Among the brands at Watches and Wonders 2025 was Parmigiani Fleurier, a relatively new actor by watch industry standards. Founded in 1996, the brand has shown us once again that newer brands should never be underestimated. Parmigiani Fleurier’s new models won us over with both their external and internal values. We saw beautifully crafted dials and the finest materials combined with complex mechanics – but what really excited us was the clarity the new watches bring.
Parmigiani Fleurier: Historical Background
The fact that the brand, despite its relatively new existence, can draw on a significant wealth of historical experience and a network of its own suppliers is due to two people/families: Firstly, there is Michel Parmigiani, the namesake of the brand, who made a name for himself as a restorer of complicated mechanical watches and automata. The second is Pierre Landolt, then president of the Sandoz Foundation, which is backed by the assets of the Sandoz family. In the 1980s, Parmigiani was commissioned to take care of the maintenance and preservation of the Maurice-Yves Sandoz collection, which was to be the nucleus for the creation of a watchmaking microcosm. This cooperation gave rise to the desire to enter the business with new, proprietary timepieces. Parmigiani had the expertise and the Sandoz Foundation the financial means. By taking over local suppliers, the brand was quickly vertically integrated. In addition to providing movements for its own brand, the company’s movement manufacturer Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier also serves third-party manufacturers, primarily in the high-price segment. The individual and rather conservative designs of their early years – for example, tonneau cases with fluting – referenced ancient architecture, but also design features of historical Breguet timepieces. While the craftsmanship of the timepieces was rarely questioned and the brand enjoyed a good reputation among collectors, from a financial perspective, the brand never managed to join the ranks of Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and others. It is said to have only reached the profit zone in 2022. The Tonda PF collection was probably the decisive factor here, which can be described as a liberating blow not only in terms of design but also economically for the financially battered brand. So if Parmigiani Fleurier still makes you think of designs that take some getting used to, you should take a look at the brand’s current portfolio. Thanks to movements from their own corporate group – which are not only technically up to date, but also attractively finished and packaged – there are few excuses not to give Parmigiani the attention it deserves.
Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante Verzasca and Tonda PF Chronograph
What better place to start than with a watch from the Tonda PF collection, which has had a decisive influence on Parmigiani Fleurier’s image and sales in recent years. The name already reveals the complications offered by the caliber PF051. “Verzasca”, however, does not refer to a function but to a Swiss valley in the canton of Ticino, whose emerald-green waters the dial is intended to evoke. The caliber PF051 made its debut in the first Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante back in 2022. As is typical for the brand, the movement is equipped with a microrotor, a Vaucher Fleurier specialty – and a detail that is appreciated by enthusiasts for its rarity and the unobstructed view of the back of the movement. “GMT Rattrapante” does not refer to a world time function and a split-seconds chronograph, as one might expect, but a genuine world time function with an integrated rattrapante mechanism. The “real” world time function differs from the less luxurious variant in that the hour hand can be adjusted in discreet steps of one hour at a time using a pusher, which is helpful for quick and precise time zone changes. The rattrapante function of this world clock allows one of the hour hands to jump exactly to the position of the other hour hand by pressing a button on the crown of the clock – for example, at the end of a journey. With the two hour hands overlapping, the Verzasca now appears as an elegant two-hand watch with uniformly rhodanized hands. The now concealed home time hand is in rose gold, as is the pusher in the crown, which makes it stand out in color from the rest of the hands when the GMT function is active. With a frequency of three hertz and a 48-hour power reserve, the PF051 caliber does not shine with performance superlatives, but makes up for it with appropriate refinements. Finally, the case with a fluted bezel and the integrated steel bracelet with contrasting brushed and polished surfaces provide the movement with an attractive housing. By deliberately omitting a seconds hand and with the curious GMT rattrapante complication, Parmigiani has succeeded in delivering a world time watch with maximum tidiness and an innovative movement that skillfully hides its complexity until the wearer wants to reveal it.
Although it lacks a rattrapante function, the Tonda PF Chronograph has also been updated with a fully integrated, high-frequency (5 Hertz) chronograph movement from Vaucher. At 40 mm, the case has more contemporary dimensions compared to the previously available 42 mm, and the date window has been removed.
Toric Quantieme Perpetuel Platinum Morning Blue
The Toric collection has existed since the Parmigiani Fleurier brand was founded. The Toric QP Retrograde was the first model that could be purchased starting in 1996. The refreshed Toric collection, as marketed by Parmigiani today, represents the more conservative, elegant-looking collection of pure dress watches compared with the more sporty, modern Tonda PF collection. The Toric Quantieme Perpetuel also features the typical Parmigiani fluted bezel, but that’s where the similarities with the Tonda PF end. In addition to the more classic design language of the dial (which the perpetual calendar prevents from being minimalist but is nevertheless tidy), the movement in particular shows that the company is traveling in higher spheres here. With its double barrel (60-hour power reserve at four hertz) and the diamond pattern on the plates, named “Côtes des Fleurier” in reference to the Geneva stripes, it appears less sober and of higher quality than the Tonda PF. You also have to dig roughly three times deeper into your pocket to secure this major complication. To display the rich information of a perpetual calendar – day, date, month, and leap year display – Parmigiani uses two subdials with concentric hands of different lengths, which ensures that the dial remains symmetrical and is not overloaded with additional windows.
Tonda PF Skeleton Platinum Slate Green
The Tonda PF Skeleton, which stands out stylistically in Parmigiani’s portfolio – even within the Tonda collection – was given a limited edition “Platinum Slate Green” for Watches and Wonders. The skeletonized automatic movement PF777 is a modern interpretation of skeletonization, i.e. it is a design conceived from the outset with recesses. This means that the final product is not painstakingly sawed by hand from a basic movement. Despite this fact, angling and surface finishing are not neglected and the modern interpretation of this traditional art meshes much better with the sporty DNA of the Tonda PF than would be the case with the skeletons of yesteryear.
