Under CEO Guido Terrani’s leadership, Parmigiani Fleurier’s strategy has focused almost entirely on developing the Tonda PF collection. Last year, they produced the world’s first Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante, an ingenious GMT with a rattrapante hand. This year, they expand the concept with the Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante. The basic premise? Reinterpreting one of the most common watchmaking functions by performing the function usually operated by the graduated bezel on a diver’s watch via the movement itself. On the new Tonda PF Minute Rattrapante, they have succeeded and what results is user friendliness, excellent legibility and undeniable sophistication through apparent simplicity: The function, born of know-how gained developing last year’s GMT Rattrapante, enables on-demand fine calibration of the minutes over a specific period of time for any occasion or event requiring measurement of the minutes count.
The Minute Rattrapante is distinguished from other watches by its use of two superimposed minute hands, one in rhodium and the other in 18K rose gold, rather than a face with two stacked hour hands. The rosegold minute hand is hidden by the rhodium one when the two are stacked; however, it may be advanced by five-minute intervals with the help of two pushers on the left side of the case. The pusher at eight minutes advances the time by five minutes, while the one at 10 minutes does the same for the minute hand. Pressing the two pushers to the specified time interval will start the timer and advance the rose-gold minute hand. When the rhodium-plated minute hand catches up to the rose-gold hand, the time being measured will be complete, and the third pusher on the winding crown will return the hands to their original positions, just like the two seconds hands on a conventional rattrapante chronograph.
The Platinum Standard
Mirroring civilisations and societies, Parmigiani Fleurier presents exceptional trilogy of platinum cultural (rather than perpetual) calendars issued in a strictly limited edition of three box sets. The Retrograde Gregorian Calendar lies in the fact that wearers need to adjust their watch only once a year during February by setting the date manually. The “precision moon” phase of the Tonda Gregorian Calendar complements the date indications requiring only one correction every 122 years because the timepiece compensates for the discrepancy between a classic lunar cycle (29 days and 12 hours) and the real lunar cycle (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.8 seconds). Furthermore, two depictions of the Moon ‒ viewed from the Earthʼs Northern and Southern hemispheres‒ match any wearer’s geographical location. Unlike the Gregorian calendar which names the months and numbers the years, the Chinese calendar names the lunar years and numbers the months. 
The names of the years are repeated on a sexagesimal (60-year) cycle, but the calendar including dates, days and months is calculated on the basis of astronomical observations and naturally varies. It is therefore impossible to make a Chinese perpetual calendar. Parmigiani Fleurierʼs creation goes as far as possible in offering the most complete form of the Chinese calendar.
MIRRORING CIVILISATIONS AND SOCIETIES, PARMIGIANI FLEURIER PRESENTS EXCEPTIONAL TRILOGY OF PLATINUM CULTURAL (RATHER THAN PERPETUAL) CALENDARS ISSUED IN A STRICTLY LIMITED EDITION OF THREE BOX SETS
The numbering system of the time units is based on the combination of a decimal cycle with the 10 Heavenly Stems and a duodecimal cycle with the 12 Earthly Branches. The brand has succeeded in condensing all the complex information on a dial. All the displays are quickly adjustable via the various correctors located on the two sides of the case middle, concealing an extremely sophisticated mechanism serving to display this information in classic Chinese characters. The Chinese calendar complication is mechanically programmed to cover a 12-year period by means of a cam system. At the end of these 12 years, the watch must be reset for a new equivalent period. The Islamic Hijri calendar has some connection to nomadic traditions, but its primary basis is religious. The calendar is based on the lunar cycles and was first introduced in 622 CE, when the Prophet Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina. This migration, known as the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic era and the start of the Hijri calendars based on lunar cycles.
TONDA PF MINUTE RATTRAPANTE PRICE + SPECS
Case 40 mm wide x 10.7 mm thick polished and satin-finished stainless steel with platinum 950 knurled bezel with 60 metres water resistance Movement Automatic PF052 with 48 hours power reserve Price On application
TONDA PF CALENDAR TRILOGY PRICE + SPECS
Case 42 mm polished and satin-finished platinum 950 with 100 metres water resistance Movement Automatic PF339 Gregorian calendar, PF008 Complete Chinese calendar, PF009 Hijri perpetual calendar; with 48, 50 and 52 hours power reserve Price On application (Images: Parmigiani Fleurier)
