As Watches & Wonders approaches, I find myself thinking back to last year’s fair and the various high and lowlights from that crop of releases. I’ve commented before about a pretty big highlight of last year’s show being Parmigiani Fleurier’s output, particularly their very strong Toric perpetual calendar. This is one of those watches that I rarely go a week without thinking about, like the woman in the white dress that Bernstein remembers from the ferry in Citizen Kane.
Anyway, Parmigiani is always a fun meeting at Watches & Wonders and my expectations are high after last year. In what I imagine will be their last release before the show next month, the brand has just introduced a new pink colorway to the Tonda PF line in 36mm. I’m not sure if we can consider this a preview of things to come (honestly, we probably can’t) but it’s a strong release nonetheless further bolsters the Tonda PF platform as an important player in the integrated bracelet sports watch landscape.
The new Tonda PF Automatic 36mm Alta Rosa brings a lighter dial color to the steel version of the 36mm Tonda PF for the first time – previously this watch had been available in blue and two shades of gray. Pink dials of course are often associated with watches targeted toward a female clientele, but hopefully the greater watch collecting community has moved beyond these types of prohibitive norms around gender and watch preferences. This is a really attractive color that can be worn by anyone, I think, if they happen to like it, and it’s notably more subdued than an electric, loud pink that you might normally associate with the color. Parmigiani does a lot of great work with color, expertly using earth tones and pastels to create dials that feel like they could have been inspired by Renaissance art. It’s worth noting that there’s real craft on display with this dial – the barleycorn guilloche pattern is applied by hand the old fashioned way, via engine turning machines.
I also think 36mm is the “correct” size for the Tonda PF. Unlike other watches in the integrated bracelet sports watch category, the Tonda PF really leans toward a formal look. And while it has 100 meters of water resistance, I think the aesthetic reads much more “dress watch” than sports. That’s largely thanks to the intricate finishing of the case and bracelet, which hews closely to the brand’s roots in a more classic and controlled style, and has flourishes like a knurled platinum bezel. At 40mm, the Tonda PF feels like it’s trying to straddle two competing genres, but it feels at home in a smaller size.
Powering the Tonda PF Automatic 36mm Alta Rosa is Parmigiani’s PF770 caliber, an automatic movement with 60 hours of power reserve. As you’d expect it’s very well finished, and includes a skeletonized gold rotor as well as Geneva stripes and beveled edges. It measures just 3.9mm thick, which allows for the correspondingly thin case at just 8.6mm.
The retail price of the Tonda PF Automatic 36mm Alta Rosa is $25,800. That is, obviously, not an inexpensive watch by any means. But comparing it to similar watches from brands like Audemars Piguet reveals, I think, a certain value in this particular category, which is admittedly a bit inflated and has been for some time. More information can be found on the Parmigiani website here.
Zach Kazan
2026-03-11 16:00:00