Introducing Parmigiani Reveals A World-First GMT Complication

"We cannot serve everybody immediately because it takes time to accelerate production," Terreni said, when asked about the recent demand. "It takes longer than accelerating or activating a desire. But we will serve the orders that we have, because I don't want a brand that is artificially in scarcity as a strategy. I would love to please everybody who wants to enjoy Parmigiani."

The new Parmigiani Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante has a lot in common with the time-and-date Tonda PF released late last summer, but it deletes the date window and adds an additional central rose gold 12-hour hand, as well as a pair of pushers at three and eight o'clock, to the flowing case design. Although labeled as a rattrapante, the watch is not a chronograph like we might expect – instead, it references the optional presence of the second time-zone functionality.

The way the complication works is that the rose gold hour hand is set co-axially with the white gold hour hand. Once you press the pusher at seven o'clock, the white gold hour hand will jump forward in one-hour increments to move ahead and match whatever new time-zone you're traveling to, while the 18k rose gold hour hand remains in its original position, tied to "home" time. Once your trip has ended or the need for a second time-zone display has ceased, engage the pusher set into the three o'clock crown and the white-gold hand will fly around the dial and return to its position on top of the rose gold hand, at "home" time.

It's a clever interpretation of a travel watch that Terreni says represents the "first time that a rattrapante function is applied outside the chronograph."

"We chose not to translate the word rattrapante in English, because the English translation of rattrapante is exactly the opposite of what it means in French: Split being the translation of rattrapante, in the function of rattrapante, which is totally different because rattrapante, in French, means to catch up – to reunite. A split GMT would be exactly the opposite. You're creating distance between the two time zones. In reality, the beauty of the rattrapante function here is that it reconnects you with your home. That's why we kept the rattrapante name."

The Parmigiani GMT Rattrapante is placed in a 40mm × 10.4mm stainless steel polished and brushed case, an increase of just 2.8mm from the standard time-and-date Tonda PF, with an identical knurled platinum bezel. It is being offered exclusively with a Milano blue dial at launch, featuring the same Grain d'Orge pattern as previous Tonda PF releases. The PF051 manufacture movement is an in-house self-winding caliber outfitted with an 18k rose gold micro-rotor and up to 48 hours of operating autonomy.

At launch, the Parmigiani GMT Rattrapante will be priced at $28,700; it's expected to land at retailers in late summer 2022.

I love the overall look of the watch, and the functionality is a (literal) snap to use and understand. I'll admit that, from a utilitarian travelers' perspective, there's reasonable room to arraign on the lack of a date and AM/PM indicator. And while having both hour hands operate on a 12-hour cycle is understandable given the execution of the complication, the display is a touch different than what GMT fans are used to. That said, from an aesthetic perspective, I appreciate how simple and authentic Parmigiani's interpretation of the GMT display is.

Terreni says the concept and execution of the GMT Rattrapante came together very quickly after he started at Parmigani, around this time last year.

"It's an idea that came up while brainstorming the third or fourth day I was in the company; I wanted a post-pandemic watch," he says. "I had the idea of a dual time zone, with the two overlapping hands. Discussing internally with the head of development, he brought up this idea of the rattrapante as a nice addition. I found it so beautiful in one second; I think the brainstorm didn't last even five minutes."

The GMT Rattapante is an entirely new watch, part of an entirely new collection that's charting an entirely new future for the company. And yet, I see details from Parmigiani's past are also present here. After all, the very first Parmigiani watch ever created was the Toric Memory Time, an extremely subtle take on a dual-time display that utilized a proprietary digital jump hour placed at 12 o'clock on the dial to indicate an additional second time-zone.

Twenty-five years after Michel Parmigiani struck out on his own – with the support of the Sandoz Family Foundation – in the small Swiss municipality of Fleurier, it's lovely to see the company continue to expand and develop on his original refined vision of watchmaking.

Brand: Parmigiani Fleurier
Model: Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante
Reference Number: PFC905-102000B-100182

Diameter: 40mm
Thickness: 10.4mm
Case Material: Stainless steel, with platinum knurled bezel and rose-gold pusher in three o'clock crown; split-GMT pusher in steel at eight o'clock on case
Dial Color: Milano blue dial, with Grain d'Orge pattern
Indexes: Applied, in 18-carat white gold
Lume: N/A
Water Resistance: 60 meters
Strap/Bracelet: Integrated stainless-steel three-link bracelet

Caliber: PF051
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, GMT, with split/return functionality
Diameter: 30mm
Thickness: 4.93mm
Power Reserve: 48 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 21,600 vph / 3 Hz
Jewels: 31
Chronometer Certified: N/A
Additional Details: 18 carat rose gold micro-rotor; 207 components; world-first second timezone/rattrapante functionality

Price: $28,700
Availability: August 2022
Limited Edition: N/A