Watches and Wonders 2023 | NEW Parmigiani Watches
We’re so excited to talk you through the incredible Parmigiani timepieces launched at Watches and Wonders 2023. The highly anticipated luxury watch event of the year, these TONDA timepieces are definitely worthy of being showcased loud and proud. With world premier creations, functions dedicated to complex calendars and use of the most luxurious materials, let’s delve into what makes these watches the ultimate must-haves.
Parmigiani TONDA PF Minute Rattrapante
Staying true to the spirit of the brand, Parmigiani Fleurier have launched the TONDA PF Minute Rattrapante - a new world premiere following on from the TONDA PF GMT Rattrapante. Innovating one of the most common watchmaking functions, this incredible timepiece performs the function usually operated by the graduated bezel on a diver’s watch via the movement itself. The result? Simplicity of use, excellent legibility and apparent simplicity right the way through to activating the function.
While the TONDA PF GMT Rattrapante enables a distinction between local and home time in one-hour increments, this new development of the function now serves to display the minutes in five and one-minute increments. Pressing on either pusher will make the rose gold hand jump according to the desired increment; five minutes by the pusher located at 8 o'clock, one minute by the one positioned at 10 o'clock. The period of time to be measured will have elapsed when the rhodium-plated hand has reached the position of the 18ct rose gold hand.
From cooking your favourite dish to remaining game time, this new function enables on-demand fine calibration of the minutes over a specific period of time for any occasion making the minutes count. It’s a timepiece that is very much a complication, yet in the Parmigiani Fleurier spirit.
Parmigiani TONDA PF GMT Rattrapante
Returning in 2023 after a remarkable launch last year, the TONDA PF GMT Rattrapante is the perfect instrument for jet setters juggling time zones - now designed in a beautiful 18ct rose gold. Graced with a Milano blue dial and featuring a finely barleycorn guilloché pattern, the hours and minutes sweep gracefully around the dial yet beneath this traditional watch face lies a complication powering two superimposed hours hands - one in rhodium-plated gold and the other in rose gold.
Pressing the 8 o’clock pusher makes the 18ct rose gold hand (dedicated to local time) perform a one-hour jump, revealing the rhodium-plated gold hand displaying home time. Once the dual-time information is no longer required, pressing the crown-integrated pusher enables the 18ct rose gold hand to resume its place above the rhodium-plated gold hand in the manner of a chronograph split-seconds hand.
The GMT function has been achieved through the integration of a sophisticated and innovative mechanism which gives the user the luxury of choosing to free the dial surface from any time display that is unnecessary at that particular moment. This strips the dial back to bare essentials for instinctive reading and reveals the quality and care lavished on each detail. It truly is a remarkable timepiece.
Cultural Calendars Trilogy Sets:
Parmigiani TONDA PF Gregorian Calendar
For lovers of astronomy, the new TONDA Gregorian Calendar tells the story of Michel Parmigiani's passion for dates, honoured by the Calibre PF339 and specially developed by the Manufacture. Another incredible timepiece from Parmigiani, this timepiece boasts a retrograde Gregorian calendar and a precision moon phase complication together for a watch that’s geared towards the Earth's revolutions around the sun and moon.
The beauty of the Retrograde Gregorian Calendar lies in the fact that wearers need to adjust their watch only once a year. The date automatically adapts to 30 and 31 day months, and even counts 29 days for the month of February whatever the year. This means that once a year – or rather three out of every four years – at the end of February, you have to set the date manually. It will then carry on updating the date automatically for the next 365 days.
The moon phase of this new watch is called a "precision moon" because it requires only one correction every 122 years. This remarkable accuracy involves balancing the classic lunar cycle (29 days and 12 hours) and the real lunar cycle (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds) and displays two depictions of the Moon – viewed from the Earth’s Northern and Southern hemispheres – to match the wearer's geographical location. The moon subdial and moon lozenges in solid rose gold stand out against an aventurine glass sky that evokes the twinkling of a star-filled galaxy. Dreaming of this watch? So are we.
Parmigiani TONDA PF Xiali Calendar
Another calendar and another incredible timepiece. The TONDA PF Xiali Calendar is designed to coincide with the highly complex Chinese calendar - a combination of a solar and a lunar calendar, calculated separately and then synchronised. Sound complex? All you need to know is this calendar serves to keep track of the seasons and to set the Chinese New Year at the arrival of spring, which varies between 21st January and 19th February in our calendar.
The Chinese calendar names the lunar years and numbers the months for a watch that offers the most complete form of the Chinese calendar. With features such as solar terms of the Sun's trajectory seen from the Earth and an indication of the animal and the elements, all the displays are quickly adjustable through the correctors located on the two sides of the case middle.
In order to provide all these functions in classic Chinese characters, the timepiece homes an extremely sophisticated mechanism, covering a 12 year period by means of a cam system. At the end of these 12 years, the watch must be reset for a new equivalent period. During this period, all information is provided without any need for intervention, as long as the watch does not stop. If the watch does stop, corrections are made simply by correcting the day and month number, with a rapid corrector where necessary to facilitate corrections of long periods. This timepiece is truly breathtaking and mesmerising.
Parmigiani TONDA PF Hijri Perpetual Calendar
We’ve been through the Gregorian calendar and the Chinese calendar. Now, Parmigiani Fleurier presents the TONDA PF Hijri Perpetual Calendar - otherwise known as the Islamic calendar. In the Islamic world, the calendar is based on lunar cycles consisting of 12 months of 29 or 30 days (depending on the phase of the moon) and is used to identify Muslim festivals.
This new TONDA PF Hijri Perpetual Calendar has evolved since its first release in 2011 to reflect the Maison’s new aesthetic codes. The case, knurled bezel, dial and bracelet are all crafted in platinum; the bracelet is seamlessly integrated and the sandblasted dial bears solid gold hour-markers, logo and hands.
Under the perfect platinum casing, the movement developed by Parmigiani Fleurier remains identical to that of the model awarded the GPHG prize in 2020. The complete calendar information shows the hours, minutes, date in Arabic numerals, the name and length of the months in Arabic calligraphy, the days of the month and the years. The ninth month is marked in green on the counter at 3 o'clock. It also displays the double moon phase for both Northern and Southern hemispheres. We just can’t get enough of it.
Parmigiani TONDA PF Micro-Rotor
On to the Parmigiani TONDA PF Micro-Rotor. Purity, refined minimalism and discretion have come to characterise the entire TONDA PF collection since its launch in September 2021 and these new models launched at Watches and Wonders 2023 have all been born of this original matrix that established the brand's watchmaking codes and fundamentals.
First we saw a steel version with a platinum bezel, and not too long after there was an 18ct rose gold version. But now, the iconic TONDA PF Micro-Rotor is evolving into an all-platinum case, bracelet and dial version. The platinum doesn’t stop there either. This watch is driven by its ultra-thin 3mm self-winding movement with platinum microrotor, Calibre PF703. Synonymous with comfort, refinement and elegance, most of the overall finishing is done by hand, both for the movement and for the case elements. It’s clear to see this timepiece boasts extraordinary watchmaking craftsmanship.
The displays of the TONDA PF Micro-Rotor are entirely focused on essentials – hours, minutes and date. With its 40mm diameter and sandblasted platinum dial, the TONDA PF Micro-Rotor is capable of multiple transformations in accordance with various metals and colours, while at the same time asserting its undeniable sovereignty. Will you be adding this to your wish-list?!
Parmigiani TONDA PF Flying Tourbillon
Platinum rules once again, in a version combining the precious metal with one of the supreme Haute Horlogerie complications: the Tourbillon. Following on from the 25-piece limited edition presented in 2022, this year's TONDA PF Tourbillon features a special characteristic - its platinum dial appears in a Milano blue shade that is a favourite with Parmigiani Fleurier.
Not only that but thanks to an open-heart feature at 7 o'clock, you have the chance to admire the magic of the perpetual moving regulating organ first hand. Concealed beneath the Milano blue dial, the flying tourbillon movement (with automatic winding via a platinum micro-rotor) is also revealed through the transparent case back.
Designed, produced and assembled by the artisans of the Watchmaking Centre, this 32.6mm Reference PF517 movement is accurate, lastingly reliable and finished to the highest fine watchmaking standards. The TONDA PF Flying Tourbillon belongs to the exclusive circle of iconic timepieces thanks to its finely knurled and polished platinum bezel.
Parmigiani TONDA PF Split Seconds Chronograph
Lastly, but by no means least, is the TONDA PF Split Seconds Chronograph. An 18ct rose gold masterpiece that conceals a world class calibre, this timepiece is dedicated to short-time measurement and allows the wearer to admire the 18ct rose gold movement with a barrel featuring the signature of Michel Parmigiani, who created it to mark the brand’s 20th anniversary.
Split-seconds chronographs represent the best of this complication category. Designed to measure intermediate (split) times, they are equipped with two superimposed chronograph hands. This highly sophisticated function is one of the most difficult complications to create, on a par with a tourbillon or a minute repeater.
The movement of the TONDA Split Second Chronograph is known as a “racing machine” with 309 components, 35 jewels and a 65-hour power reserve. In addition to the chronograph measurement, the dial displays tachymeter and pulsometer scales, while the split-seconds hands adopt different colours, as do the counters appearing slightly above the crown axis. The tenth-of-a-second precision and the challenge of shaping the gold that is such a malleable material are assets that every lover of fine watchmaking will appreciate. Designed to ensure the movement’s longevity and enable it to withstand shocks, this timepiece meets the standards of Haute Horlogerie, which are those of Parmigiani Fleurier.
Interested in the biggest and best luxury watches of the year? Our updates and highlights for Watches and Wonders 2023 have the news on new releases you’ll want to hear about. Keep an eye on our socials @beaverbrooksthejewellers for more Watches and Wonders content.
