Hands-On Review of the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda GT Chronograph
It is not an overstatement to say that we were wowed when Parmigiani Fleurier released the Tonda PF collection in 2021. With the release, we saw a new entrant into the luxury steel sport watch category. And we believe the Tonda PF can compete with the heavy hitters of the category, including the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Patek Philippe Nautilus (though it has been discontinued in steel), and the Vacheron Constantin Overseas. If you can’t get your hands on one of these pieces, you should definitely look at the Tonda PF.
It is apparent that the national progression of Parmigiani’s Tonda line is a chronograph. And the Tonda GT Chronograph is a hit in our mind. We had the chance to wear the watch for a couple weeks and we came away extremely impressed. Parmigiani Fleurier actually offers a standard chronograph in steel (with platinum bezel) at $31,000 USD. But the Tonda GT Chronograph is far more than a standard chronograph, and comes in at a price-point significantly lower than the standard chronograph. In addition to the chronograph, the Tonda GT has an annual calendar. Indeed, with the Tonda GT Chronograph you are getting a lot of watch for your money.
I had the chance to review the Tonda Chronograph or Tondagraph GT Steel Silver Black. When first looking at the watch, I was instantly reminded of the Rolex Daytona. Not only does the Parmigiani have subdials at 3,6 and 9, but the dial is a very light silver with black subdials. The similarities to a panda Daytona are evident, but that’s not a bad thing. Rolex hasn’t offer a true steel Daytona with a panda dial in decades and Parmigiani’s take on the panda dial has enough unique aspects to differentiate it. The guilloche dial has an attractive diamond pattern that adds a bit of flare to the dial. For a watch that has a chronograph and annual calendar the dial does not feel cluttered.
One of my favorite aspects of the Tondagraph GT has to be the fluted bezel. Parmigiani opted for a fluted bezel, which is present on all Tonda models, as opposed to the sportier tachmyter scale present on other chronographs, including the Daytona. This allows the Tondagraph GT to fit in seamlessly with the rest of the collection. I actually prefer the Tonda’s fluted bezel to that of the Rolex Datejust and Day-Date. The Tonda has a finer fluting that Rolex does and it works well on both sportier models (like a chronograph) and more classic pieces.
The Tondagraph GT has a display caseback that showcases Parmigiani Fleurier’s impressive Calibre PF043 in-house automatic movement. The perpetual calendar chronograph movement is made up of 443 components, has 56 jewels and a power reserve of 45 hours. The movement is robust and you do not have to worry from a watchmaker with the history and reputation of Parmigiani Fleurier.
The watch comes in at 42mm (the same as the standard chronograph) which is a little bit larger than the Nautilus and Daytona. It is wearable even with smaller wrists (my wrist is 6.75 inches), but we would love to see something a little bit slimmed down in the future. A 39 or 40mm Tonda chronograph in the future would be a runaway hit in our book. The watch boasts a respectable 100m water resistance. We wouldn’t expect more for a non-diving chronograph.
How much does the Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda GT Chronograph in steel cost?
As I said earlier, the Tonda GT Chronograph with annual calendar actually comes in cheaper than the Tonda Chronograph. The steel model we reviewed, Ref. PFC906-0000140-B00182 retails for $22,600 USD. While it is a bit more than a Rolex Daytona, with the annual calendar, you are getting a lot more watch for your money.