A watch fit for a King: Which watch did King Charles III wear for his Coronation?
So as you probably know King Charles III was officially crowned on the 6th May 2023, and what a glorious celebration it was. Whilst most people were taking in the celebration, we were too busy wondering “which watch will the King be wearing?”. It’s no secret that the Royal family are big watch collectors (check out our blog where we look at Queen Elizabeth's impressive watch collection), so we were super excited to find out what King Charles was wearing on his big day. Let’s take a look.
The watch he was wearing was, drumroll please… The Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Chronograph. Watch fanatics or Royal family fans will know that this watch has been a favourite in King Charles’s collection for quite a while now. He’s been spotted wearing this gorgeous watch on various occasions such as meeting Barack Obama, at Harry and Meghan’s wedding, and at Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. There is speculation on how the watch came into the kings possession, with some saying it may have been a gift and some saying he bought it himself. Most reports say that it was purchased from a luxury Swiss resort where the Royal family often go on holiday.
Parmigiani Fleurier was only recently founded in 1996 by Michel Parmigiani who was torn as to whether pursue a career in watch-making or architecture. Of course he took up watch making, but his creations are heavily inspired by golden ratio architecture as seen in ancient Greek buildings. The Parmigiani Fleurier Toric Chronograph is no exception to this. The Toric collection got its name from the word ‘torus’ meaning a convex moulding found at the base of a classical column. This would be one reason as to why this watch is one of the kings favourites, as he is known to be a big fan of classical architecture.
The model which the king owns has actually been discontinued for a while but its appearance is undoubtedly timeless. This model is made from 18K yellow gold with a black leather strap. At 39mm in diameter this watch has a gorgeously detailed dial surrounded by a ridged double bezel. The silver dial has a subtle guilloche pattern in the centre, which adds a luxury feel to the watch but doesn’t steal the spotlight from the blue and gold hands, the sub-dials, or the stand-out logo. Fairly large roman numerals are featured around the dial, as well as a date window in an unusual placement between the 1 and 2 o’clock position. The date window is beautifully framed in gold. The watch has a powerful upgraded Zenith E1 Primero automatic movement.
Although this model in particular is discontinued, the Toric collection is still in existence and they retail for around £25,000. Yes, this is very expensive but Parmigiani Fleurier are known to be low-volume producers so their watches are of exquisite detail and are quite rare. A watch fit for a King!
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Clearly our King knows his stuff about watches so it's interesting to see that he doesn't reach for the more well-known flashy brands and instead values intricate craftsmanship. We hope you've enjoyed finding out what the King's watch of choice is & we hope to see you back for our next blog :)