The Maison presents the world premiere of its Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, in which horological complication meets simplicity and purism. Parmigiani Fleurier is rewriting watchmaking tradition on its quest for purism combined with innovation – as reflected in the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, a refined world-first combining discreet complexity with immediate user-friendliness.
This new model embodies the spirit of the brand, which renounces ostentation in order to focus on intelligent design, volumes and proportions, details driven to extremes, along with exclusivity and innovation. It epitomises a sartorial approach that speaks to a circle of connoisseurs and initiates with an established watchmaking culture. It is part of a long line of world premieres that have punctuated the brand’s history since 2003.
Alongside the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, Parmigiani Fleurier presents four more sophisticated high-flying novelties: the Tonda PF Skeleton; the Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon; and on a sportier note, the Tonda GT Chronograph in Big Date and Annual Calendar versions. The common denominators are a knurled bezel, a discreet yet strong visual and identity signature ensuring the stylistic and iconic coherence of the collection, along with teardrop-shaped lugs that extend the case and the spacious and uncrowded dial accentuated by the Grain d’Orge guilloché pattern.
This understated creativity follows a particular direction: the quest for essentials, materialised last September with the introduction of the Tonda PF. The integration of a meticulously finished metal bracelet into the case; the dynamism of a design inspired by the golden ratio; as well as the presence of dials featuring refined minimalism: this wealth of visual detail celebrates beauty in all its horological facets.
Parmigiani Fleurier’s rapid adaptation to this new style vocabulary was made possible by a vertically integrated industrial structure enabling the brand to master the full range of high-end watchmaking expertise. This is reflected in the new timepieces introduced at Watches and Wonders, intended for devotees of the exceptional, for connoisseurs with no interest in mainstream products.
The language of Parmigiani Fleurier? Rare, meaningful, and imbued with rich cultural added value in terms of both form and content.
Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante – A World Premiere
The Tonda PF collection launched in September 2021 has redrawn the lines of watchmaking purism. At Watches and Wonders 2022, it is enriched by a timepiece equipped with a complication offered as a world premiere: the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante. In keeping with the minimalist character of the collection, it features an innovative yet simple-to-use mechanism that preserves its understated nature.
This complication features two superimposed hour hands: one in rhodium-plated gold and the other in rose gold. Pressing the pusher at 8 o’clock causes the upper rhodium-plated gold hand dedicated to local time to jump one hour forward, thereby revealing the rose gold hand which displays time in the wearer’s place of residence, known as “home time”.
Once the second time zone information is no longer required, pressing the crown-integrated rose gold pushbutton repositions the rhodium-plated hand on top of the rose gold hand in the same manner as a split-seconds chronograph hand. This makes it an extremely user-friendly complication entirely in keeping with the brand spirit. The Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, a watch for globetrotters who travel between time zones, and an instrument for connecting people across distances.
The eye can then glide over the fine barleycorn guilloché pattern of the dial, featuring a subtle “Milano Blue” shade. It can be carried away by the refined visual effect of the guilloché work surrounded by the sandblasted minutes track. The angle taken by the light draws the gaze out from the centre towards the rim. Such light effects serve to highlight the interaction between the shiny and matt surfaces of the finely knurled single-piece platinum bezel.
Tonda PF Skeleton – Mechanical Purity
The art of the skeleton watch remains a delicate exercise, as illustrated by the two new Tonda PF Skeleton watches in 18ct rose gold and steel/platinum. They reflect the spirit driving the Maison when it comes to watchmaking creativity, guided by a careful thought process overriding any other considerations: purity and restraint reign supreme, while the smallest details are explored in depth until the perfection of volumes, aesthetics and added value form a pleasing whole.
Skeletonization generally consists of opening up the movement as much as possible in order to offer the eye a visual perspective through which to gaze. Parmigiani Fleurier takes a different approach: the artistic openworking of the Tonda PF Skeleton must reveal the organic life of the movement and its architecture while preserving its balance and volume.
The artisans have made the most of the solid parts and used the voids to allow light to pour into the very heart of the PF777 calibre. This meticulously hand-chamfered latticework draws the purist’s eye in order to grasp some of the mysteries of its kinematics.
The Tonda PF Skeleton’s understated elegance underlines Parmigiani Fleurier’s attachment to the finest watchmaking traditions, revisited in a very contemporary overall approach. The restrained and quintessential architecture highlights the knurled and polished bezel that beautifully catches the light and the gaze, as well as the supple, smooth-flowing bracelet design.
The fundamentally pared-down Tonda PF Skeleton is in essence for individuals whose vision of watchmaking perfection confers on them the status of purists with a keen sense of style and refinement.
Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon – The Peak of Discretion
A complication reinterpreted in keeping with the spirit of the brand: the Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon plays on paradoxes, embodying a highly sophisticated complication paired with the greatest aesthetic simplicity and refinement. With its pure lines, this creation transcends the stylistic vision of Parmigiani Fleurier and its approach pervaded by discreet yet strong added value.
The new model is noble in both material and spirit, providing an undeniably authentic expression of the brand’s identity in its all-platinum interpretation with a sandblasted full platinum 950 case and dial. Concealed beneath the precious metal is the calibre PF517 developed within the watchmaking division, a flying tourbillon with automatic winding via a platinum micro-rotor.
The subtle overall effect is magnified by the light that highlights its monochromatic casing. It contributes to the design of an initiatory journey that guides the gaze to the organic movement of the watch, the circular dial opening that reveals the rotating flying tourbillon carriage. The front face of the timepiece displays essentials only, with no trace of anything superfluous.
Clad in its platinum armour and secured to the wrist by a minimalist platinum bracelet, this ideally proportioned 42 mm diameter watch is fitted with a screwed-in crown guaranteeing water-resistance to 100 metres. Its sapphire crystal caseback reveals some of the 207 parts composing its mechanical self-winding calibre.
Elegant and sleek at just 8.6 mm thick, the Tonda PF Flying Tourbillon reflects the spirit of the Maison’s 25th anniversary as a full platinum limited edition following suit to the Tonda PF Split-Seconds Chronograph launched in September 2021. Its status within the select circle of iconic timepieces is accentuated by its immediately identifiable finely knurled and polished platinum bezel.
A signature in the form of a rare, discreet and powerful expression of luxury for this exclusive creation, which is issued in a 25-piece limited edition.
Tonda GT Chronograph – A Sporty Quintessence of Chromatic Subtlety
The Tonda GT Chronograph returns to the forefront with functions and colours that lend it a sporty tone while remaining in the realm of complications. It appears in two versions: 18ct rose gold with chronograph and big date functions; and steel with chronograph and annual calendar functions.
Just as in architecture, the golden ratio dictates the ideal proportions and requires watchmakers to constantly reinvent the volumes and positioning of the elements composing a timepiece. This is the condition that ensures that creations remain just as desirable over time as on the first day of their appearance. In both cases, the colour choices for the chronograph counters in Quantum Grey or Granata lend them a discreet yet very distinctive presence on the generous dial offering exemplary balance in the display of the functions.
The Tonda GT Chronograph with its substantial 42 mm diameter case in 18ct rose gold houses an integrated self-winding chronograph calibre operating at a rate of 5 Hertz, i.e. 36,000 vibrations per hour, beneath the silver-toned guilloché dial with its “triangular hobnail” motif. Short-time measurements are read off on the “Quantum Grey” or “Granata” subdials, judiciously positioned to structure the space harmoniously arranged and nicely balanced by the big date display appearing in a twin aperture at 12 o’clock.
This extremely accomplished chronograph, water-resistant to 100 metres and equipped with the distinctive finely knurled and polished bezel, is fitted with a deep red or grey rubber strap matching the colour of the subdials and secured by an 18ct rose gold folding clasp.
In both the rose gold and steel versions of the Tonda GT Chronograph, the intangible values prevailing at Parmigiani Fleurier give absolute priority to beauty. Above and beyond the functions, colour combinations and the type of watch exterior, the Tonda GT Chronograph skilfully reaffirms the credo guiding Parmigiani Fleurier in the details of execution that transform a sporty-spirited watch into a sophisticated Haute Horlogerie creation.
About PARMIGIANI FLEURIER
Parmigiani Fleurier was founded in 1996 by master watchmaker and legendary timepieces restorer Michel Parmigiani on the quest of perpetuating mechanical art. A wholly independent and integrated Swiss Haute Horlogerie brand, it is rooted in the observation of nature and proficiency in traditional watchmaking. With a sartorial approach to design, craftsmanship, manufacturing and exquisite finishings, it pursues an ideal balance between aesthetics and function, proportions and impression. Parmigiani Fleurier conveys understated elegance and discrete luxury, while catering to watch purists seeking mastery in craft, true refinement and rarity. A select crowd of enthusiasts who fully appreciate the hedonistic pleasure provided by a finely crafted Parmigiani Fleurier timepiece.
