The Ovale cases themselves will be medium sized at 37.6mm wide by 45mm tall. That is a good size for most wrists. The customary Parmigiani lugs are there and it feels a bit like the Kalpa case, only more rounded. It is a good look, and I think is a suitable alternative to mere round cases but with a branded twist. I expect that we will see more new Ovale models in the months and years to come.

Parmigiani designed the Ovale Pantographe to feature the dial, date, and power reserve on the dial. No running seconds dial, and the movement is manually wound. We don’t typically like “open” date dials, but here Parmigiani used one to balance well with the smiley face-style power reserve indicator. Note the textured engraved dials and blued applied hour markers. Love those numerals by the way – they look like Panerai’s numeral ancestors.

Inside of the Ovale Pantographe is the in-house made Parmigiani PF 111 manually wound movement with a long eight day power reserve. That is 192 hours. The movement operates at 3Hz and uses two mainspring barrels. Through the rear of the case you can view the movement and Parmigiani’s typically high level of polishing and finishing. The two available Ovale Pantographe models will sport either 18k white old or 18k rose gold cases. No steel for this collection, and probably not ever. Attached to the case are Hermes alligator straps in “indigo.” Purple straps eh? We can dig it. Look for the Parmigiani Ovale Pantographe watches soon with the pantograph complication that uses those neat telescopic hands. We are happy that Parmigiani decided to make this a more permanent part of their collection. parmigiani.ch

Hands-on pictures at Watchonista.