Credits: Article and images by Zen Love @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/parmigiani-fleurier-toric-2024/
Following the Second World War, the tuxedo faded from daily wear and over the decades the culture became increasingly casual with sports watches gaining popularity. “Then,” Terreni says, “there was a moment at the end of the last century, a revolution in the way that men dress. And it was a bit like the ‘Quartz Crisis’ was for the watch industry. You have a sort of Quartz Crisis for menswear.”
As watch enthusiasts know, the Quartz Crisis is the term used by the traditional watch industry for the era which peaked in the 1980s and saw highly affordable, highly accurate, mass-produced quartz watches flood the market and undercut many historic brands. What Terreni means about a “Quartz Crisis for menswear” refers to traditional menswear and tailoring being overtaken. It was replaced by “the new economy, where you start dressing like Silicon Valley entrepreneurs: very casual. You throw away your suit, you wear sneakers … you throw away your watch. Again, it’s sort of in opposition to the establishment.”
In the same way that traditional mechanical watches have rebounded to flourish following the Quartz Crisis, however, Terreni sees the rise of modern sartorialism in the new millennium. “It’s a younger generation that’s bringing back the pleasure of sartorialism today.”
But what exactly does that entail in a contemporary context? “It’s not formal attire: you are probably wearing a suit with a T-shirt, not with a shirt, the tie is gone, you can wear sneakers, so the colors are not severe anymore.” This happens to describe exactly how I was dressed as I spoke with him at the Watches and Wonders 2024 trade show, not that I lay claim to anything like his depth of sartorial perspective.
“And this is a customer who is refined, who is cultivated and is rediscovering the pleasure of certain things, not only in dressing, but also in watches, in cars, in nice wines. You’re not ostentating your branding, you’re not ostentating your wealth, but you’re ostentating your refinement and your personality. When you start to understand that it’s not what others are telling you to like that is cool but, rather, it’s what you like — then, you start to enter into that world of private luxury and personal choice.”
Terreni has described the modern affluent and cultivated consumer in a way perhaps beyond even how they understand their own tastes. But the question remains: “What do you put on this wrist? The answer is: a Toric.”
Credits: Article and images by Zen Love @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/parmigiani-fleurier-toric-2024/