Parmigiani Fleurier’s Tonda PF Sport Chronograph is updated with a new colour palette inspired by Switzerland’s Verzasca Valley
By Watch Advice contributor, Liam Pattison
The Background (pun intended)
I don’t think it’s hard to argue that Switzerland houses some of the most beautiful landscapes on this earth. If you’re a fan of the mountains, you can go see the Matterhorn with its almost perfect pyramid shape, or if heights aren’t really your thing, you can go see the turquoise glacial waters of the Oeschinen Lake.
Switzerland has so much to offer visually, but I feel like it’s rare to see Swiss watchmakers directly referencing the landscapes of their beautiful home in the same way Japanese watchmakers do. It seems, however, that Parmigiani Fleurier has something to say about this with their latest release – the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph Silver Verzasca.
Inspired by Switzerland’s Verzasca Valley, Parmigiani Fleurier continues to take inspiration from the iconic landscape and has now channelled it into a new colour palette for its well-revered Tonda PF Sport Chronograph line. We first saw the Verzasca hue in the Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante at Watches & Wonders last year; however, this new palette features a fresh twist to suit the brand’s popular sports chronograph format.
In this new Tonda PF Sport Chronograph, you’ll find a silver clou triangulaire (triangular nail) guilloché as the primary surface of the dial with a Verzasca hue chapter ring and subdials. The effect is a panda-style format which Parmigiani Fleurier says translates “an art of living where precision, movement and contemplation meet”.
In addition to the new dial palette, the model also sports Parmigiani Fleurier’s multi-layered rubber strap in a new Verzasca hue. The strap itself is the same as previous iterations of the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph line, fusing rubber and structural layers with a textile-like outer to create a sporty and refined aesthetic that I think we can all agree complements the watch well.
A Cleaner, More Balanced Dial
Besides the new palette across the dial and strap, the new release continues a trend from Parmigiani Fleurier of forgoing the date window. Since the 2025 novelty releases, Parmigiani Fleurier has been on a discreet mission to clean up the dial by removing the date window from the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph line. While Parmigiani Fleurier CEO, Guido Terreni, doesn’t actively say this in relation to the new Silver Verzasca, he does iterate that “We seek balance — between performance and purity, between mechanical tension and aesthetic serenity”.
I’ll get onto performance in a moment, but I have to assume that the absence of the date window is a product of the aesthetic serenity philosophy that he is referencing here. Also, knowing Parmigiani Fleurier’s track record of integrating traditional watch functions in new and discrete ways, i.e. 2025’s GMT Rattrapante and 2026’s Chronographe Mystérieux, it would not surprise me at all if next year they debut a date that reveals itself in some brand new novel way we have never seen before.
A Fascination With Vertical Integration
Guido Terreni also mentions performance, and in true Tonda PF Sport Chronograph fashion, this is not an area where the Silver Verzasca disappoints. Like its brothers in the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph line, the Silver Verzasca continues to feature Parmigiani Fleurier’s 5hz PF070 COSC-Certified Automatic manufacture movement.
If you’re not familiar, the Calibre PF070 sports a 65-hour power reserve, meaning if you put the watch down, it’ll likely still be running a couple of days later when you pick it up again. In addition, the 5hz frequency assists with a greater level of accuracy vs a lower-beat movement.
Both these specs give the Silver Verzasca proper sports watch credentials, and if you fancy a peek through the sapphire caseback, you will be treated to quite the show. And the star of this show? The 22ct gold oscillating weight, and beneath it you’ll witness a symphony of hand-bevelled edges and satin-finished openworked bridges which really demonstrate what makes Parmigiani Fleurier special.
If you are a bit of a watch nerd, you’ll know one of the reasons Parmigiani Fleurier has amassed the cult following it has is that the watchmaker is so heavily vertically integrated throughout their manufacture. This means they have maximum control over the design and finishing of their components that many other brands don’t, and being able to see this come to life through the back of the case is definitely a highlight of the brand.
Sporty, But In A Chic Way
Speaking of cases, this is another area of similarity between the Silver Verzasca and other models in the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph line. The case itself comes in at 42mm in diameter and is a familiar sporty Tonda affair with brand hallmarks including the knurled bezel, which Parmigiani Fleurier claims “enhances grip and subtly anchors the piece within the world of technical timekeeping”.
To top off the Silver Verzasca’s sport credentials is the 100m water resistance enabled via a screw-down crown. This is no different to other references in the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph line but is worth mentioning just to remind you that the Silver Verzasca continues to stay true to the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph’s sporty elegance.
Initial Thoughts
Following Parmigiani Fleurier over the past few years, it feels like the brand has really come into its own. They have found a design language and ethos that is original, intuitive, and, as collectors start to discover more about the brand, desirable. No doubt this is thanks to the entrance of CEO Guido Terreni in 2021, who I think has done a remarkable job of taking a watchmaker with a great genesis, but not the best execution, and turning it into a brand worth talking about.
As a spectator, I am curious to see where the balance of ‘performance and purity’ lies for Parmigiani Fleurier. I think the slow move away from date windows in its PF Sport models is certainly contentious, especially when, in my eyes (and I’m sure the eyes of many), a sports watch should have a certain level of functionality, i.e. a date or tachymetre scale on a chronograph. In saying that, however, there is a wide segment of the watch world that loves a clean no-date dial.
Questions of functionality aside, omission of the date window undoubtedly makes the dial on the Silver Verzasca more pure. As a whole package, it continues to deliver on the brand’s IYKYK energy and the Verzasca hue fits well among its tonally coloured brothers.
If you consider the neutral tonal palettes that have been in vogue across fashion and culture over the last couple of years, the addition of this Verzasca colour, particularly in the strap, feels very fitting. Personally, if it were my choice, I think I’m more of a London or Arctic Grey kinda guy, but I don’t think you could go wrong either way.
References & Specifications
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Reference | PFC931-1020023-400182 |
| Dimensions | 42mm diameter × 12.9mm thick |
| Case | Steel case with a knurled bezel |
| Dial | Silver & Verzasca coloured Clou triangulaire guilloché dial with 18ct gold rhodium-plated appliques |
| Crystal | ARunic anti-reflective sapphire |
| Caseback | Sapphire crystal |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Movement | Parmigiani Fleurier Calibre PF070, beating at 5Hz / 36,000 VpH, 22-carat gold micro-rotor |
| Functions | Seconds, minutes, hours, chronograph seconds & minutes |
| Power Reserve | 65-hours |
| Strap | Layered rubber strap with a canvas-styled pattern and stitching. Stainless steel folding clasp |