One of the most interesting recent trends we’ve seen in the past months across the watch enthusiast community is the rise of what might be dubbed “integrated sports watch fatigue.” After a few years of being bombarded with Genta-esque integrated watch designs from nearly every corner of the industry, enthusiasts are beginning to search for a fresh alternative to this long-running trend. While it may not be as under-the-radar as it was in years gone by, Parmigiani has developed a strong cult following in enthusiast circles for its “integrated-adjacent” Tonda PF Sport family. With a uniquely flowing, luxe-minimalist design ethos and a firm focus on balanced presentation, the series is a potent cure for “integrated sports watch fatigue,” and the three-hand Tonda PF Sport Automatic presents this cure in its purest, most distilled form. The recently released Parmigiani Tonda PF Sport Automatic in rose gold showcases the charisma of this series handsomely, combining curvaceous forms with an open, airy feel that few competitors can match.
Like most of its stablemates, the Parmigiani Tonda PF Sport Automatic measures significantly broader than current trends at 41mm wide. However, it’s difficult to imagine this 18K rose gold case working well in more compact dimensions, largely due to the priority Parmigiani places on visual openness across its designs. With that said, the Tonda PF Sport Automatic wears excellently on my 6.75-inch wrist for a pair of reasons. The first and most important of these is the lug design. The flowing, French curve-style attached lugs are both very short and heavily curved, leading to a minimal lug-to-lug length and a pronounced wraparound effect on the wrist. This also gives the watch a nearly square stance during wear, giving it a bold presence while remaining relatively compact. Secondly, the Tonda PF Sport Automatic carries a slender profile, measuring only 9.8mm thick in total. While this may not be in the same realm as the über-thin construction of some of its rivals, this sub-10mm case design does allow the watch to sit elegantly thin on the wrist and effortlessly disappear under shirt cuffs. As with other Tonda iterations, though, the real allure of this case is in the finishing. This is a case that rewards close inspection with crisp, nuanced detail, from the slender polished surface wrapping all the way around the attached lugs at a nigh-impossible angle, to the light play on each of the sloping, partially fluted bezel’s 160 crenellations. Even the brushing along the case sides is satin-smooth, allowing the warmth of the rose gold case material to softly shine through. Parmigiani fits the Tonda PF Sport Automatic with a sapphire display caseback, and rates the watch for a decently sporting 100 meters of water resistance.
The crux of Parmigiani’s dial design ethos lies in its generous use of negative space, and the Tonda PF Sport Automatic demonstrates this less-is-more approach handily. Everything from the skeleton alpha handset to the small beveled applied indices, and even the open, airy applied emblem at 12 o’clock seems designed to keep the silver dial surface as clear and visible as possible without coming across as unbalanced. This understandably puts quite some pressure on the dial surface to live up to this spotlight, and Parmigiani largely succeeds on this front. The clou triangulaire guilloché pattern used here is lighter and more delicate than the clous de Paris or tapisserie surfaces used by some competitors, but this airiness suits the Tonda PF Sport Automatic well while remaining razor-sharp and dynamic under high magnification. Parmigiani chooses to recess the outer minutes scale, giving the main dial surface an implied pedestal to sit upon and increasing the overall sense of visual depth. Although the overall layout here may be deceptively simple, that doesn’t leave it free from controversial decisions. For example, Parmigiani makes a token nod to sports watch functionality for the Tonda PF Sport Automatic by coating segments of the indices and the tips of the hands with black Super-LumiNova. In practice, the glow this luminous paint emits is essentially non-existent, and Parmigiani could have given a more refined version of this same look without any real loss in functionality by rendering these segments in black enamel or onyx. The white-on-black unframed date display at 6 o’clock is likewise liable to draw ire from a certain subset of enthusiasts, but here I’d argue it’s actually to the watch’s benefit. If Parmigiani had gone with a more “enthusiast checklist”-friendly dial-matching white date wheel here, the date display would not be nearly as effective as a visual counterweight to the 12 o’clock Parmigiani emblem. As a result, the dial would likely lose Parmigiani’s trademark spacious, yet finely balanced feel.
Inside the Parmigiani Tonda PF Sport Automatic beats the brand’s in-house PF770 automatic movement. As with most movements from the brand, finishing takes high priority on the PF770, and while there’s nothing revolutionary here each component is exquisitely executed. The Côtes de Genève across the bridges are deep and richly detailed and are further accented by polished anglage along each edge. Beneath it all, the mainplate features tight, dynamic perlage, and the 22K rose gold rotor tops things off with a mix of fluting, polishing, matte blasting, and engraving styled to resemble the steering wheel in the timeless Ferrari 250 GTO. Parmigiani pairs this watch with a semi-integrated fabric-effect deployant strap in black rubber. Light, comfortable, and flexible, this tapering strap accentuates the sporting side of the Tonda PF Sport Automatic’s character, while giving it a less conspicuous feel than a full matching gold bracelet.
With so many nigh-on identical integrated sports watch releases coming out from every corner of the watch industry these days, it’s perfectly natural to feel burnt out on the subject. Thanks to its uniquely flowing, airy, and brilliantly finished design, however, the Parmigiani Tonda PF Sport Automatic stands as a curvaceous and intriguing counterpoint to the sea of integrated designs these days. The Parmigiani Tonda PF Sport Automatic in rose gold is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for this watch as tested stands at 35,000 CHF as of press time. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
