Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Hands-On – Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Metrographe Limited Edition Montreux Jazz Festival
Parmigiani Fleurier celebrates a decade-long partnership with the Montreux Jazz Festival with a Tonda Metrographe limited edition – a watch that we introduced to you a few weeks ago. Today, right during the Festival, we had the chance to go hands-on with this bold, yet elegantly shaped chronograph, with a specific dial for this limited edition.
Celebrating its 51st edition this year, the legendary Montreux Jazz is without doubt one of the world’s greatest music festivals. Originally a pure Jazz festival, Montreux can look back on hosting some of the greatest artists of the past 50 years. In 1967, a fire broke out during Frank Zappa’s concert, inspiring the famous Deep Purple riff ‘Smoke on the water’.
In 2017, George Benson, Herbie Hancock, Lauryn Hill, Pet Shop Boys, Grace Jones, Macy Gray, Erykah Badu, London Grammar, Youssou N’Dour, and Tom Jones are just some of the artists to perform… For the last 10 years, Parmigiani Fleurier has been a key sponsor of the Montreux Jazz Festival. This year, the Manufacture is releasing a sober, elegant limited edition Tonda Metrographe to celebrate this milestone.
The limited edition is based on the tasteful facelift of the collection that was presented in late 2016 (read our review here). The design is inspired by the poster of the 2017 festival. The black dial with a contrasting white date window echoes the black and white representation of women dancing, created specially by graphic designer Malika Favre for the 51st edition of the Festival.
The Tonda Metrograph case is truly distinctive: elegant, reserved but with a slight twist, evident in the asymmetrical case design. It features tear-drop lugs on the left of the case while the chronograph pushers are integrated into the lugs on the right side. 40mm in diameter, the case feels slightly bigger and it wears comfortably on the wrist thanks to the gentle curve of the lugs. This limited edition comes in fully polished steel and the display case back is engraved with the caption ‘Montreux Jazz festival – 51ème edition – edition limitée x/10’.
The dial layout is the one that was introduced in late 2016. It features revised counter proportions, a double-handed small-second indication and a tachometer. The black oxidized finish is highlighted with subtle orange accents. The faceted, luminescent hour markers are paired with elegant alpha type hands. The difference with the regular production piece is the contrasting date indication rendered in white at 12 o’clock.
The Tonda Metrographe is powered by the calibre PF350, a modular (Dubois-Depraz) chronograph based on the in-house PF331 calibre. This twin-barrel automatic movement runs at 28’800 vibrations per hour and has a 42-hour power reserve. As always with Parmigiani Fleurier, the beautiful finish is evident with one glance at the sapphire case back. The bridges are nicely chamfered and feature Geneva stripes radiating from the balance wheel. The open-worked rotor is engraved with the brand’s logo.
The Tonda Metrographe Montreux Jazz Festival 2017 is worn on a superb soft calfskin strap secured by a folding buckle. For more information, please visit www.parmigianifleurier.com and www.montreuxjazzfestival.com.
Technical specifications – Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Metrographe Montreux Jazz Festival 2017
- Case: 40mm x 11.7mm – steel – sapphire crystal with antireflective treatment, sapphire case-back – water resistant to 30m.
- Movement: PF315 mechanical with automatic winding – Ø 28 mm – thickness 6.07 mm – 42h power reserve – 46 jewels – 28’800 vibrations/h – hours, minutes, small seconds, date and chronograph – 351 parts.
- Strap: Brown or black calfskin with folding buckle
- Reference: PFS274-0001408-XC1442
- Limited edition of 10 pieces
- Price: approx. CHF 12,000
