Parmigiani Tonda Quantième Annual Retrograde

21/03/2012 | By Frank Geelen | 3 min read |

Due to the short period between this year’s SIHH and Baselworld, there are still several watches that were released in Geneva, that I love to share with you. One of them is Parmigiani’s new Tonda Quantième Annual Retrograde.

The Tonda Annual Calendar (English for Quantième Annual) uses caliber PF339, the 17th movement developed in-house by Parmigiani Fleurier. Michael Parmigiani, as chief watchmaker, is responsible for the development of so many beautiful movements.

When I first saw this rendered image of the new Tonda Annual Calendar I really didn’t know what to think of it. Maybe it’s hard to judge from such a rendered image? Parmigiani showed us this year’s novelties during a dinner with journalists and collectors. When I saw it ‘in the metal’ I was persuaded. Next to me was Alexander Friedman of Watchonista, who had fallen in love with the rose gold version with charcoal grey dial and tried to convince me that it was the most beautiful one. I had fallen for the white gold version (also with a charcoal grey dial) and was trying hard to convince him that this was the one to buy.

Sorry for the crappy iPhone photo, but it’s the only photo I have showing both versions on our wrists. My personal choice has always been white metals, however in this case the rose gold version looks so beautiful that I’m very tempted.

All models of the Tonda collection have a timeless round case with very recognizable lugs. The lugs add something visually that makes the watch a little more present on the wrist, than one would expect from its diameter of 40 mm. Its diameter makes it an average sized watch, very comfortable, which is emphasized by its height of 11.2 mm. The lugs not only add that specific look and some more visual presence, but they keep the strap very close to the case. Because of the short lugs, the watch wears slightly smaller, something which always happens when lugs are relatively short.

This is the first Annual Calendar complication from Parmigiani. The development of this new complication is based on the brands PF 331 automatic movement, with the incorporation of a new additional Parmigiani module, creating the PF 339 Annual Calendar.

The partical thing about this annual calendar is that it only needs adjusting in a non-leap year. It automatically accounts for the variation in the number of days in each month. Only one manual correction needs be made each year, (for the month of February in non-leap years). In a leap year, the date will display the 29 February and will automatically move to the 1 March the following day.

The calendar indicator is a retrograde hand, meaning it instantly jumps back to 1 after the last day of the month (with the exception as stated above of course).

The day of the week is positioned at 9 o’clock and the month, shown as a number from 1 to 12, is at 3 o’clock. At 6 o’clock is a moon phase indicator, which needs one correction every 120 years. It offers two indications for the moon; one for the Northern hemisphere and one for the Southern hemisphere.

Again Parmigiani created a magnificently beautiful movement, hand finished, and with a gold oscillating weight (=rotor).

A big thanx to Malik Bahri from Watchonista for letting me use two of his photos. Let’s end with the specifications:

Case

Round 3 piece case – diameter: 40 mm – height: 11.2 mm – finish: Polished
Water resistance: 30 meters
Antiglare treated sapphire crystal
Caseback with sapphire crystal
Individual number engraved on the caseback

The Parmigiani Tonda Annual Calendar is available in white gold and rose gold and with two choices for the dial: silver or charcoal grey. The silver dials features a delicate grained decoration with a silvered opaline ring, while the black dial features a barley grain in the centre and a black opaline ring. Totally matching with its class, Parmigiani choose to deliver it on a Hermès alligator strap.

More information can be found at the Parmigiani website or on their official Facebook page.