Since its founding in 1996, Parmigiani Fleurier, the boutique watchmaking brand based in Switzerland’s Val-de-Travers, has earned a reputation for producing highly complicated timepieces with an enduring commitment to craftsmanship—the same principle that inspired founder Michel Parmigiani, a master watchmaker and restorer from Fleurier, to open a small mechanical watch restoration workshop in the midst of the 1970s quartz crisis.
Parmigiani Tonda Tondagraphe Tourbillon Courtesy of Parmigiani
In its new Tonda Tondagraphe Tourbillon, only the third Tondagraphe to be introduced since the model debuted in 2009, Parmigiani has made aesthetic refinements to the slate-colored dial, which now features Grain de riz (French for grain of rice) guilloché work accented with rose gold plated appliques.
“The decoration of the slate-colored dial is so captivating because it is based on the golden ratio,” says Michel Parmigiani. “Within it, you see Fibonacci’s spirals, reproducing a harmony that is everywhere in nature.”
Parmigiani Tonda Tondagraphe Tourbillon Courtesy of Parmigiani
The brand’s devotion to the golden ratio—a mathematical proportion, equal approximately to 1 to 1.618, that is thought to yield the most pleasing shape—goes back to one of its earliest models, the 1999 Kalpa Hebdomadaire, a tonneau-shaped watch whose volumes were designed according to the golden number.
Parmigiani Tonda Tondagraphe Tourbillon Caseback Courtesy of Parmigiani
Within the new Tondagraphe’s 43 mm 18-karat rose gold case ticks the PF354 hand-wound movement, produced entirely in-house. Comprised of 295 components and equipped with a power reserve of 72 hours, the movement is finished to the same exacting standards that apply to the model’s superficial elements—a sapphire crystal on the caseback offers glimpses of the bevelling of the tourbillon bridge and the circular graining on the barrel.
On the dial side, the tourbillon is visible through an opening at 6 o’clock. At 3 o’clock, a counter displays the minutes of the chronograph, the small seconds display appears at 9 o’clock and the power reserve is displayed at 12 o’clock.
The water-resistant model comes on an Hermès Havana alligator strap with a rose gold pin buckle and retails for $199,000.
