How to Read the New Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar Watch

The new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar is a tour de force that hides some inherent complexities that should not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Its special Lunar Solar Calendar calibrates both the lunar and solar calendars together via an additional thirteenth month that occurs every three threes in this incredibly eye-catching world premiere.

The Tonda PF watch collection is a relatively young range of Parmigiani Fleurier watches that highlights a sartorial and mature approach to watchmaking with some of the brand’s most exquisite and technically challenging timepieces to date. These include the Tonda PF Chronograph, the Tonda PF Micro Rotor, and the Tonda PF Annual Calendar watch. One of the latest masterpieces to join the Tonda PF watch family is the new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali watch, with many desirable features built into its faithful Tonda PF DNA. 

What are calendar watches?

Before we take a closer look at the new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch, let’s run through what a calendar watch actually is. A calendar watch, in its simplest of forms, is the date window that you see on simple two-handed and three-handed time and date watches or dress watches. The next level up is the complete calendar which offers a separate window for the date, the days of the week and the months of the year. The only restriction to the complete calendar is the fact that it cannot determine which months out of the year hold 28, 29, 30 or 31 days. If you want a calendar that does that, you need to be looking at an annual calendar watch, which can mechanically advance itself to show the correct number of days on months that hold 30 and 31 days within them. However, when February ends and March begins, the watch needs to be manually corrected. Now, even more accurate and reliable than any of these is the perpetual calendar, which cleverly knows how to adjust the date accordingly for years and years to come and is considered by true luxury watch enthusiasts as the ultimate calendar watch.

Parmigiani Fleurier and the perpetual calendar

In 2019, Parmigiani Fleurier released an exquisite perpetual calendar watch that displayed an Islamic calendar. The Tonda Hijiri Perpetual Calendar featured a lunar calendar that encompassed 12 months, showing 29 or 30-day cycles. Its mechanical complexity was astounding and won the Innovation Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie (GPHG) in 2020. It was a world premiere, just like the new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch, showcasing the traditional Chinese Calendar via a deep “imperial red” dial colour with a new Luna Solar Calendar.

The Lunar Solar Calendar featured in the Tonda PF Xiali watch

Combining both elements of a lunar calendar and a solar calendar, the new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch calculates both calendars before synching them together via an extra intercalary month. The thirteenth month allows for both calendars to calibrate and occurs approximately every three years. The solar year of the watch is also divided into 24 solar terms symbolising the agricultural calendar. With this new addition to the Tonda PF watch collection, you can follow the seasons and set the Chinese New Year at Springtime with this clever 60-year cycle.

Whilst the Gregorian calendar which China now uses names the months but shows the year in numbers - the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar based on the traditional Chinese calendar names the lunar years and numbers the months. The years are repeated on a 60-year cycle. The watch is housed in robust stainless steel and measures a diameter of 42mm. The model still features all the sporty, practical, elegant and formal attributes of the Tonda PF wrapped into a 100-meter water-resistant case, topped with a knurled bezel crafted from 950 platinum.

The new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch presents the time and the calendrical features on an “imperial red” coloured dial adorned with an eye-catching Grain d’Orge guilloche. Other shared traits include its teardrop-shaped lugs, a beautifully integrated stainless steel bracelet and a set of skeletonised hands that have been crafted into the recognisable delta profile. Whilst the polished and satin-brushed sections of the knurled platinum bezel help to draw light to the dial, they also underscore the familiar architecture of the watch.

The dial of the Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch features a relocated PF cartouche at 1:30 and gold indices with a rhodium plating. The sub-dial at noon displays the name of the year around the edge, framing the animal and element for that year. The day numbers are featured at 3 o’clock along with a central indication to show whether it is a long or short month. A moon phase indicator dressed against a blue aventurine sky is located at 6 o’clock, whilst the 9 o’clock sub-counter features the month number. There’s also a feature here to show whether an intercalary month is used in that particular year. Lastly, the 24 solar terms are displayed around the periphery of the dial.

The beating heart at the centre of the new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch is the PF008. It powers multiple elements of the watch covering a period of 12 years with the use of a cam system. This means that if the watch is kept running consistently, it will remain accurate for 12 years. Should it stop, however, you can adjust these elements via the caseband. The movement boasts beautiful Cotes de Geneve decoration, features 535 individual components, and provides a 54-hour power reserve whilst performing through a sapphire-backed case.

One of the beautiful elements of this new Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch is that despite its many intricate dial details and calendrical elements, the key timekeeping hands and hour markers on the dial remain incredibly simple to read. The watch is completed on a matching stainless steel integrated bracelet with links that are executed in a mix of brushed and polished finishes.

If you’d like more information on the new Tonda PF Xiali Calendar watch, call and speak to a member of our sales team here at Jura Watches on 01335 453453