Hands-On: The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Automatic 36mm Is A Masterclass In Unisex-Friendly Proportionality

When it comes down to my personal watch tastes, I would not self-identify as a quiet luxury enthusiast. Nor would I claim to be a minimalist, even if we’re talking about the luxury variety. More often, my preferences lean towards the quirky and colorful, and I have been known to be a lover of things many might consider “junky,” “kitsch,” or even “tacky” at times. No matter how long I’m in  “The Biz,” I don’t think I will ever be able to shake my enthusiasm for thrift-store gems or my habit of scouring eBay for hidden deals at strange hours of the night. However, if I were to have any hard-and-fast rule when it comes to Close Encounters With Watchkind, it would be always to leave ample room to be surprised. During my alone time with the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Automatic 36mm, I will admit that I found myself surprised — and might even be so bold as to say pleasantly surprised. 

For context’s sake, Parmigiani Fleurier is a relatively young brand in the world of watches. Founded in 1996, Parmigiani Fleurier is the brainchild of Michel Parmigiani – a Swiss-born watch restorer and architecture enthusiast who cut his horological teeth during the peak of the quartz crisis, in which he turned his focus to preserving and reviving antique pieces at his own workshop, Mesure et Art du Temps. Despite the maison’s intimate knowledge of horological history, in the current revival-heavy landscape of modern watchmaking, a quick look at Parmigiani Fleurier’s contemporary catalog reveals not only a brand with an impeccable sense of aesthetic cohesion but one that is largely unburdened by the past. Instead of turning towards an extensive design archive, the brand’s design ethos looks outwards toward the future — in its own manner defining a new, minimal, highly considered language for 21st-century watchmaking. 

Parmigiani Fleurier falls into the category of an enthusiast’s brand, boasting an independent, vertically integrated manufacture for all of its pieces, and nailing that streamlined elegant, minimal aesthetic that I alluded to earlier. As a litmus test on these matters, I lean on crowd-sourcing to double-check my impulses and see if I am met with blank stares at the mention of a brand. In this particular instance, I asked one of these non-watch friends if they had heard of Parmigiani, to which they replied confidently “Of course,” which was quickly followed by, “You mean the cheese, right?” I rest my case. 

The watch in question – the Tonda Automatic PF 36mm reference PFC804-1020003-100182 –  was released last October, and marked the line's first experimentation with mixing 18K rose gold with stainless steel in the construction of its case and bracelet. It sits snugly between its 2022 GPGH-winning predecessor (the rose gold model with plum dial and diamond indices) and several equally glamorous models released this summer, which further incorporate diamond-set details. Stylistically, it also represents the middle point of the line, bridging the gap between the more starkly minimalist stainless-steel models and the more opulent rose-gold variations. 

Despite the integrated bracelet (which happens to be a two-tone 18K rose gold and stainless steel), this piece doesn’t read as too sporty – or too formal either, for that matter. That category-defying versatility is the great strength of the Tonda PF Automatic. This particular model’s lack of any gem-setting or otherwise glitzy details only smartly enhances that. There’s a certain cool nonchalance that this piece exudes, and this playing with opposites is ripe for offering an interesting element of contrast when it comes to styling it. In fact, I love the contrast of pairing a more substantial watch with a light, overtly feminine attire. (That being said, I must inform you that the wrist shots included in this article were taken by my colleague Bilal Khan, and the wrist featured is not mine, if you haven't guessed that already.)

My interest in watches isn’t limited to pieces that I would wear; there are plenty of pieces out there that I have a keen fondness for that would never work on my wrist, as well as things that I can appreciate for the art and craft of, but would just not make sense for my lifestyle, wardrobe, etc. That being said, it’s a good sign that you’re in dangerous territory when a piece makes you start crunching the numbers and doing the mental gymnastics of reevaluating your budget to accommodate a price tag. From the moment I put on this piece, my reservations about it not being “my style” began to surrender to the particular nirvana of minimalism well done. 

So often with my small wrist, the lugs can really make or break a piece for me. Even if the case diameter seems to be promising, a pair of elongated lugs without enough curve can turn me against the piece – creating that horrible gap between the strap or bracelet that is a definite no-go. On the flip side, perfectly angled, short lugs have also been known to make a watch I’d already written off wear surprisingly well. Signature teardrop-shaped lugs make this piece feel remarkably comfortable on the wrist, and that is enhanced by the smooth and sleek lines of the tapered bracelet. I am not the first person to say this about the 36mm Tonda PF Automatic, and I certainly won’t be the last, but it really does feel close to perfect on the wrist. There’s a pleasant heft to it without being too fatiguing: it sinks in just so, its 8.6mm thickness slim enough to fit under sleeves and cuffs with ease (though it also looks great worn over a thin sleeve, in my opinion), and the "Grain d'Orge hand-guilloché" looks even more impressively dynamic in person. Additionally, this piece is water resistant up to an impressive 100 meters, and is well-equipped with the PF770-HM automatic caliber with a 60-hour power reserve, for which every piece is manufactured entirely in-house.

In my time with this watch, I came around to the mystique of luxury more on the quiet side of the spectrum more than I anticipated. Now I get it — when wearing a piece like this, whose great strength is defined by its subtlety, it feels like you and the piece are accomplices, like there’s a secret between you and the object that’s hiding from the world in plain sight. If I were to revise the title of this article to something more Click-Bait forward, I would change it to I Wore This $27K Watch To My Local Dive Bar And No One Even Cared! – a sentiment that is as comic as it is truthful. I wore this thing to my favorite hole-in-the-wall bar, on all my subway commuting, and most of all, during countless hours putzing around my apartment. No one batted an eye, and no one even asked what I was wearing on my wrist. It was sublime. 

It goes without saying that this piece has a high cost of entry. Whether that cost makes sense for your personal financial status is your business, not mine. I am so terribly unqualified to give anyone any financial guidance it’s comical (and in fact, I could probably use some sound advice myself, for that matter. Is it too late to get in on Bitcoin?). As much as it appeals to the more in-the-know watch-enthusiast crowd, I would argue that for those who aren’t deeply inundated with watch culture and are looking for an elegant, understated, one-and-done piece — possibly to celebrate an accomplishment, a life milestone, or to just have a subtle yet knockout watch to wear into the ground — this piece is definitely up to the task. But if you’re here reading this, I would venture to guess that you’re one of those sick and twisted people who can’t help themselves from buying just one more piece. Hello, and welcome. You’re among friends here. 

The Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Automatic PF 36mm Reference PFC804-1020003100182 retails for CHF 25,500 ($27,500 USD).