1950 was the year Michel Parmigiani was born. The name of the Tonda 1950 is a tribute to Parmigiani Fleurier’s founder, while its aesthetics are a return to the brand’s fundamental visual identity, which it highlights with its pure lines. This ultra-thin steel watch is designed for …
1950 was the year Michel Parmigiani was born. The name of the Tonda 1950 is a tribute to Parmigiani Fleurier’s founder, while its design marks a return to the brand’s fundamental visual identity, which it highlights with its pure lines. This ultra-thin rose gold watch is designed for men looking for elegance and a touch of distinction.
The Parmigiani Tonda 1950 is cased in stainless steel and measures 7.97 mm in thickness and 39 mm in diameter. Thanks to the slim 2.6 mm micro-rotor movement, the Parmigiani is comfortably sized for a dress watch. Easily recognized is its iconic lugs design, which can be interpreted as a cross between a cow horn and tear drop lugs.
The Superb Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda 1950, Now In Steel. If you read Monochrome on a regular basis, you should know that the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda 1950 is a favorite of ours. Reasons are simple: it is a superb watch, with a great design, both elegant and slightly original (it sets apart from the masses of dress watches, without being too original) and it features a great, technical and hand …
Entirely new for 2020 is the Parmigiani Tonda GT and Tondagraph GT, two of the brand’s most casual and everyday wearable pieces to date. These leisure watches (a term I find increasingly appropriate) also debut a new integrated bracelet by Parmigiani, as well as a rubber strap option. I got to go hands-on with the black dial Tonda GT in steel here, but it is also available in gold with a blue dial. There are two inaugural models in the collection, the time and date Tonda GT and the steel Tondagraph GT with annual calendar and chronograph. The Tonda GT in steel will be limited to 250 pieces, the Tonda GT in gold will be limited to 150 pieces, and the Tondagraph GT will only be available in steel and limited to 200 pieces.
I will have a longer hands-on article about the Tondagraph GT very soon this week, so this article is going to focus on the Tonda GT. Briefly, the Tondagraph GT offers an impressive annual calendar/chronograph complication housed in a new 42mm-wide/13.7mm-thick case with a 100M water resistance. The orange touches on the Tondagraph GT seem to throw a welcome splash of color to the dial, which has the same guilloché “clou triangulaire” pattern. What’s most intriguing about the Tondagraph GT is the $19,500 price for an annual calendar/chronograph, and I’ll give my full hands-on impressions of it very soon. (Price is $19,500 on the integrated bracelet, rubber strap is $18,500).
The Tonda GT case is inspired by the Tonda Chronor, though there are adjustments to the lugs, which retain that teardrop shape while allowing for the new integrated bracelet. First off, it’s so comfortable on the wrist, with the links cascading naturally from Michel Parmigiani’s recognizable teardrop lugs. The center links alternate between larger polished and smaller brushed segments, while the end-links are impressively finished with both brushing and polishing. The double-folding clasp is nice and secure, rounding out a very well done bracelet that shines as a piece of “functional jewelry” in the words of https://www.vipwatchmall.com founder Ariel Adams.
While pointing out steel luxury sports watches with integrated bracelets has become a bit of a tired trope, at this point, it should be noted that this isn’t Parmigiani’s first. The aforementioned Metrographe had an integrated steel and titanium bracelet, though the flair of its “lobster” styling may have been a bit too much for some. The Nautilus and Royal Oak bracelets are admittedly impressive and, perhaps more importantly, influential. That said, having worn and spent time with pieces like the A. Lange & Söhne Odysseus, H. Moser & Cie Streamliner, and this Parmigiani Tonda GT, it’s clear that the big names have nothing close to a monopoly on top-tier bracelets.
Still, one does not simply integrate a bracelet and deem it a success. A truly successful bracelet must exceed the sum of individual parts and enhance the watch as a whole. Parmigiani largely succeeds here in creating a bracelet with a seamless sense of continuity with the case, such that it verges on symbiosis. Yes, it’s a bit elaborate, but this is Parmigiani we are talking about. They are not interested in the minimalist route, and the Tonda GT bracelet is all Parmigiani. What would I change? Honestly, not a lot. As nice as the double-folding clasp is, I do think Lange’s Odysseus picked relatively low-hanging fruit by offering a precision adjustment mechanism that allows for up to 7mm of size adjustment without having to take the watch off the wrist. I’d love to see some version of this function in future bracelets from Parmigiani.