First Islamic perpetual calendar wristwatch wins innovation prize

First Islamic perpetual calendar wristwatch wins innovation prize

Parmigiani Fleurier, a prestigious Swiss Haute Horlogerie brand, recently received the Innovation Prize from the Grand Prix D'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG), for creating the first Hijri perpetual calendar wristwatch. The prize is awarded by a jury on a discretionary basis, to reward the best competing watch offering an innovative and unique vision of time measurement, and for opening new pathways in the art of watchmaking. The Hijri Perpetual Calendar features a 44. 5 mm platinum case, a slate dial and rotor in platinum. It shows the hours and minutes, and date in Arabic numerals, the name and length of the months in Arabic calligraphy, as well as the abundant and the common years. It also features a moon phase in an aventurine sky and a power reserve of up to forty eight hours. As in all Parmigiani Fleurier timepieces, each component of the movement, even the hidden parts, have been decorated by in-house specialists. The original development of the timepiece dates back to 1993, when Michel Parmigiani, master watchmaker and founder of the brand, restored a simple Hijri Calendar and a pocket watch from the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th Century, that featured a solar calendar,