Quick, what comes to mind when you think of the brand Parmigiani Fleurier? First of all, if you’re familiar with the company, congratulations — you’re one of the knowledgeable minority. Despite producing fine watches for a quarter of a century (thanks to the expertise and experience of master watchmaker and brand founder Michel Parmigiani), the company remains very much a connoisseur’s brand. Watch designs are predominantly classic, with the exception of examples such as the brand’s previous collaborations with Bugatti, which ventured far into the avant-garde realm. The refined mechanics featured in Parmigiani Fleurier watches ranged from high complications such as minute repeaters to novel functions such as the Hijri perpetual calendar and creative displays as seen in the telescoping hands of the Ovale Pantographe.
With the addition of Guido Terrini to the management team, taking on the daunting role of CEO during a particularly sensitive economic period worldwide, Parmigiani are launching a new interpretation of their all-time best-selling Tonda collection. This new sub-identity of the Tonda, called the Tonda PF, represents a distillation of Parmigiani Fleurier’s aesthetic codes, resulting in a balance of understated elegance and luxury detailing.
The launch models of the Tonda PF comprise an automatic-winding (micro-rotor) time-and-date watch, a three-counter chronograph, an annual calendar and — at the pinnacle of the new releases — a beautiful split-seconds chronograph.
What all the models of the Tonda PF have in common are a reworked case that combines fluid curves with sharp angles, conveying a sense of agile grace, completely in line with the Tonda PF’s aim of opening doors to a slightly different type of audience from those attracted by the existing steady Parmigiani classics. The Parmigiani Fleurier logo vanished, replaced by the oval PF cartouche — a minimalist statement of confident brand identity. The signature grain d’orge hand-guilloché pattern was reduced in scale for the dial, providing only the subtlest texture and play of light. The grey dials of the automatic time-and-date and annual calendar models deviated from the cool slate hues of other models in the Parmigiani Fleurier product range, with the slightest hint of warm maroon introduced into the mix, inviting the eye to linger.
Although all the movements of Parmigiani Fleurier are a visual delight, the rattrapante movement inhabiting the Tonda PF Split Seconds Chronograph is on another level entirely. Openworked bridges with sharp internal angles finished by hand, exposed column wheels and rattrapante clamps allowing an unhindered view of the split-seconds mechanism, polished screw countersinks… The Tonda PF watches may largely choose purity of execution over an excess of details, but the Split Seconds Chronograph retains a large measure of horological exuberance in its movement.
