Leave it to Parmigiani Fleurier to make material innovation an exercise in restraint. While the practice of borrowing high-tech materials from aerospace or automotive industries is not new to watchmaking, it is often accompanied by aggressive posturing – all wild colours and boasts of virtual indestructibility. Not so at Parmigiani Fleurier. When the brand announced it had become the first to use cermet (a composite of ceramic and metal, covered below and in our materials special elsewhere) extensively in a watch case, it did so with quiet refinement. Meet the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph Ultra-Cermet.
Cermet is a composite popular in aerospace, automotive, biomedical, and other high-performance fields, prized for combining the best qualities of ceramics and metals. It offers the scratch-resistance of ceramic while maintaining the toughness and ductility of metal, making it less brittle, more durable, and pleasingly lightweight and cool to the touch. There are all manner of such ceramic and metal blends, some of which are composites and others not quite. In the case of the Fleurier brand, it is a blend of ceramic and titanium, resulting in a cool anthracite shade with a subtle metallic sheen, enhanced through alternating brushed and polished finishes.
The Tonda PF Sport Chronograph Ultra-Cermet’s 42.5mm by 13.3mm case, fluted bezel, crown, pushers, and pin buckle are all made from this composite. It took the brand three years to develop the material, and the case alone requires a full day to assemble it 72 distinct components.
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The dial continues the theme of understated sophistication. A satin-finished black or (a 9k gold-nickel alloy) gives the surface a grey-black hue that harmonises with the case. Delta-shaped, open-worked hands track the hours and minutes, while a central second hand marks the chronograph function. The gold indices are hand-applied, plated with black or, and filled with lume for nighttime legibility. Two dial variations are available – one with subdials in “London Grey”, the other in “Milano Blue”– each paired with a matching rubber strap.
Turn the watch over and you will find the in-house PF070 calibre, first introduced in 2021 for the brand’s 25th anniversary and the launch of the Tonda PF Chronograph collection. A high-frequency movement beating at 5 Hz (36,000 vph), it measures elapsed time to 1/10th of a second and is COSC-certified. It features a column wheel and vertical clutch, while its bridges are open-worked, satin-finished, and hand-bevelled. The 22-carat rose gold oscillating weight is skeletonised, sandblasted, and polished. Fully wound, the calibre offers 65 hours of power reserve.
In an industry where cutting-edge is rarely quiet, the Tonda PF Sport Chronograph Ultra-Cermet is refreshingly modest, without losing presence. As CEO Guido Terreni puts it: “Our timepieces are created for those who value silence over noise, craftsmanship over spectacle, and meaning over affectation.”
This story was first seen as part of the WOW #79 Summer 2025 Issue
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