Among higher end Swiss watch brands, few have experienced a greater turnaround, at least on the surface, over the past several years than Parmigiani Fleurier. Parmigiani has always been a brand that knowledgable collectors and enthusiasts have praised and found a great deal of value in, but the brand itself didn’t always seem healthy. Before Guido Terreni took over in 2021, it would have been quite common to find heavily discounted Parmigianis on the gray market – a common symptom of overproducing too many references and not being able to find your core customer. Under Terreni, the brand’s output has been streamlined and everything just seems more thought through. And while I don’t have insight into sales statistics, you certainly don’t see the brand’s current catalog selling for closeout prices on the discount sites, a sign that they’ve got production under control, at the very least.
One of the brand’s biggest gambits has been the exploring the integrated bracelet sports watch market with the Tonda PF collection. Launched at a time when every luxury brand was throwing their hat in the ring in this particular category, Parmigiani has sought to differentiate itself from competitors in the luxury integrated bracelet sports watch world by leaning into the luxury angle, and perhaps a little away from the sport. Inspired by a “sartorial approach” to watch design, the Tonda PF is all about feel, texture, and proportions in a manner similar to a bespoke suit. It allows the brand to focus on their immaculate finishing (including their signature finely knurled bezel) and creating one of the most elegant silhouettes in the category.
The latest entry in the Tonda PF collection is the Micro-Rotor Platinum Stone Blue. Parmigiani has used platinum in the Tonda PF line before, but not in this most straightforward execution of the Tonda PF concept (it was previously reserved for a tourbillon and skeleton dial). The platinum case measures 40mm in diameter and is paired with a matching platinum integrated bracelet with the dramatic taper from lugs to clasp that makes the Tonda PF one of the easiest watches of its kind to wear. That, of course, will be critical in a watch with this platinum.
The dial is stone-blue and sandblasted, which should provide an interesting complement the case and bracelet’s luster. Hands and hour markers are rhodium plated gold, and arranged in the same clean and nearly minimalist way that we’ve become accustomed to with this generation of Parmigiani. The dials, across the collection, are quite spare, and seem designed in such a way to highlight the traditional watchmaking flourishes that make these watches special.
As if to answer critics of the brand’s recent history, Parmigiani is highlighting the Micro-Rotor Platinum Stone Blue’s rarity in their initial marketing materials. The teases on Instagram refer to an “ode to rarity” and “Only 25. Nothing else,” a reference to the total production of this limited edition. With a retail price of $91,400, the number of individual watch collectors who might consider a purchase is certainly quite small regardless, but I think Parmigiani is smart to underline the idea that their watches, if not hard to get, are made in small enough numbers that finding a glut of them on the secondary market is unlikely. Whether it’s fair or not, that’s an understandable concern of anyone considering a watch hovering around the six figure mark.
Like other Tonda PFs, this one runs on the PF703 caliber, a micro-rotor movement that runs for 48 hours on a full wind. It’s very nicely decorated with a mix of hand and machine techniques, and allows the Parmigiani design team to build a truly gorgeous case around it that requires little compromise in terms of overall thickness – this watch measures just 7.8mm tall.
More information on the Micro-Rotor Platinum Stone Blue can be found on the Parmigiani Fleurier website here.
