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 timezone 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 splitseconds 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.
Instinctive Reading
This flyback function that is unique within the profession is achieved through the integration of a sophisticated mechanism. Operating this intuitive complication enables purists to free the dial surface from an additional time display when it is not necessary. This action reduces the amount of information down to the essentials, encourages instinctive reading and helps reveal the quality and care lavished on each and every detail.
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.
“In watchmaking there is a permanent tension between aesthetic and technique, as if there are two separate worlds that must coexist. This is even reflected in the word used to describe the components conveying the design of a timepiece, the watch exterior elements collectively referred to in French as “habillage”, meaning “that which attires the movement”. To me, the way you develop a complication has incredible implications on the mood of the watch and hence on its design. The world-first Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante pushes the boundaries of watchmaking, reinventing one of the most coveted and useful functions and embodying Parmigiani Fleurier’s discreet, unostentatious spirit through uncompromising technical choices.” Guido Terreni, CEO Parmigiani Fleurier
Great Formal Simplicity, for Aesthetes
Just as a tailor works on the folds formed by the drape of a fabric, Parmigiani Fleurier uses its sartorial approach to watchmaking to endow the silhouette of the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante with a distinctive structure. The elegance of a quintessentially architectural collection is revealed and the defining lines symbolising this power start from the edge of the lugs on the steel case-middle, extending to the centre of the bracelet side-links in a barely perceptible dynamic.
This subtle underlying detail serves the role of a “secret signature” on this watch distinguished by impressive formal simplicity. A model that its creators have clearly designed to live in total symbiosis with the aesthete who adopts it.
Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante
Product Technical Specifications
Ref: PFC905-1020001-100182
RSP: 26,000 CHF
Functions: hours, minutes, split GMT
CALIBRE
PF051 – AUTOMATIC WINDING MANUFACTURE MOVEMENT
WITH SPLIT GMT FUNCTION AND ROSE GOLD MICRO-ROTOR
Power reserve: 48 hours
Frequency: 21,600 Vph (3 Hz)
Jewels: 31
No. of components: 207
Diameter: 30 mm
Thickness: 4.9 mm
Decoration: Côtes de Genève, Perlage
Oscillating weight: 22ct rose gold micro-rotor, Grain d’Orge guilloché
CASE
Polished and satin-finished stainless steel with platinum 950 knurled bezel
Diameter: 40 mm
Thickness: 10.7 mm
Crown: Ø 5.5 mm with 18ct rose gold “back-home” pusher
Glass: ARunic anti-reflective sapphire
Case back: sapphire glass
Engraving on case back: serial number – “PARMIGIANI FLEURIER”
Water resistance: 60m
DIAL
Color: Milano Blue
Finishing: Grain d’Orge guilloché
Indices: hand-applied 18ct gold rhodium-plated appliques
HANDS
Local time hours and minutes: 18ct gold rhodium-plated skeletonized delta-shaped
Home time hours: 18ct rose gold skeletonized delta-shaped
BRACELET
Polished and satin-finished stainless steel bracelet
Closure: stainless steel folding clasp
