Discretion Is The Better Part Of Fleurier

The Parmigiani Tonda PF is the distilled essence of everything we've come to love about watchmaking, and we are about to find out just what goes into the creation of sublimate perfection.

- JONATHAN HO

IN 1757, EDMUND BURKE penned A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. It was here that the philosopher put forth his theory of sublime art where he defined the sublime as an artistic effect, which engendered the strongest emotion the mind is capable of feeling. There are few such sublimate moments in watchmaking history, you could probably count them on one hand: 1932 comes to mind, as does 1972, and for the last two, industry stalwart Guido Terreni was present for both of them.

Though designed years ago by Michel Parmigiani, a recent refresh by his namesake brand's newest Chief Executive Terreni has turned the Parmigiani Tonda PF into an exemplar of the sublime. Tapping into classicism of the original Tonda while invigorating it with the spirit of the age, the Parmigiani Tonda PF has stepped into the depths of the sports elegance genre while highlighting the sophistication possible in the hands of a master watchmaker.

Combining the discreet and understated luxury that we've come to expect from Parmigiani Fleurier and the craftsmanship that has made them such dependable suppliers for other high-end Maisons across Switzerland. Parmigiani Fleurier is founded on two important values: chiefly, understatement and the secondarily but no less important, cultural knowledge of watchmaking traditions.

I recall a conversation from last year, sitting across from the thoughtful watch veteran at Singapore's only kosher restaurant Aniba, that he recounted, "The typical Parmigiani customer is not ostentatious; he's very discreet and he's very refined and so the Manufacture was always an emblem of stylish subtlety distilled into a form of apparent simplicity where purity of aesthetics remain paramount and the craft goes into the depths of its very being."