logo: they are cars reborn in watch form. Over five years of research and development were needed to bring the Bugatti Type 370 to life. It features 374 components and drew on the skills of fifty different professions within the Watchmaking Centre.

The Bugatti Type 370 has no crown as its movement cannot be accessed from the side. The engineers at the Parmigiani Fleurier Watchmaking Centre devised a tool that replaces the crown function and becomes an accessory – another world first. This pen-like tool accesses the movement through the case-back – the part in contact with the wrist – and performs the two operations of winding and time-setting.