Dubai: For the first time, the conventional watch calendar has been revamped.
Swiss luxury brand Parmigiani Fleurier launched the world’s first wristwatch to use the Hijri calendar, and the event was launched right here in Dubai.
Describing the watch that made “made haute horological history in Dubai”, Davide Traxler, CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier, said the watch's calendar was based on its earlier creations of a table clock that featured the Islamic Lunar Calendar back in 2011, as well as the experience gained from the restoration of a pocket watch from the late 18 century that features an Arabic calendar.
The wristwatch was unveiled earlier this week to an exclusive audience of VIPs, fine watch aficionados, collectors.
The Islamic Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon with the Hijri Year being made up of twelve months of 29 or 30 days, depending on the moon phase. The months of the lunar calendar also change annually by a difference of 10 to 12 days. As a result, each month always falls in a different season and ultimately varies from the Gregorian calendar.
The starting point of Islamic time calculations is the 'Hijri' or journey of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) from Makkah to Medina in Saudi Arabia in the year 622. This makes 622 the first year in the Islamic calendar, Hijri 1.
The Hijri Perpetual Calendar wristwatch is presented as a 44.5 mm timepiece with a platinum case and a slate dial. This new watch shows the hours and minutes in Arabic numerals, the name and length of the months in Arabic calligraphy, as well as the common years. It also features a moon phase in an aventurine sky and a power reserve of up to 48 hours, in addition to a rotor made in platinum.
