PRESS RELEASE: Parmigiani Fleurier - new World Rowing Partner

Founded in 1996 by Michel Parmigiani the brand has achieved a fully vertical and independent manufacturing potential in little over a decade. With state of art industrial quality, incomparable watchmaking knowhow and complete independence in terms of production and creativity, Parmigiani Fleurier has the means to live a watchmaker’s dream to its fullest.

A common philosophy lies at the basis of the partnership between World Rowing and Parmigiani Fleurier. Precision, coordination and elegance are similar qualities that are needed both in the sport of rowing and in the craftsmanship of unique precision timepieces.

As a traditional sport, rowing values the spirit of fairness of the athletes above their individual performances. This is a philosophy that Parmigiani Fleurier also feels very close to: “As a restoration brand by essence, we treasure our watchmaking heritage beyond anything,” says Jean-Marc Jacot, CEO of Parmigiani Fleurier SA. “Before being a timepiece creator and manufacturer, Parmigiani Fleurier looks upon itself as safeguarding a tradition and carrying out the knowledge of our fathers.”

Parmigiani Fleurier wishes to join World Rowing in supporting all young rowing scholars around the world by introducing the Parmigiani Spirit Award. This is an award destined for a university rower (regardless of his or her performance level), who has achieved or enabled exceptional successes in different areas of their life. It might be business, education, sports or charity, as long as that rower has displayed the above mentioned exemplary life-values. The selection process will be opened for on-line recommendations on www.worldrowing.com, followed by an evaluation by an expert panel to select the winner.

The winning university rower will be awarded a Parmigiani Fleurier timepiece and that rower’s club will be presented with a new eight boat to enable the club to introduce more students to the sport of rowing.

“We are very proud to be associated with such a display of exemplary life values; academic and physical perseverance, precision, teamwork and fair play, to name a few.  We are both respecting long traditions that will continue to be passed to future generations,” says Jean-Marc Jacot.

Parmigiani Fleurier is also an Official Sponsor of the2012 City Sprints regatta which will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, on Saturday 29 September. The regatta will showcase Olympic and university rowers in the men’s and women’s single sculls, the men’s quadruple sculls and the lightweight men’s four as well as in the men’s and women’s eights over a distance of 450m. The race will be held on the Limmat River, which flows out of Lake Zurich, between the bridges “Quaibrücke” and “Rathausbrücke”.  

“We are very proud to have Parmigiani Fleurier as a partner,” says FISA President Denis Oswald. “The sport of rowing is a sport in which the athletes must be precise and perfectly coordinated in order to achieve elegance in their technique. We are very pleased that Parmigiani Fleurier have recognised that their clients value these same qualities, and that the sport of rowing offers a means to communicate these shared values in a very credible way.”

More details will follow shortly about the award and who is eligible to receive it on our website. Stay tuned!