The new Tonda Métrographe watch manufactured by Parmigiani Fleurier is a statement piece that shows its designer’s prowess. The elegant design has always kept them at the front of the collectors’ minds when talking fine watchmaking, and when the steel-cased Tonda Métrographe debuted in 2014.
This latest version boasts a more understated and highly legible dial as well as a few other faint tweaks to ensure it can compete with the likes of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget, and other contenders in the relatively affordable category.
Of the changes seen in the latest Tonda Métrographe, its elegant new dial configuration is by far the biggest talking point. It now features a tachymeter scale; its date window has been repositioned to 12 o’clock; and most interestingly, a double-hand semi-circular running-seconds sub-dial has been incorporated at 3 o’clock. These latter two elements play a crucial role in providing the piece with improved balance and legibility in addition to giving it a slightly dressier feel than its predecessor.
The use of rose gold for the seconds hand and the indices and hands of the chronograph sub-dial on the black-dial version (pictured above) is another interesting touch that can be tricky to pull off. Two-tone watches have been making a strong resurgence lately, and the faint touch of gold against Métrographe’s steel case works surprisingly well overall. Though the case’s design remains effectively unchanged for 2017, its thickness has decreased nominally (by half a millimetre to be precise) to 11.7 mm. The relatively svelte case is a modest 40 mm in diameter, which only adds to its overall versatility as a daily-wear piece.
The watch is available in two configurations; a white-dial version as well as the black variant shown, and comes on either a supple calf-leather strap N3, 517, 850.00 ($11,500) or a bracelet N3, 670, 800.00 ($12,000). Given the very modest premium on the steel bracelet, it would certainly be our personal choice of the two.
Available at: parmigiani.com
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